Study of utilizing multiple inertial measurement units for strapdown inertial navigation sytems without global positioning system aid

Due to their small sizes and light weights micro electromechanical systems inertial measurement units have become popular in inertial navigation systems. Although, when the data taken from micro electromechanical systems inertial measurement units are fused with the global positioning system data it is most likely to obtain a precise result, in regions where global positioning system data is not available results may be misleading. This article studies the error profile of an inertial navigation system in an environment where there is a lack of global positioning system data utilizing multiple inertial measurement units. Using a simulation framework, tracking performance of an inertial navigation system employing single inertial measurement unit is compared with a triple inertial measurement unit inertial navigation system. The simulation results reveal that utilizing extra inertial measurement units in an environment where there is a lack of global positioning system data improves the error profile where up to 82%, 85%, and 83% reductions in latitude, longitude and altitude error figures respectively.