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Session B11: Inertial Navigation Technologies

Achieving Navigation-Grade MEMS Accelerometer Performance in Harsh Environments
Sergey Zotov, EMCORE Corporation
Location: Ballroom E
Date/Time: Wednesday, Jun. 4, 4:25 p.m.

We present recent advancements in the development of EMCORE’s Vibratory Quartz Accelerometer (VQA), achieving true navigation-grade performance under extreme operational conditions, including harsh thermal. The newly developed accelerometer builds upon the established resonant sensor architecture but introduces enhanced design and calibration methodologies to ensure superior stability and precision under dynamic temperature profiles.
A key innovation in this work is the integration of an advanced multi-frequency operational mode that allows the accelerometer to autonomously compensate for environmental perturbations such as temperature variations. This approach leverages the intrinsic self-sensing capabilities of quartz resonators, providing real-time correction mechanisms for bias and scale factor deviations. The experimental results demonstrate a bias instability of 0.03 µg, a velocity random walk in order of 0.1 µg/?Hz, and exceptional performance across a dynamic temperature range of -55 °C to +85 °C, maintaining bias stability within 0.025 mg (1-sigma) and a scale factor stability of 25 ppm.
Specifically, in this work, we focus on providing a detailed explanation of our achievement in attaining navigation-grade performance under the harsh environment.
These advancements mark a significant step forward in achieving robust, high-precision inertial performance for applications in navigation and guidance systems exposed to extreme environments, including aerospace and space exploration.

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