Motion sensors

ETL Inertial Aerosystems is a Distributor of High Technology products serving the Aerospace, Defence, Offshore and Industrial markets.

ETL Inertial Aerosystems Ltd

Unit B4 Thorpe Ind Estate

Thorpe, Surrey

England, TW20 8RN UK

t.44 (0)1784 472130

The company specialises in the application of motion sensors for the precise analysis of acceleration, heading, position, and attitude.

Additional products include thermal switches and frequency oscillators.

Our technical experience over many years enables us to fully advise and support our customers in their applications.

Tilt sensors.

Tilt sensors use the earth’s gravity vector as their primary reference. Both electrolytic and accelerometer based tilt sensors are available. They give many years of reliable performance in hazardous environments.

Applications include stability of buildings and similar structures, bridges and damns, alignment of mobile instrumentation such as radar antennas, monitoring of offshore and subsea platforms, measurement of pitch and roll in land and seaborne navigation systems.

Modified sensors can operate in vacuums with a high degree of radiation resistance.

Magnetic sensors.

Magnetoresistive sensors are solid state devices that use the earth’s magnetic field to determine direction. They form the building blocks for complete magnetometers, magnetic compasses and magnetic reference instrumentation. In saturated mode, these components can measure linear and angular displacement e.g. opening and closing of a process valve. In unsaturated mode their applications range from navigation through to virtual reality sensing and hand tool alignment.

High temperature electronic components.

The need for high temperature electronic components is growing with the application of electric motors to directly drive actuators in aerospace and military engines and “hot hole” exploration in the oil and gas industries.

Silicon on Insulator technology provides a cost effective solution to a temperature of 225 ۫۫C, with a 5 year life (300۫C for 1 year). Operational amplifiers, microprocessors and reference supplies, plus many others, are available in packaged or die form.

Smart pressure transducers.

Smart digital pressure sensors use an on-board microprocessor for precision measurement modelling, instrument programmeability and user “plug & play“flexibility. These sensors are available in absolute, gauge & differential formats and in standard or ruggedised packages. Models have been configured as altimeters and forward speed indicators for manned and unmanned aircraft, sea depth sensors (to 200M), engine monitoring, weather buoy barometers.

Inertial Measurement Units.

Inertial Measurement Units are the key elements used in the precise analysis of motion sensing. Tactical grade units are used for short term missions e.g. missiles and guided munitions. Inertial grade are used in missions lasting several hours and form part of an Inertial Navigation System. Lower cost units are now being applied to commercial areas such as robotics and biophysical research. The integration of GPS (Global Satellite System) allows relatively low performance sensors to be used for quite precise uses e.g. airborne camera mounting.

Aerospace Thermostats.

Thermostats rely on the opening and closing of bi-metallic contacts at preset temperatures. Depending on materials and specifications, a wide choice of thermostats is available on the market.

However, Thermostats for the Aerospace & Defence markets are somewhat specialized in that reliability in hazardous environments is paramount and they must perform to relevant Mil-spec requirements. Some units are hermetically sealed and will happily operate in outer space.

Aerospace Accelerometers.

Accelerometers are some of the most commonly used motion sensors available. Many designs have been introduced but for most applications in the frequency range DC-2000Hz, the Force rebalance and capacitive Micromachined types are the most common.

The servo type Force Rebalance, Q-Flex, is the Inertial Grade industry standard. The unit will provide long term precision repeatability in military or commercial environments. They form the building blocks for tactical and Inertial navigation systems, displacement of damns, bridges and buildings when used as a tilt sensor, rail track integrity. Ruggedised, high temperature models operate in MWD drilling tools.

The capacitive type is housed in an 8mm square chip. It is rugged and reliable. Used for vibration measurement in offshore applications, Safe & Arm in air weapons, commercial and F1 vehicle design and analysis.

Dead Reckoning sensors.

Dead Reckoning sensors were originally designed for navigation of the soldier on foot, in areas where GPS is unavailable. A combination of magnetic compass, attitude sensors, and barometer and pace counting computes positioning and elevation of the soldier within 5 % of distance travelled. With an on board GPS receiver the soldier’s movements can be modeled via a Kalman filter prior to entering the GPS “Dead zone”. These modules are increasingly being used by all emergency services plus new areas such as agriculture, orienteering and archaeology.

Aerospace oscillators.

Quartz oscillators are used in huge numbers in the telecommunications industries. However, without careful compensation they do not operate well in certain applications e.g. space launchers, where high and low g are experienced. Ruggedisation and electronic design have resulted in a range of single and multiple output ovened oscillators that operate well in these special environments.

In conclusion, the company offers a wide range of very specialized sensor products. Our principals are the market leaders in their field and invest heavily in R&D and technical support. We are always happy to hear about your application. If we cannot supply a solution we are happy to recommend a possible alternative.