Test and error parameter estimation for MEMS — based low cost IMU calibration

A new method is presented to calibrate a low-quality, MEMS-based Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The proposed method consists of a novel dynamic test-setup with a combination of a single-axis rate-table and an attitude change mount, to overcome the limitations in the conventional calibrations with the static or quasi-static test-setups. A Fourier Transform method is deployed in the proposed scheme to estimate the error parameters including bias, scale factor, and misalignment of the accelerometers and rate gyros. Compared to the commonly used Recursive Least Squares method, the Fourier Transform method is more efficient in terms of the computation time, yet it resulted in comparable or improved results in the series of verification tests in this study.

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