What is the difference between an Inertial Navigation System

(INS), Attitude & Heading Reference System (AHRS) and Inertial

Measurement Unit (IMU)?
The output of an IMU is raw sensor data from the accelerometer (linear acceleration),
gyroscope (rotational rates) and optionally a magnetometer (magnetic heading).
This information can be used for measuring the motion of an object in 3 dimensions (for
example, am I pointing up and how fast am I spinning). An attitude heading and reference
system (AHRS) contains an IMU, however, it also has onboard processing that applies
filtering/sensor fusion to the IMU data to accurately determine the orientation (represented as
roll, pitch and heading/yaw), velocity and relative position.
An AHRS coupled with a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that provides absolute
position and velocity information is referred to as an inertial navigation system (INS). An
INS fuses AHRS and GNSS information to provide a very reliable representation of a
system’s absolute position, orientation and velocity.

How does an AHRS work?

An AHRS is comprised of IMUs (inertial measurement unit) on three orthogonal axes
(commonly referred to as X, Y and Z). Typically these IMUs contain:
 Accelerometers
 Gyroscopes
 Magnetometers
Accelerometers measure the linear force acting on the vehicle. This includes gravity, which is
used to determine the orientation of the vehicle with respect to the centre of the Earth.
Gyroscopes measure the rotational force acting on the vehicle.
Magnetometers measure magnetic fields. If the position of the vehicle is known, the vehicle
heading relative to magnetic north can be determined. Heading relative to True North can
also be found due to the known declination value.
Additional sensors can be incorporated to assist an AHRS. A common addition is the use of a
dual antenna GNSS receiver (global navigation satellite system). By using two GNSS
antennas the vehicle heading can be determined to a much higher accuracy.
If minimal SWaP-C is not required, higher accuracy gyroscopes based on fibre optic
technologies (FOG) can dramatically increase attitude and heading accuracy.

Why use heading reference systems?

AHRS are often made from micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS. Therefore the
compact and lightweight nature of an AHRS allows it to be used in vessels that require a
small SWaP-C (size, weight, power and cost).
This small SWaP-C makes AHRS ideal for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) which need
accurate measurements but can’t carry an instrument that is heavy or bulky.
Typically an AHRS is used for:
 Surveying
 Autonomous manufacturing robots
 Underwater navigation
 Surface marine navigation
 Tracking human movement for sports science
How does an AHRS work?
An AHRS is comprised of IMUs (inertial measurement unit) on three orthogonal axes
(commonly referred to as X, Y and Z). Typically these IMUs contain:
 Accelerometers
 Gyroscopes
 Magnetometers
Accelerometers measure the linear force acting on the vehicle. This includes gravity, which is
used to determine the orientation of the vehicle with respect to the centre of the Earth.
Gyroscopes measure the rotational force acting on the vehicle.
Magnetometers measure magnetic fields. If the position of the vehicle is known, the vehicle
heading relative to magnetic north can be determined. Heading relative to True North can
also be found due to the known declination value.
Additional sensors can be incorporated to assist an AHRS. A common addition is the use of a
dual antenna GNSS receiver (global navigation satellite system). By using two GNSS
antennas the vehicle heading can be determined to a much higher accuracy.
If minimal SWaP-C is not required, higher accuracy gyroscopes based on fibre optic
technologies (FOG) can dramatically increase attitude and heading accuracy.

The Difference Between IMU, AHRS, and

INS
Shopping around for an inertial sensor, people think of INS, aka inertial
navigation system. Maybe you need an IMU, which is super simple.
Understanding the difference between IMU, AHRS, and INS is going to help pick
the right product for your specific application. Be sure to watch the video
below as Morgan explains the difference between IMU and AHRS, as well as a
complete breakdown of INS.

What Does IMU Stand for?

