TRAINING NOTES

CODE: 2T-13/042
IIAE Aircraft Aerodynamics, Structures And Systems
(Part-I)

INS/IRS

(INERTIAL NAVIGATION/REFERENCE SYSTEMS)

DUAL AXIS ACCELEROMETERS

 Purpose

Its purpose is to measure acceleration of the aircraft, which after integration gives the actual
direction and the distance flown.

 Principle of operation

The theory of inertia principle is applied to dual axis accelerometers.

 Construction & Operation

Because an a/c can fly in any direction, two acceleration sensors (‘X’ & ‘Y’) are required, and are
mounted on a platform in horizontal planes to sense accelerations 90 degree apart. The designations ‘X’
& ‘Y’ relate respectively to accelerations in the horizontal plane and to the east, and to similar
accelerations in the direction of local or north meridian. The outputs are vectorially added to
determine a total acceleration (A1) which after integration gives the actual direction and the distance
flown.
The accelerometers are aligned to the pitch and roll axis of an a/c, and not oriented geographically
N-S and E-W. Their output signals, however, can be related to a NE coordinate system, and while the
computer has knowledge of their orientation, it will always determine an a/c’s present position in terms of
the latitude and longitude of that position.
 TRAINING NOTES
CODE: 2T-13/042
IIAE Aircraft Aerodynamics, Structures And Systems
(Part-I)

Figure-Dual axis accelerometer

Three coordinate systems are involved in the computations performed by an INS. The XY
coordinate system is established by the XY platform, which is continuously rotated at 1 rev/min; all
acceleration sensing is done in this system.

The second system is non rotational vu coordinate system, and since the computer always
assumes that ‘v’ and ‘u’ are related to velocities in the north and east directions respectively, it utilizes
this system to perform all its calculations, the system is established by supplying the accelerometer
signals to the computer in terms of their sine and cosine components. These components are derived from
a resolver synchro controlled by the X-Y platform, and thus correspond to the initial position of the
platform (relative to an a/c’s longitudinal axis) before it begins to rotate. Since the X-Y platform can start
rotating from any position, then the X-Y and vu coordinate systems will be in error w.r.t. the earth’s non-
rotating co-ordinate system (NE) by an angle θ, which is determined during the alignment mode of the
INS.

Figure-coordinate systems
 TRAINING NOTES
CODE: 2T-13/042
IIAE Aircraft Aerodynamics, Structures And Systems
(Part-I)

The NE coordinate system is the third involved in computation and one in which position data are
finally displayed in terms of latitude and longitude. In order, therefore, to attain final alignment of the
platform with this system, the accelerometer signals are resolved from X & Y through an angle Wzt, and
a correction factor equal to angle θ is applied.