Inertial Aerosystems new distributor of Systron Donner inertial sensors.

Inertial Aerosystems have been appointed by U.S. based CST Systron Donner Inertial exclusive distributors for U.K and Ireland. 06 June 2009.

Unit B4 Thorpe Industrial Estate

Surrey

W20 8RN

UK

[t] +44 (0)1784 472130

[f] +44(0)1784 473032

[w] http://www.inertial.co.uk

Inertial Aerosystems UK Ltd, part of the ETL Group is a Distributor of High Technology Motion Sensors such as Gyroscopes, Angular Rate sensors and Accelerometers, Smart Pressure Transducers, Magnetic Field Sensors, Synchro Test Boards, Tilt Sensors, High Temperature Electronic Components and Military/Space qualified Thermal switches.

These products are sourced from leading US manufacturers who set the Industry Standard in performance and precision. Our markets are Aerospace, Defence, Offshore and Industry. Ring Laser Gyroscopes offer the most accurate heading performance with drift in the fractions of a degree per hour. When combined with the Q-Flex range of accelerometers, very high performance Inertial Navigation Systems are designed for Commercial and Military Aircraft, Land vehicles and Marine Surface and Subsea Vessels.For Tactical applications, MEMS based sensors, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, are becoming the choice for short term Navigation, Weapons fuzing and integration into Inertial Measurement Units.Smart pressure Sensors give enormous flexibility because of their flexibility and software modelling capabilities.

They are increasingly used in Commercial and Military UAV’s, Formula 1, Air data Computers, Underwater depth measurement and Barometers.The use of the earth’s magnetic field provides an inexpensive navigation solution. The use of miniature magneto resistive sensors allow incorporation into compact compasses, linear and angular measurement and complex dead reckoning orientation systems. These sensors can be small enough to be fitted to mobile phones and other portable devices. Synchro test boards allow the measurement and simulation of synchro/resolver systems mainly used in Rotational equipment in the Royal Navy and Royal Air force. The use of DSP’s and FPGA’s, in the latest CPCi, format allow multiple channels to be incorporated on a single board. They are frequently used to replace legacy equipment that used multiple synchro modules.Tilt sensors are sensitive devices that can sense changes in orientation to microradian resolution.

They can either be fluid filled types or the established Q-Flex accelerometer, solid state design. Both are used for structural monitoring in bridges, machinery, synchrotrons, sensitive buildings and metrology. With the increasing importance of energy exploitation, new designs of down hole steering tools are becoming available to source high temperature oil and gas wells. The use of special Q-Flex high temperature and ruggedised accelerometers and associated high temperature semiconductors are an integral part of these new tools.The semiconductors are also used on new technologies associated with aircraft Engines and advanced aircraft actuators. MEMS based sensors offer high performance with low cost. Similarly, solid state angular rate sensors based on the Coriolis effect are continuously evolving. We are proud to be working with one of the leaders in both technologies and the operational principles of the system follow.

Inertial Aerosystems have been appointed by U.S. based CST Systron Donner Inertial exclusive distributors for U.K and Ireland. Systron Donner Inertial has been a leading manufacturer of precision inertial sensors and systems, for the military and commercial markets, for more than 50 years. Products include angular rate sensors, inertial measurement units and combined GPS Inertial Navigation designs. Derek Noble, Managing Director of Inertial Aerosystems, is quoted as saying 'The introduction of this top quality line of high technology sensors complements our existing range of products and increases our capability as a key supplier to Defence and Aerospace.”

Systron Donner Inertial's family of quartz inertial sensors uses a one piece, micromachined inertial sensing element to measure angular rotational velocity. These sensors produce a signal output proportional to the rate of rotation sensed.

SDI’s unique quartz inertial sensors are micromachined using photolithographic processes, and are at the forefront of MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology. These processes are similar to those used to produce millions of digital quartz wristwatches each year. The use of piezoelectric quartz material simplifies the sensing element, resulting in exceptional stability over temperature and time, and increased reliability and durability.

BEI GyroChips ®

The GyroChip ® uses vibrating quartz tuning tines to sense rate, acting as a Coriolis sensor, coupled to a similar fork as a pickup to produce the rate output signal.

Each comprised of a pair of tuning forks, the GyroChip along with their support flexures and frames are batch fabricated from thin wafers of single-crystal piezoelectric quartz.

The piezoelectric drive tines are driven by an oscillator to vibrate at precise amplitude, causing the tines to move toward and away from one another at a high frequency. This vibration causes the drive fork to become sensitive to angular rate about an axis parallel to its tines, defining the true input axis of the sensor.

Vibration of the drive tines causes them to act like the arms of a spinning ice skater, where moving them in causes the skater's spin rate to increase, and moving them out causes a decrease in rate. For vibrating tines ("arms"), an applied rotation rate causes a sine wave of torque to be produced, resulting from the oscillating torque at frequency of the drive tines, in turn causing the tines of the pickup fork to move up and down (not toward and away from one another) out of the plane of the fork assembly.

The pickup tines thus respond to the oscillating torque by moving in and out of plane, causing electrical output signals to be produced by the Pickup Amplifier. Those signals are amplified and converted into a DC signal proportional to rate by use of a synchronous switch (demodulator) which responds only to the desired rate signals.

The DC output signal of the GyroChip is directly proportional to input rate, reversing sign as the input rate reverses, since the oscillating torque produced by Coriolis reverses phase when the input rate reverses.