Design, modeling, and simulation of an INS system using an asymmetric structure of six accelerometers and its error analysis in the ECEF frame

The inertial navigation system is one of the most important and common methods of navigation. In this system, accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to measure linear accelerations and angular velocities, respectively. Accelerometers have simpler manufacture techniques, lower cost, and smaller volume and weight in comparison with gyroscopes. Therefore, in some application of navigation systems, non-gyro inertial navigation systems based on accelerometers are used. In this paper, an asymmetric structure of six accelerometers is proposed. Then dynamic relations of this structure are extracted. This structure and its relations can determine linear accelerations and angular velocities, completely. Moreover, the algorithm of inertial navigation in earth centered earth fixed (ECEF) frame is suggested. Error analysis as of the most important issues in inertial navigation is discussed. Thus, bias, misalignment, sensitivity, and noise of accelerometers are modeled appropriately. In addition, a symmetric structure of accelerometers is proposed and its equations are derived. Finally, the designed system, error model of accelerometers, and algorithm of inertial navigation in ECEF frame are simulated. The results of simulation show that the designed system has suitable accuracy and applications for short time navigation. Furthermore, results confirm that the proposed asymmetric structure requires less accelerometer in comparison with symmetric structure.