Ctrl-P to Print

Micro Inertial Navigation Technology (MINT)

Program Manager: Dr. Amit Lal

MINT seeks the creation of micro and nano scale low-power navigation sensors that allow long term (hours to days) GPS denied precision navigation. The goal of the MINT program is to create high-precision navigation aiding sensors that directly measure intermediate inertial variables, such as velocity and distance, to mitigate the error growth encountered by integrating signals from accelerometers and gyroscopes alone. The combination of microscale inertial sensors in addition to aiding sensors such as velocity sensors can be integrated for a form-factor of one or two integrated circuits. Such an integrated sensor suite could be equipped into the sole of a shoe, for accurate and precise velocity sensing using zero velocity events during walk. MINT technology would be of great aid to navigation within GPS-denied environments and possibly providing navigation accuracy better than GPS even after several hours of walking. A second goal of the program is to combine IMUs and velocity sensors for flight control. The ability to measure relative velocities accurately would enhance the UAV’s ability to navigate amongst multiple UAVs avoiding collisions much like swarms of birds. Sensors should be small enough to be placed in small compartments, such as the shoe sole or small UAVs. The power consumption of the sensors should be small, ideally compatible with energy harvested during locomotion, so that the weight load due to batteries is eliminated or greatly minimized. MINT sensor technologies aim to operate over wide temperature ranges and shock environments found within DOD applications.