INS/GPS Technology Trends

This paper focuses on accuracy and other technology trends for inertial sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and integrated Inertial Navigation System (INS)/GPS systems, including considerations of interference, that will lead to better than 1 meter accuracy navigation systems of the future. For inertial sensors, trend-setting sensor technologies will be described. A vision of the inertial sensor instrument field and strapdown inertial systems for the future is given. Planned accuracy improvements for GPS are described. The trend towards deep integration of INS/GPS is described, and the synergistic benefits are explored. Some examples of the effects of interference are described, and expected technology trends to improve system robustness are presented. Inertial navigation systems have progressed from the crude electromechanical devices that guided the early V-2 rockets (Figure 1a) to the current solid-state devices that are in many modern vehicles. The impetus for this significant progress came during the ballistic missile programs of the 1960s, in which the need for high accuracy at ranges of thousands of kilometers using autonomous navigation systems was apparent. B