IMU (Pi compatible)

Key Words

IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)

This is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and sometimes the orientation of the body, using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes and sometimes magnetometers.

Used to maneuver aircraft, UAVs, spacecraft, satellites etc.

Rugged

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Common Communication Protocols

• I2C or I²C (Inter Integrated Circuit Protocol)

• SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface)

• CAN (Controller Area Network)

• UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter

Both (I2C and SPI) are usually compatible with most IMUs but should cross check which one is preferred.

We only want accelerometer and gyroscope and that can be connected to Rasberry Pi. Some IMUS come with a magnetometer which helps to give more accurate orientation measurements.

Ideally be reused but cost and size are bigger factors.

In terms of current needs and longevity an industrial or tactical IMU may be preferred.

Ongoing Research and Questions

• What’s our budget??

• Research on Kalman filtering algorithms (appears in most industrial grade IMUs from research so far)

• Max size of circuit

• Need for “ruggedness”

• Find out what “ruggedness” means

• How does packaging factor into requirements

• Surface vs Chassis Mount

• Necessary grades/standards of IMU

Code Examples (interfacing with Rasberry Pi)

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