Novel North Orienting Device

The US military uses unattended ground sensors (UGS) to provide situational awareness for remote battlefield applications. Currently, many UGS units are equipped with a magnetic compass. A magnetic compass, however, is sensitive to local mineralogy (deposits of magnetite or iron ore) and power lines. In addition, the equipment itself may also create a magnetic bias. We propose a novel North Orientation Device (NOD) which comprises two non-magnetic azimuth sensing technologies: A Celestial Compass and a MEMS tuning fork gyro compass. The combination of the two technologies will provide the best possible azimuth solution under all weather conditions and in the presence of magnetic abnormalities, while minimizing size, weight and power. Under clear and partly cloudy skies, the Celestial Compass provides highly accurate and nearly instantaneous azimuth measurements. In bad weather, the MEMS tuning fork gyro will determine the bearings to targets. In Phase I, we will design the overall system architecture, assemble, test and evaluate all critical components, fabricate a breadboard prototype and demonstrate that the prototype meets the key requirements of the solicitation. In Phase II, we will refine and ruggedize the system and build 10 prototypes for testing.