Angular Rate Esimtation Using an Array of Fixed and Vibrating Triaxial Acceleration Measurements

Abstract

The work reported here describes a method for estimating angular velocity and angular acceleration of a body using clusters of seven triaxial linear acceleration measurements. Four of the triaxial sensors are fixed to the body while three of the sensors vibrate at a constant frequency with respect to the body. Unlike other existing solutions to this problem, the method described here does not require integration and also properly resolves the algebraic sign of the angular rates. After describing the basic method, the paper conducts an error analysis to identify critical design parameters of this sensor concept. The basic algorithm is shown to work well even in the presence of sensor noise, bias and cross axis sensitivity. Practical issues such as the required number of sensors, sensor arrangement, data fusion, and quantization errors are addressed.