Improving the Navigation Performance of the MEMS IMU Array by Precise Calibration

Using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) inertial measurement unit (IMU) array composed of multiple low-cost IMUs can reduce the measurement errors of inertial sensors, and improve its navigation performance. However, there is doubt about the benefit of the IMU array in the scene of GNSS/INSdynamic navigation. Therefore, to evaluate the navigation performance of the arrays, we developed four groups of IMU arrays, each containing 16 MEMS IMUs. Each IMU was accurately calibrated and compensated to improve the performance. The field experiments proved that the navigation accuracy of the IMU array improved by 3.4 times statistically over a single IMU, which is close to the theoretical limit, i.e., 4 times. Comparison data processing indicated that the individual IMU calibration reduced the horizontal position error of the array by 54% on average, which confirms that the precise calibration of each IMU, especially the cross-axis effect and mounting angles, is crucial to the array’s navigation performance. This research provides firm experimental support for the application of IMU arrays in the field of navigation.