Page 53: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2014)

Products

VectorNav Technologies introduced the VN-300 Dual Antenna GPS-Aid- ed Inertial Navigation System (GPS/

INS). The follow-on product to the

VN-100 IMU/AHRS and VN-200

GPS/INS, the miniature VN-300 en- ables a wider range of applications through the incorporation of GPS compassing techniques.

The VN-300 can be used in a variety of industrial and military applications and is well suited for size, weight, power and cost (SWAP-C) constrained applications such as unmanned vehicle systems; antenna, camera and platform stabilization; heavy machinery moni- toring; robotics; and primary or sec- ondary fl ight navigation among others.

Incorporating the latest MEMS sen- sor technology, the VN-300 combines 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis gyros, 3-axis magnetometers, a barometric pressure sensor, two GPS receivers, as well as a low-power micro-processor into a rugged aluminum enclosure about the size of a matchbox. When in motion, the VN-300 couples the posi- tion and velocity measurements from the onboard GPS receivers with mea- surements from the onboard inertial sensors to provide position, velocity and attitude estimates of higher accu- racies and with better dynamic perfor- mance than a standalone GPS receiver or Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS). The dual GPS receivers in- corporated into the VN-300 also pro- vide the added benefi t of accurate True

North heading measurements when the sensor is stationary through the use of GPS compassing techniques.

The VN-300 is suited for applications that require a highly accurate inertial navigation solution under both static and dynamic operating conditions, es- pecially in environments with unreli- able magnetic heading and good GPS visibility.

VN-300 Features: The VN-300 has favorable size, weight, and power requirement characteristics With Development Kits priced around $5,000, the VN-300 is com- petitively priced The GPS compass feature cou- pled with the GPS/INS capabilities on the VN-300 enables applications that require high accuracy position, velocity, and attitude measurements under both static and dynamic oper- ating conditions. The algorithms on board the

VN-300 enable applications to seamlessly transition between static and dynamic operations without having to collect extended station- ary measurements or perform spe- cifi c dynamic maneuvers in fl ight for attitude alignment. The VN-300 incorporates a “True INS Filter” that does not force any requirements on align- ment of the sensor to the velocity direction of a platform or specify the orientation of the sensor for initial alignment. “The VN-300 is unique in that it pro- vides a complete, high performance

GPS-aided navigation solution under both stationary and moving condi- tions, all in a miniature and cost-ef- fective package,” said John Brashear,

President, VectorNav. “By addressing some of the most diffi cult issues users face when trying to integrate an iner- tial navigation system, the VN-300 will enable an unprecedented number of applications.” e: [email protected]

VectorNav Launches

VN-300 www.seadiscovery.com

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