Cockpit Helmet Tracking System Using Miniature Inertial Reference Sensors

InterSense has previously developed ultra-miniature (0.6 in.3) MEMS-based inertial measurement units for human motion tracking. In this SBIR, we apply them to cockpit helmet-tracking by developing algorithms for differential inertial tracking between helmet-mounted and aircraft-mounted inertial sensors, and novel optical techniques. By fusing low-rate inside-out and outside-in optical measurements with high-rate inertial data, we achieve sub-millimeter position and sub-milliradian angular accuracy, low-latency and high robustness using small and inexpensive sensors. During Phase I we demonstrated a prototype tracking system and begun to evaluate its performance. By means of this working prototype, we have proven the viability of the proposed approach. In Phase II we propose to develop powerful auto-calibration procedures to achieve quick and accurate cockpit installation and pre-flight alignment, build a prototype using NVG-compatible optical wavelengths for covert operation, and develop hardware and software to mitigate the effects of helicopter vibration on the tracking system. We plan to use a spiral development methodology with three cycles of system improvement and test. The first involves ground-vehicle test, the second is an airborne tracking system flight test, and the third is a flight test with the tracking system fully integrated into the cockpit and helmet-mounted display.