Low Cost, Radiation Hardened, Inertial Measurement Unit

Proposed Department of Defense (DoD) space surveillance and weapons systems, such as the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS), require highly accurate inertial knowledge in absolute location and angular orientation in order to cooperatively track objects at significant distances. Current technologies providing these functions are not integrated into a rad-hard, light-weight, low-cost, power-efficient instrument suitable for on-gimbal placement. Applied Technology Associates (ATA) proposes to develop a prototype its innovative Rad-Hard Inertial Measurement Unit (RHIMU) based on our MDA sponsored Phase I preliminary design. The RHIMU includes the ability to provide high performance inertial attitude rate sensing in a small yet modular package, via the innovative combination of an ATA developed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) rate sensor with a high performance MEMS gyro. This hybrid triad is combined with a compact accelerometer triad to produce an IMU which is compatible with the stringent RHIMU performance goals. To realize the innovative hybrid rate sensing capability, complementary sensor-blending algorithms have been developed and implemented within rad-hard FPGA based computational electronics. The on-gimbal compatible strap-down design proposed by ATA offers reduced power, size, weight, and cost with the goal of adherence to the recently released Missile Defense Agency Common Inertial Measurement Unit Standard (MDA-STD-005 Revision 1.0). This effort offers the potential of a path to even smaller IMU development which would be compatible with micro-satellite platforms and other high performance applications wherein the ability to support long duration missions is critical.