Qualification Process for Mems Gyroscopes for the Use in Navigation Systems

Navigation systems of the future will be integrated in a complex network of driver assistance systems, providing navigation data to several active and passive systems. With respect to this development, requirements concerning navigation accuracy and reliability grow rapidly; especially in urban areas with difficult navigation conditions navigation errors should be avoided carefully. Hence, systems utilize additional sensors for a reliable determination of the travelled trajectory. A qualification process for each type of sensor has to be performed before using it in navigation systems. This paper focuses on the qualification process for MEMS Gyroscopes. The market provides various rate sensors with great differences in cost and quality. It is difficult to compare the sensors only with respect to the information in the manufacturers’ data sheet because the relevant sensor parameters are differently defined and the conditions under which the parameters are valid are not necessarily equal. In order to make different sensors comparable, they have to be qualified using unified test series, exposing the sensors to realistic kinematic and environmental working conditions. Sensor errors and behaviour, potential disturbance sources and calibration procedures are discussed, and suitable test series and processing methods are presented. Main investigations focus on bias stability (zero point output, ZPO), scale factor stability, temperature influences and g-sensitivity, with tests performed on a 3 axes turn table and on a single axis turn table with climate chamber.