Fast Field Calibration of MIMU Based on the Powell Algorithm

The calibration of micro inertial measurement units is important in ensuring the precision of navigation systems, which are equipped with microelectromechanical system sensors that suffer from various errors. However, traditional calibration methods cannot meet the demand for fast field calibration. This paper presents a fast field calibration method based on the Powell algorithm. As the key points of this calibration, the norm of the accelerometer measurement vector is equal to the gravity magnitude, and the norm of the gyro measurement vector is equal to the rotational velocity inputs. To resolve the error parameters by judging the convergence of the nonlinear equations, the Powell algorithm is applied by establishing a mathematical error model of the novel calibration. All parameters can then be obtained in this manner. A comparison of the proposed method with the traditional calibration method through navigation tests shows the classic performance of the proposed calibration method. The proposed calibration method also saves more time compared with the traditional calibration method.