Calibration of Inertial Sensors

Calibration of Inertial Sensors

 

At the inertial laboratory of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, we offer professional calibration services for all IMU classes—from MEMS-grade sensors to navigation-grade IMUs. Our setup enables controlled, repeatable tests across a wide range of motion profiles and temperatures.

 

Laboratory equipment:

Hardware

  • Three-axis motion simulator (turntable) by Acuitas AG (Fig. 1)

  • CO₂-cooled temperature chamber integrated with the turntable
    Temperature range: −60 °C to +100 °C

  • Reference gravity: 8 µGal accuracy
    (Please double-check the conversion: 1 µGal = 1×10⁻⁸ m/s² → 8 µGal ≈ 8×10⁻⁸ m/s²)

  • Reference north direction: 1 arcsec accuracy (measured with a GYROMAT instrument)

  • Vibration-isolated pier beneath the turntable to reduce environmental vibration coupling

 

Fig.1: Three-axis motion simulator (Acuitas AG)

 

Software

We operate a LabVIEW-based calibration environment (Fig. 2) featuring:

  • Predefined calibration routines, e.g.

    • Six-position static test

    • Controlled turn-rate sequences

  • Automatic report generation, enabling flexible test procedures and consistent documentation

 

Fig. 2: LabView-Software

 

Offered services:

 

  • Calibration of deterministic error parameters for any IMU, including:

    • Constant bias

    • Scale factors

    • Misalignment / non-orthogonality terms

  • Temperature calibration (characterization of sensor behavior over temperature)

  • Performance assessment of AHRS and INS, e.g.

    • North-finding performance

    • Alignment performance

  • Engineering consulting, including:

    • IMU/AHRS/INS integration support

    • Test planning and calibration strategy design

    • Sensor selection and trade-off studies

    • Performance analysis, troubleshooting, and validation using simulation, lab and field data

Scope & limitations

Please note that our laboratory services focus on research-grade calibration and performance characterization. At present, we do not:

  • Long-term sensor aging / stability testing
  • Industrial-standard / accredited calibration certificates

 

Some of our inertial laboratory related publications:

[1] M. Bochkati and T. Pany, "Does the Android Operating System Provide what the MEMS-IMU Manufacturers Promise?," 2021 DGON Inertial Sensors and Systems (ISS), 2021, pp. 1-17, doi: 10.1109/ISS52949.2021.9619775.

[2] B. Schulz, M. Bochkati, I. M. Solomon, E. Kiema and T. Pany, "Calibration of a 3D MEMS Gyroscope Using Shallow Neural Networks Under Laboratory Conditions," 2025 IEEE International Symposium on Inertial Sensors and Systems (INERTIAL), Germany, 2025, pp. 1-4, doi: 10.1109/INERTIAL63280.2025.11036895. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11036895.

 

Contact

For further details, quotations, or test planning, please contact:
mohamed.bochkati@unibw.de