By Warren Miller, contributing writer
ACEINNA, a provider of inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensing technology, recently debuted the OpenIMU, which the company boasts is the first open-source GPS-/GNSS-assisted inertial navigation software stack on the market. As part of the OpenIMU Development kit, the open-source software is intended to aid in the development of localization and navigation capabilities for everything from autonomously guided vehicles (AGVs) to industrial robots and drones.
IMU-based sensor networks are a helpful tool in enhancing the internal navigation systems of all kinds of autonomous machines and vehicles. Although frequently found in airplanes (both manned and unmanned) and in spacecraft, IMUs can also be used to maneuver almost anything that relies on GPS functionality for navigational purposes. When GPS signals are unavailable to the receiver (whether they’re indoors, underground, or experiencing some kind of interference), the IMU takes over and uses previously collected data to form an impression of the device’s location and direction.
The OpenIMU software is free to download and includes documentation and a simulated setting complete with advanced sensor error models in which developers can troubleshoot their designs. Also included are an RTOS-based data collection and sampling engine, a real-time GPS/INS Kalman Filter library for navigation algorithm calibration, an IDE/compiler tool chain, and a JTAG debugger to help programmers write and debug code.
The OpenIMU hardware development kit also includes a JTAG-pod, a precision-mount fixture in addition to the OpenIMU300 module, which itself features a nine-axis gyro, accelerometer, and a magnetometer sensor suite including a 180-MHz Arm Cortex floating-point CPU. Housed in a 24 × 37 × 9.5-mm module package, the IMU operates from 2.7 VDC to 5.5 VDC.
Instructions on downloading the open-source software as well as information on pricing and product specifications are available at www.aceinna.com/openimu. To install the Open IMU stack now, follow the directions at https://developers.aceinna.com . Several free GPS/INS and IMU applications are available at ACEINNA’s Navigation app store: https://developers.aceinna.com/apps
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