Design and Fabrication of Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)

Supervisor:
Rajiv Shankar Sinha (Y3269) Dr N S Vyas
MSc(int),Department of Physics Department of Mech. Engineering.
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
Kanpur 208016, India Kanpur 208016, India

An Inertial Measurement Unit, or IMU, is the main component of an inertial guidance system
used in vehicles such as airplanes and submarines. An IMU works by sensing its own rate and direction
of motion using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes, which then allow a guidance
computer to track its position using a process known as dead reckoning.

Objective: positional information. By attaching

The overall goal is to create a class of
devices that have some sense of their own
movement and can give feedback to a user given
certain patterns.
A main objective of the present device
is to provide a micro inertial measurement unit,
which can produce digital highly accurate
angular increment and velocity increment
measurements of a carrier from voltage signals
output from the specific angular rate and
acceleration producers thereof, so as to obtain
highly accurate, position, velocity, attitude, and
heading measurements of the carrier under
dynamic environments.
Another objective of the present device
is to provide a micro inertial measurement unit
(IMU) which successfully incorporates the
MEMS technology.
Motivation:
The Inertial Measurement Unit uses one
solid-state MEMS angular rate sensors and three
MEMS accelerometers. The three
accelerometers are all mounted at 90 degrees to
each other, and the angular rate sensors are
mounted at the orientation of PCB (in next
version three angular rate sensors will be
mounted at the same angles as their respective
accelerometers). Together they will give full 3D
motion measurement of the body of the vehicle.
gyroscopes which measure angular
speed the antenna can determine the
direction and velocity of vehicle
rotation very accurately,
• For electronic stability control for
vehicle.
• Tilt sensor: When working with very
low frequency inertial measurement
units can be used as tilt sensor.
• Earthquakes detection: Bulky
accelerometers with large masses and
soft springs would have very small
natural frequencies; this kind of
accelerometers can be used as a
seismometer to detect earthquakes.
• As train detector for Unmanned
Railway level crossing
How it works:
IMUs work, in part, by detecting
changes in pitch, roll, and yaw.
An IMU works by detecting the current
rate of acceleration and changes in rotational
attributes, including pitch, roll and yaw. This
data is then fed into a guidance computer, which
uses the data to calculate the current position.
The IMU detects accelerations which are
integrated by a guidance computer to deduce the
position and velocity of the vehicle.

Uses:
• Derailment Detection Device:
Currently we are using one IMU as
derailment detection device.
• Satellite (Micro-Satellite): GPS
satellite navigation to maintain accurate
 For example, if an IMU installed in an
Phase diff of MEMS sensor wrt charge amplifier ( ms )
airplane were to detect that it was moving west
at 500 miles per-hour for 1 hour, it would send 1
that information to the guidance computer which

P h ase D ifferen ce (m s)
0.8
would deduce that the plane must be 500 miles Phase diff of MEMS sensor
0.6
west of its original position. If combined with a wrt charge amplifier ( ms )
computerized system of maps, the guidance 0.4

system could use this method to show a pilot 0.2

where the plane is located geographically, 0
similar to a GPS navigation system. -0.2
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
An IMU contrasts with a GPS, however, Frequency (Hz)
in that IMUs are closed systems that exclusively
use their own internal sensors to detect motion;
whereas GPS systems communicate with Graph shows that the acceleration measured by
external satellites to detect their current position. two devices is not same. Other than this data is
also varying .But variation is not much for all
frequencies. It varies for lower frequencies and
Construction: also for the frequencies around 1.7 kHz. Also
Currently designed Inertial phase of both the device is not same, output by
Measurement Unit uses one solid-state MEMS MEMS sensor is lagging for most of values but
angular rate sensors and three MEMS it is leading for 1500Hz to 1700Hz.
accelerometers. The three accelerometers are all
mounted at 90 degrees to each other, and the Next Semester Plan:
angular rate sensors are mounted at the • IMU for Micro-satellite: A special
orientation of PCB (in next version three device will be designed and fabricated
angular rate sensors will be mounted at the same for micro satellite.
angles as their respective accelerometers). • Data storage: A data storage facility will
Together they will give full 3D motion be introduced in the general purpose
measurement of the body of the vehicle. IMU. Most probably a flash memory
To achieve superior accuracy, the box will be used to store data.
may be designed such that the temperature is • Display: A display will be introduced on
controlled and kept constant. The walls of the IMU it self to see the readings and
box are made of materials that minimize graph of real-time/stored data.
electromagnetic interference. If the output • Testing and use for derailment detection
signals are analog, a major concern is shielding and Electronic Stability Control.
the cables and analog to digital converter from • Computer interface: A wireless/wired
electrical noise. If the output data is already in interface with supporting software will
digital format, then time delays become the be developed to store/plot the real-
major concern. time/stored data on a computer.

Calibration graph of accelerometer: Acknowledgement:

I take this opportunity to express the
Acceleration Vs freq
feeling of sincere gratitude towards my project
0.25 supervisor Dr.Nalinaksh S Vyas for his valuable
0.2
guidance and encouragement, which have been
Acceleratio n (g )

the vital factors in successful completion of the

0.15 MEMS sensor(g)
present work.
0.1 Chrge Sensor (g)
I am indebted to Dr. Anjan K Gupta, Mr
0.05 L K Trivedi, Er.T V K Gupta, Er Ruchira
0 Choubisa, Mr Mohd. Mohsin and Dr Sunil Jha
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
for their generous help in providing the
Frequency (Hz)
necessary material and information required for
my work.