The term IMU stands for “Inertial Measurement Unit”. An IMU only consists of a
magnetometer, accelerometer, and gyro. Sometimes magnetometer is not included
in the package. It will not have a smart-system.
What Does AHRS Stand for?
AHRS stands for attitude heading reference system and includes a GPS but no
Kalman filter. It has all the benefits of the IMU, plus GPS position. This is a good
fit if there is already a filter in mind to be designed or already incorporated.
What Does INS Mean?
INS is an inertial navigation system. It takes all the sensors, fusing them into one
system. It knows exactly where it is in the world based on just that output. An
inertial navigation system is not a GPS. It has a Kalman filter in it, which is how
the sensor itself fuses all the individual parts into one and gives navigation output
with everything incorporated. It has a sensor fusion built into the device, giving a
more accurate output, and includes a gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer, and
GPS. This allows your robot to understand where it is in the world.
What Is a Kalman Filter & RTK?
The Kalman filter is a software package. The Kalman filter gives a fused output
that the rest of your robot can run on. RTK, real-time kinematics, is a process
where GPS position is taken from a base station, and output corrections are sent to
your rover. The value of using an RTK base is if you work off any type of
triangulation base, you can get a position. With the two GPS system combination,
you can get centimeter-level accuracy. This is only available in the inertial
navigation system. Another feature only accessible with INS is compassing. Based
on the distance between the two GPS positions, you can derive heading, giving
accurate heading dimensions to your regular navigation system.
The be-all solution that everyone really wants is, can I get great compassing
heading and have position accuracy too with RTK? The answer is yes!
The Difference Between IMU, AHRS, and INS
When customers visit our website or they’re shopping around for a sensor, an
inertial sensor for their product, they’re going to often think of an INS and that’s
all. They just heard INS. that’s not really the case. Maybe they actually need an
IMU, which is actually super simple. And they’re looking at a completely
different price point. Understanding that there is a difference between an IMU, an
AHRS, and INS is going to help pick the right product for your specific
application.
The biggest misconception that people have about an INS is that it’s just a GPS.
It’s not a GPS. It has a Kalman filter in it, it has a sensor fusion built into the
device. It gives you a much more accurate output. It’s a very high-quality device
generally. So, an INS is going to include a Kalman filter, which is going to consist
of how the sensor itself fuses all of the individual parts into one and gives you
navigation output with everything incorporated. This also includes gyro,
magnetometer, and accelerometer. And in the INS solution, it also includes GPS.
So it’ll take those things and give you a navigation output that your robot can then
use to understand where it is in the world.
What Is An IMU?
When you’re looking to implement an IMU, it is important to recognize that it is
just going to be magnetometer, accelerometer, and gyro. Sometimes magnetometer
won’t be included in that package. And it will just be the random number that
those little devices will end up spitting out. And it won’t have any smarts in it. It’s
just going to pump out numbers. This would actually be very beneficial to use is
in a camera, a stationary camera, that all you care about is just knowing whether
it’s pointing at the ground or pointing at the ceiling. It’s very basic, not a whole
lot to it. But again, there’s no position or anything else to it.
A lot of people, when they’re looking for a solution for their given application
they’re gonna start at an INS level, which includes the magnetometer, gyro, and
accelerometer. But it also includes a GPS, and it will fuse all of those sensors
together to give you a robust navigation output that your system can actually use
to drive around the world, and knows exactly where it’s at.
So an IMU actually stands for inertial measurement unit. And that’s all it is. It’s
just a simple, basic unit.
How Is AHRS Beneficial?
The next step up from there is AHRS, which stands for attitude heading reference
system, and that is going to actually include GPS. While it doesn’t actually
include a Kalman filter, it does give you all the benefits of the IMU, plus the GPS
position.
An AHRS unit would be a good fit for the people that already have a filter in mind
that they’ve designed, or already incorporated, and they just want more sensor
data pumped into it.
Is INS For Me?
And then the next step up from the AHRS is the INS, that everybody is familiar
with the term INS. And that one, it stands for inertial navigation system. And as
the name implies, it is a smart system. It will take all of those sensors, it will fuse
them into an output that your system doesn’t have to do anything more with. It
knows exactly where it is in the world based on just that output. You don’t need to
send it to anything else.
The INS has what’s called the Kalman filter, and that is what fuses in the various
sensors used in the device. The Kalman filter is actually a software package. most
of the time that the sensor outputs are fed into. And then the Kalman filter gives
you a fused output that the rest of your robot can actually run on. Some of the
extra features that you can have that are exclusive to an INS is being able to use
RTK. RTK, real-time kinematics is a process where you take a GPS position from
a base station, and you output corrections over to your rover, which is generally
your robot that is moving around. And in doing this combination of two GPS
systems, you’re able to get centimeter-level accuracy. And this is only, you can
only do this with an INS system.
Another feature that can only be used with INS is actually compassing. This is a
newer technology, but it’s still only usable in an INS solution. And what this is is
where you take GPS one and you add a GPS two. You have two GPS’s for a single
device. But based off the distance between those two GPS positions, you can then
derive heading between the two. And that gives you a very accurate heading
dimension to your regular navigation system.
The Importance of Compassing
The reason why compassing is such a great improvement for an INS solution is
because you’re able to get down to a much smaller accuracy than say, a
magnetometer. And a magnetometer is based off of an earth magnetic field, and
whether you’re pointing North, it’s a compass. But when you’re using GPS, it
doesn’t care where North is really. Because it will always be able to derive your
heading based off of those two GPS’s. And it’s not going to be affected by a piece
of metal going over it, it won’t be affected by your cell phone. It’ll just always
work as long as you have a GPS position.
In The End…
So one of the end-all, be-all solutions that everybody really wants is, well I can
get great compassing heading, well can I have position accuracy too with RTK?
And the answer is yes. You can actually put them together. You just end up kind
of doing a merge of the two. You’ll have your base station, and then you’ll have a
rover that has two GPS. and it works the exact same way as RTK. You get the
base position information sent over to the rover, and then it does its position fix,
and then it also can take the heading information off of the two GPS positions, and
really give you a precise heading and position solution for your application. The
compassing actually works off of the similar system to RTK. It actually runs the
exact same library as the RTK solution. But it’s using that information as a local
base instead of a remote base. Where an RTK system, you have a base station off
somewhere else, now you have a moving base that makes and consist of
compassing. And it’s those two base positions working together in an RTK
solution that actually gives you compassing heading.
The value of using an RTK base is that if you work any type of triangulation based
off of that base, you’re able to get that position. Triangulation works on three
points. In this case, you have an RTK base, you have a satellite, and then you also
have your rover. And based off of the dimensions of that triangle that you then
draw, is how we’re able to actually get an RTK position down to the centimeter-
level of accuracy.
An INS with compassing still suffers from the basic GPS position. GPS in general
is hard to get better than one meter of accuracy. And compassing is going to still
suffer from that. While we are able to derive an accurate heading of two GPS
positions on our rover, we cannot derive a more accurate physical position
information out of those two. You can average them, but that won’t give you any
more accuracy.

