Inertial Measurement Unit – A Short Overview of the Evolving Trend for Miniaturization and Hardware Structures

Inertial navigation is an important concern nowadays, being divided into gimbaled gyro-stabilized platforms and strap-down systems. Between the two systems, the most used, especially in the aerospace field, is the strap- down systems, involving accelerometers and gyro sensors, these being the main component of the inertial measurement unit. This paper presents an overview of the currently inertial navigation systems (INS) structures as well as the hardware configuration of the inertial measurement units (IMU), highlighting the miniaturized MEMS technology.