Suggestions on Which IMU to buy?

[Yang]

We are planning to buy an IMU for our school UAV project. We want to integrate the commercial IMU either to paparazzi autopilot or our own autopilot using gumstix.

The closest one may be o-navi Phoenix-nx unit since they are about $1000 . But they do not have magonometer sensor to measure the angles.
---------- o-navi ----------------
3-axis gyro for angular rate
3-axis acceleration
absolute and relative pressure sensor
GPS
--------------------------------------------------

know Kestrel autopilot from Procerus has 2/3-axis magemeter. So does MNAV from Crossbow. But they stopped producing them for some reason.
----------mnav sensors----------------
3-axis magnemeter
3-axis gyro for angular rate
3-axis acceleration
absolute and relative pressure sensor
U-blox GPS
--------------------------------------------------

Do u guys have any recommendations about similar IMU? Maybe less than $2000 and similar sensor sets.
One last question is : is the magetometer or compass necessary for UAV control? Maybe integrate gyro sensor to get angle??? I guess an accurate magetic sensor can give a better heading information.

Thanks.
Haiyang

[DrDon]

We produce a GPS/IMU combinination sensor for unmanned systems applications.
Our sensor:
RS232 binary and/or NMEA ASCII communication protocols
Requires NO user calibration
Dynamic adaptive online calibration algorithm
7-24V input voltage
Multiple GPS antenna options: (Integrated Active/Passive, External Active)
Outputs Euler angles (Roll, Pitch, Yaw), Angular rates, and Linear Accelerations

Dr Don
http://www.iat-llc.com
Automation Sensors, Systems, and Services

[Tuner]

Can you give an idea of cost. I like your products and for some reason until now I have never heard of your company glad to find ya.


Haiyang,
I am currently holding an Atair Aerospace INU. It ran me 2500 and mind you this is just an IMU not an Autopilot.

That said so fare I have yet to find an INU with the features of the Atair Aerospace INU.

They were very patient and helpful over at Atair but not cheap mind you.

[AntonK]

In reference to Yangs post. Can you explain how you would get angles from the magnetometer. Its been my knowledge that you need accurate angles from a IMU to even make sense of the Mag data.

Secondly, I agree that you need to decide whether you want to do the filtering yourself, or get a unit that filters itself, like DrDon has shown.

Anton

[DrDon]

Tuner

We maintain very competitive pricing compared with our domestic and international competitors. Please contact us directly if you are interested in our product lines because can provide price reductions for volume/educational/government purchases. We pride ourselves with providing a product that is robust and requires no calibration from the user.

In response to Antonk's question, you need the entire suite of sensors to provide the complete orientation solution in a dynamic environment. We have performed years of research involving IMUs from various vendors and sensors from various manufacturers. As I have said in other posts, the magnetometer solution is NOT trivial and I invite anyone with a raw magnetometer onhand to examine the data as the results will surprise you.

Depending on what your interest is regarding unmanned systems, there are various levels of GPS/IMU sensor available for purchase. To be frank, if you want good, robust state estimates you will be spending ALOT of money on good quality raw sensors alone. If your interests lie in estimating the states of your UAV using raw sensors, by all means a raw IMU sensor should serve you well. But if you are interested in remote sensing, aircraft control, target tracking, or any of the many other topics regarding unmanned systems, we provide a modular sensor package that can reduce processing overhead and provide you with basic information required by UGV/UAV/USV developers.

DrDon
http://www.iat-llc.com
"Automation Sensors, Systems, and Services"

[drex]

our OSD full IMU also has xbee in it...

a little bit of everything and modular and expandable!!

retails for 299.

3 axis mag is optional addon.

check it out.

www.TheSiliconHorizon.com


one of the cheapest and most featured IMU out there.

we use the sannav 32 channel GPS.

MMA7260Q 3 axis accelo with G select 1.5,2,4,6 G's..
3 axis of IDG300 from invensense

and the MicroMag magnetomter via SPI port.

also has an OSD.

also has an Xbee for 15 miles of Xbee XSC telemetry data.

:D :D

[Unterhausen]

drex, thought you weren't ready to sell yet

[drex]

just waiting on IDG300 chips...

we are already selling our scaled down version without the IMU...

however for those of you who can attach the gyro chips themselves there is a cheaper option for you!

you could buy our IMU-less version and use your hot air rework station to attach your own IDG 300 chips.

that would give you a full IMU for about $~220 dollars (thats including the 2 IDG 300 chips) + all the features of our OSD, Xbee and ports too.

thats pretty sweet.

it aint too hard to do an IDG 300 on a rework station.

u just need a magnifier :)

:D :D

[drex]

oh yah, and we sell Z axis IDG 300 bare pcb's too !!!

see we have thought of everythign for the IMU do it yourselfer :)

but yes soon we will have them in stock.

:)

[drex]

it aint too hard to attach IDF 300's by hand either!!

they have some of the pads come up on the sides... so yah you can hold the part down on the pad with good orientation to the pads.. (still need the magnifier lightring to see it good...)

then just rub some solder paste with a paintbrush on all 4 sides... not too much now!!.....

put your hot air rework pen / station output on 1 side at a time and visually inspect that the pads arent connected.

alot of the IDG 300's pins arent connected to anything and are NC's...

so if you guys know people with rework stations it can be done for the cheapest price of all!!

:D :D :D

i have always been for saving money for our customers.

[DrDon]

We have performed several tests to demonstrate integration of the SmartIMU sensor for unmanned system automation.

Attached are some plots of UGV and UAV automation tests. These demonstrate Yaw tracking for UGV waypoint navigation and pitch tracking for UAV control.

We are preparing for a new production batch and have a few units that we are willing to discount for educational projects.

DrDon
Innovative Automation Technologies, LLC
http://www.iat-llc.com
"Automation Sensors, Systems, and Services"

[carguy84]

Can you give an idea of cost.
Please contact us directly if you are interested in our product lines
Hi, welcome to the Internet, enjoy your stay.

[mentari]

Tuner

We maintain very competitive pricing compared with our domestic and international competitors. Please contact us directly if you are interested in our product lines because can provide price reductions for volume/educational/government purchases. We pride ourselves with providing a product that is robust and requires no calibration from the user.

In response to Antonk's question, you need the entire suite of sensors to provide the complete orientation solution in a dynamic environment. We have performed years of research involving IMUs from various vendors and sensors from various manufacturers. As I have said in other posts, the magnetometer solution is NOT trivial and I invite anyone with a raw magnetometer onhand to examine the data as the results will surprise you.

Depending on what your interest is regarding unmanned systems, there are various levels of GPS/IMU sensor available for purchase. To be frank, if you want good, robust state estimates you will be spending ALOT of money on good quality raw sensors alone. If your interests lie in estimating the states of your UAV using raw sensors, by all means a raw IMU sensor should serve you well. But if you are interested in remote sensing, aircraft control, target tracking, or any of the many other topics regarding unmanned systems, we provide a modular sensor package that can reduce processing overhead and provide you with basic information required by UGV/UAV/USV developers.

DrDon
http://www.iat-llc.com
"Automation Sensors, Systems, and Services"


Do you export to South Africa ?