Low Noise Miniature IMU for Harsh Space Environment

We propose a new approach for to the design and fabrication of miniaturized Interferometric Fiber Optical Gyroscope (FOG) that enables the production of smaller IRU and IMU with substantially reduced noise (ARW) and better bias performance as well as environmental robustness combined with radiation hardness.The gyro noise is reduced by a factor of 4 by utilizing an innovative approach for the light source noise reduction. The gyrorsquo;s sensitivity to vibration is substantially reduced by implementation of new signal processing algorithm and advance sensorrsquo;s optical and mechanical design enabling the gyrosrsquo; operation without the need for mechanical isolation, enabling smaller and lighter system size. The sensor is using a new radiation hard fiber that can operate with little degradation in harsh radiation environment i.e. during Jovian missions without the need for additional shields for the gyro optical head.The combination of these attributes supports smaller, lower cost, and higher performance IMUs that can serve future NASA mission needs.These nbsp;innovative technologies enable a concept for a miniaturized tactical IMU based on the above technology (lt; 0.5 deg/hr bias over temperature and ARW of 0.0065 deg/rt-hr) with a volume as small lt;26 cubic inches and potential miniaturization to lt; 15 cube inch. Other possible applications include lt; 35 cube inch IMU (about LN200 size) delivering closer to navigation grade performance, with ARW lt;0.0035 deg/rt-hr and bias residual over temperature of lt; 0.2 deg/hr; and 90 cube inch IMU is expected to enable ARWnbsp; lt;0.0006 deg/rt/hr with lt; 0.01 deg/hr bias.