Benefits of combined GNSS Inertial Navigation NovAtel’s SPAN Technology brings together two different, but complementary technologies: GNSS positioning and Inertial Navigation. The absolute accuracy of GNSS positioning and the stability of IMU gyro and accelerometer measurements combine to provide a 3D position, velocity and attitude solution. Unlike GNSS-only navigation systems, the solution is stable and continuously available, even through periods when GNSS signals are blocked.

Why NovAtel SPAN Technology?
The foundation of SPAN Technology is its tightly coupled design that affords exceptional GNSS performance in addition to superior bridging capability when GNSS reception is restricted. Tight integration means satellite data is utilized even when a GNSS position is unavailable.

Furthermore, SPAN Technology delivers dramatically faster GNSS signal reacquisition resulting in more GNSS measurements available to aid the inertial solution. This GNSS acquisition advantage results in enhanced RTK performance while maintaining precise inertial navigation during reduced satellite coverage. All GNSS and inertial data processing is performed onboard the OEMV receiver. The IMU is housed in a separate enclosure from the GNSS card, so the system remains modular. Existing Propak- V3 (RS-422) customers can upgrade their receivers to INS capable models by purchasing a firmware upgrade.

All configuration and data collection is done through the receiver’s standard serial ports using a simple command and log interface. Once the hardware is installed, the system can be configured for operation in minutes.

Specific benefits of the iIMAR-FSAS SPAN system
The FSAS-EI-SN IMU is manufactured in Germany by iIMAR. The IMU features closed-loop technology with gyro biases of less than 0.75 degrees per hour and accelerometer biases of less than 1mg. The IMU is triggered by the NovAtel receiver so that all IMU measurements are time synchronized to GNSS measurements. For commercial applications, this IMU is available within 2 months ARO and only German export approval is necessary.

Features

• 35,000 hour MTBF
• German commercial export approved
• 200 Hz output rate
• Synchronized GNSS and INS output

   Download the NovAtel FSAS Datasheet (PDF)