MEMS and FOG Technologies for Tactical and Navigation Grade Inertial Sensors—Recent Improvements and Comparison

In the following paper, we present an industry perspective of inertial sensors for navigation purposes driven by applications and customer needs. Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) inertial sensors have revolutionized consumer, automotive, and industrial applications and they have started to fulfill the high end tactical grade performance requirements of hybrid navigation systems on a series production scale. The Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG) technology, on the other hand, is further pushed into the near navigation grade performance region and beyond. Each technology has its special pros and cons making it more or less suitable for specific applications. In our overview paper, we present latest improvements at NG LITEF in tactical and navigation grade MEMS accelerometers, MEMS gyroscopes, and Fiber Optic Gyroscopes, based on our long-term experience in the field. We demonstrate how accelerometer performance has improved by switching from wet etching to deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) technology. For MEMS gyroscopes, we show that better than 1°/h series production devices are within reach, and for FOGs we present how limitations in noise performance were overcome by signal processing. The paper also intends a comparison of the different technologies, emphasizing suitability for different navigation applications, thus providing guidance to system engineers.