Navigation Sensors for Autonomous Mobilities
Unlocking the Future of Autonomous Systems
According to leading analysts at YOLE Development, the high-performance MEMS inertial and pressure sensors market is valued at €2 billion and growing at a 10% CAGR. This surge is driven by new applications in autonomous systems and precise activity monitoring across industries such as defense, robotics, logistics, agriculture, mapping, and automotive.
NEW USE CASES
IN DEFENSE, ROBOTICS, LOGISTICS, AGRICULTURE, MAPPING, AUTOMOTIVE
Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAV)
Survey Mapping Equipment
Remotely Operated Vehicles
Industrial Robotics
ADAS / Autonomous Driving
Inertial sensors are critical for drone stability, navigation and autonomous flight in modern drone warfare, where speed, accuracy and survivability determine mission success. They enable precision targeting by compensating for wind, turbulence and GPS-jamming or spoofing thus enhancing mission resilience.
Inertial sensors play an important role in survey mapping with drones, aircraft or mobile mapping systems. Inertial sensors provide continuous high frequency data about the platform movement even when GNSS signals are weak or unavailable. They also help georeferencing LIDAR point clouds by recording the exact position and orientation of the LIDAR scanner during data collection. This ensure that the 3D models generated are accurate and aligned with real-world coordinates and can reduce ground control points saving time and labour.
Inertial sensors are the backbone of ROV navigation and control, enabling precise, reliable, operation in environments where traditional positioning fail. Their role is to provide real-time data about the vehicles’ motion, orientation and position. Their integration with other sensors and advanced algorithms ensures that the ROV can perform complex tasks with accuracy, stability and safety.
Inertial sensors play a pivotal role in industrial robotics, where precision, repeatability and real-time feedback are critical for automation, safety, and efficiency. Inertial sensors provide high frequency data on the robot’s orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) and linear acceleration and odometry data for navigation where GPS or external markers are unavailable (wharehouse, factories). They work alongside with LIDAR, cameras to improve localization and mapping enabling robots to navigate dynamically and avoid obstacles. Very low noise and high stability are key to reduce drift over time and thus periodic recalibration or correction from external references.
Inertial sensors are critical enablers in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Level 4 and Level 5 Autonomous Driving (AD), where real-time, high-accuracy motion data is essential for safety, navigation, and decision-making. Inertial sensors provide acceleration, angular velocity and attitude data which are fused with GPS/GNSS and other sensors (cameras, LIDAR, radars) to ensure dynamic orientation control, accurate azimuth direction, and vehicle positioning for dead reckoning when GNSS are weak or unavailable (e.g. tunnels, urban canyons, parking garages).
For Enhanced Pointing, Guidance, Positioning and Navigation
Our technology enhances the safety, mission duration, and productivity of autonomous vehicles and robotics, unlocking new possibilities across industries.
By drastically reducing the size, weight, and cost of high-performance sensor-fusion navigation systems, we enable:
Precise Pointing and Guidance
Reliable Real-time Localization
Affordable High-performance Navigation
GNSS-Assisted, GNSS-Denied and GNSS-Free Applications
To operate without GNSS signals—whether underground, subsea, inside buildings, in mountainous or urban environments, or under jamming conditions—autonomous systems rely on high-performance gyroscopes and inertial measurement units (IMUs). However, existing solutions are bulky and expensive. While MEMS technology offers the potential to meet size and cost constraints, no solution has yet achieved the required performance levels.
Precise Motion Sensing, Attitude Control, and Heading
The emergence of affordable, compact, high-precision inertial navigation sensors with enhanced motion sensing, attitude control and heading capabilities will unlock new use cases, enhancing overall system efficiency, autonomy, and localization accuracy.
