Inertial System & GPS Technology Trends

This presentation presents a roadmap for the development of inertial sensors, the Global Positioning System (GPS), and integrated inertial navigation system (INS)/GPS technology. This roadmap will lead to better than 1-m accuracy, low-cost, moving platform navigation in the near future. Such accuracy will enable military and civilian applications which were previously unthought of a few years ago. After a historical perspective, a vision of the inertial sensor instrument field and inertial systems for the future is given. Accuracy and other planned improvements for GPS are explained. The trend from loosely coupled to tightly-coupled INS/GPS systems to deeply-integrated INS/GPS is described, and the synergistic benefits are explored. Some examples of the effects of GPS interference and jamming are illustrated. Expected technology improvements to system robustness are also described. Applications that will be made possible by this new technology include personal navigation systems, robotic navigation, and autonomous systems with unprecedented low cost and accuracy.