Automated Calibration System for IMU Based on Database and LabVIEW

The calibration of Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is the premise of inertial navigation. It includes series of test items, takes a long time, and requires lots of data transferring and calculating operations. Traditional manual method is difficult to ensure its reliability and efficiency. This paper presented an automated IMU calibration system with three layers: the test hardware devices, the calibration software and the calibration database. Calibration software controlled the tests running in the temperature box, on the turntable, vibration table and marble horizontal table. Calibration database stored the test data and calibration parameters. Through the LabVIEW aided database technique, the system not only completed all the test items but also integrated and simplified the calibration procedure. The verification test results showed that the system improved the calibration efficiency and enhanced the calibration reliability greatly.