The 4 Grades Of IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units)

There are 4 grades of IMUs. Each of these grades serves a different purpose for
customers with different needs. Watch the video below as Carson goes through
the 4 grades of IMUs.

Consumer Grade IMUs

Consumer-grade IMUs are made for automotive and commercial use. These
inertial measurement units have the lowest cost of each of the 4 grades of IMUs.
These units range in price from $60 to $100. These inexpensive units are not very
intuitive. They don’t have added calibration, and they require significant
integration time. These units are most commonly found in cell phones.

Industrial Grade IMUs

Industrial-grade IMUs are slightly more expensive than consumer-grade but are
still moderately cost-effective. They range from $100 to $1,000 each. These pieces
are able to navigate in a GPS-denied environment for up to one minute. They are
typically used in vehicles and industrial robotics.

Tactical Grade IMUs

Tactical grade IMUs have significantly higher specifications than industrial and
consumer. Along with these higher specifications comes a higher price point that
ranges from $5,000 to $25,000. Tactical grade units can navigate in GPS-denied
environments for up to 10 minutes. They have improved acceleration and in-run
gyro bias stability. In other words, the sensor’s bias has greatly increased
accuracy. These tactical-grade units are used in applications that need excellent
capabilities and are not stifled by low budgets. They are most often used in
military applications, ground robots, vehicles attempting to navigate in GPS-
denied environments, and robotics. These tactical grade units are now offered by
Inertial Sense.

Navigational Grade IMUs

Navigational grade IMUs are those that are rarely used in commercial applications
with budget constraints. These inertial measurement units often cost around
$100,000. They are used for navigating in GPS-denied environments for hours at a
time. The extremely high specs available in inertial measurement units are used in
commercial airlines, satellites, and space shuttles .

What’s the Difference Between GPS and GNSS?

To this day, the question that still circulates: what is the difference between GPS
and GNSS? Watch the video below as Carson explains the difference!
We know GPS as the go-to for finding an address, a restaurant, any location, and
even being able to share your location with others. But there is more to it than
that.
GPS, traditionally, refers to the North American global positioning system, or
satellite positioning system. This is how we can access locations. If there is any
interference with the signal, it affects the location and information sent.
GNSS is a term that refers to the International Multi-Constellation Satellite
System. This means that there is now access to more than just the GPS satellite,
but other information that bases the data on more than just satellites.
GNSS typically includes GPS, GLONASS, Baidu, Galileo, and many other
constellation systems.
So remember, when you use GNSS, you are not only using all available satellites
for global positioning but satellite constellation systems as well.

How Does RTK Provide GPS with Centimeter-Level

Accuracy?
We all want as accurate information as possible when it comes to data and
pinpointing location. And it is possible. Watch the video below as Walt explains
how RTK can allow GPS signals to provide centimeter-level accuracy.
RTK stands for real-time kinematic. It takes a correction service from an already
surveyed GPS base station and applies that correction to the rover or the moving
GPS system. It is then able to correct for atmospheric distortions and any errors in
the existing GPS system. This changes your data information from meter-level
accuracy positioning to centimeter-level accuracy and positioning.
Because the GPS system is triangulating itself off GPS signals from moving
satellites in free space, the satellite signal is traveling through great distances of
atmosphere. These distances of atmosphere affect the speed at which the signal
arrives at the GPS receiver.
The position estimate is critical to the timing of these signals. Weather conditions
and time of day are just a few factors that can affect the signal. Because the
atmosphere changes and the time of arrival changes on each of those signals, the
actual position estimate will vary.
Air is also a factor in the GPS signal themselves. RTK then takes a correction
from a surveyed known location that is in relatively close proximity to the rover.
This can be up to 20 miles. It then applies that correction to account for these
atmospheric distortions and errors. You now have a better understanding of how
RTK provides GPS with centimeter-level accuracy.