The proposed research effort is to complete a (concept) design for a durable, lightweight, compact, MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) for use with mortars and lightweight artillery. The systems in use at this time are too heavy and too large, which makes them very difficult to adapt to this (extremely high) shock environment (potentially > 15000 G's). The proposed design will not only use this breakthrough in component technology (i.e. MEMS gyros/accelerometers), but through an innovative redundancy management approach, will provide unequalled performance with this type of hardware. The proposed system will provide pointing accuracy better than 1 mil-radian in bearing, and better than 0.25 mil-radian in elevation, over the full military environment, and the full range of requirements for latitude initialization (i.e. <5 minutes up to 65 degrees). The system design will use MEMS gyros that are expected to be in production in less than a year, and therefore this systems approach requires MEMS gyros with bias stability no better than 1 degree/hour. In order to insure that the concept is sound and that a successful prototype fabrication can be completed in Phase 2, the design concept will be proven through computer simulations in Phase 1. The benefit of the design/development of this system is the increased durability/reliability of the aiming and pointing systems for mortar/light artillery. Another benefit is that through the use of MEMS sensors, an extremely lightweight/compact inertial measurement unit (IMU) will be developed. This IMU will also provide unequalled accuracy, and because of its size has potential for application as a navigator for the dismounted soldier The commercial applications for compact, low-cost inertial systems are quite extensive and include supplementing GPS data for General Aviation, railroads, and cars and trucks. In all cases, providing more reliable position information will improve transportation safety.
