Strapdown Gyro Latitude Finder

Abstract

A new method for latitude determination for the fixed base is presented. The method is based on strapdown inertial technol-ogy. The Inertial Measurement Unit is used for latitude determination. The IMU is composed of accelerometers, gyroscopes and a signal processing circuit. It is shown that permanent base declination has no influence on the latitude determination. Experiments have demonstrated that using this method, the latitude can be received. The IMU experiments were conducted with ring laser gyroscopes and pendulum accelerometers. An error model of latitude determination method is developed. It is discussed that error of the latitude determination depends on errors of gyroscopes and accelerometers.