There are 4 grades of IMUs. Each of these grades serves a different purpose for customers with different needs. Watch the video below as Carson goes through the 4 grades of IMUs.

Consumer Grade IMUs

Consumer-grade IMUs are made for automotive and commercial use. These inertial measurement units have the lowest cost of each of the 4 grades of IMUs. These units range in price from $60 to $100. These inexpensive units are not very intuitive. They don’t have added calibration, and they require significant integration time. These units are most commonly found in cell phones.

 

Industrial Grade IMUs

Industrial-grade IMUs are slightly more expensive than consumer-grade but are still moderately cost-effective. They range from $100 to $1,000 each. These pieces are able to navigate in a GPS-denied environment for up to one minute. They are typically used in vehicles and industrial robotics.

 

Tactical Grade IMUs

Tactical grade IMUs have significantly higher specifications than industrial and consumer. Along with these higher specifications comes a higher price point that ranges from $5,000 to $25,000. Tactical grade units can navigate in GPS-denied environments for up to 10 minutes. They have improved acceleration and in-run gyro bias stability. In other words, the sensor’s bias has greatly increased accuracy. These tactical-grade units are used in applications that need excellent capabilities and are not stifled by low budgets. They are most often used in military applications, ground robots, vehicles attempting to navigate in GPS-denied environments, and robotics. These tactical grade units are now offered by Inertial Sense.

 

Navigational Grade IMUs

Navigational grade IMUs are those that are rarely used in commercial applications with budget constraints. These inertial measurement units often cost around $100,000. They are used for navigating in GPS-denied environments for hours at a time. The extremely high specs available in inertial measurement units are used in commercial airlines, satellites, and space shuttles.

Do you want to know more about inertial measurement units available through Inertial Sense?

We are eager to discuss your needs with you so you may find the best units for your projects. Contact us today at sales@inertialsense.com.

 

Learn More:

IMU Sensors 101 – Pros & Cons of Sensor Types

IMX-5 Tactical Grade IMU Applications & Use Cases

Our Technology Overview and Applications

 

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:12 4 Grades of IMU
0:31 Commercial Grade IMUs
1:04 Industrial Grade IMUs
1:37 Tactical Grade IMUs
2:05 Navigational Grade IMUs
2:21 Contact Inertial Sense

 

My name is Carson Herbert. I’m the VP of Sales with Inertial Sense, and I’m going to be doing some educational videos on IMUs. 

 

0:12 4 Grades of IMU

So in inertial navigation and inertial measurement, we have four different types of inertial measurement units or four different grades, so to speak. We have the automotive or consumer-grade, we have the industrial grade, we have a tactical grade, and we have the navigational grade. 

 

0:31 Commercial Grade IMUs

The difference between the four is one, the quality of the IMU that you’re getting, the simplicity of integration, and the price point that you’re going to nail down inside of each unit. 

The first one is under commercial grade, this is the cheapest you’re going to find. These are not very intuitive inertial measurement units. They’re inexpensive, and you can use them for virtually anything, okay? This is the type of IMU that you’re going to find inside your cell phone, for example. It’s the type of sensor that a company is going to use if they need to produce a million pieces of whatever application or whatever they’re building. 

 

1:04 Industrial Grade IMUs

The second one is industrial grade. This one’s a little more expensive, It ranges from about a hundred dollars to a thousand dollars per piece. It’s better than the commercial grade. It’s a little bit more expensive, and one of the key points is with an industrial-grade IMU, you are able to navigate in a GPS-denied environment based on the specifications for somewhere from 10 seconds to a minute, okay? Any navigation in a GPS-denied environment above that is impossible just due to the drift rates that you see on these industrial-grade IMUs. 

 

1:37 Tactical Grade IMUs

The third level is tactical, okay, the tactical grade IMU. This IMU you can typically navigate in GPS-denied environments for around 10 minutes without seeing a significant amount of drift. The price point on these IMUs ranges from five thousand dollars to 15 to 25,000 dollars. These are more expensive, and they’re used in applications where they’re not so price sensitive, but at the same time, the capabilities of this IMU are significant. 

 

2:05 Navigational Grade IMUs

And then we have navigational grade. These are the type of IMUs that you find inside space shuttles and commercial airlines. They’re reliable, and they work really, really, really well, but you pay for what you get with these making them nearly impossible to source for any type of low-cost commercial application.

 

2:21 Contact Inertial Sense

If you have any questions, reach out to me at sales@inertialsense.com. We look forward to hearing from you.