Inertial Labs INS-NV pairs INS with Jetson for Alt-PNT

The INS-NV joins an inertial navigation system, an attitude and heading reference system and the Jetson Orin NX module on one development platform. Teams run their own visual navigation stacks on the onboard processor beside the Inertial Labs INS and AHRS functions, rather than first building a compute platform and then tying it to the inertial system.

Sensing comprises calibrated MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes that Inertial Labs classes as tactical-grade, a barometric altimeter, magnetometers and a receiver for GPS, QZSS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and NavIC. Inertial Labs’ aiding data, fusion filters, calibration software and algorithms supply time, position, velocity and attitude, aimed at real-time fusion in dynamic conditions where satellite signals are denied or compromised.

The platform is expandable: integrators can attach further sensor modules from Inertial Labs as well as off-the-shelf cameras for vision.

Jamie Marraccini, Vice President of Inertial Labs Products at VIAVI, notes that visual navigation systems have so far had no high-end processor of their own, so developers spend R&D time and budget integrating software with the INS before building a platform. The INS-NV addresses that integration effort for alternative navigation and PNT systems.

The INS-NV is available now. Variants for MAVLink, ASPN, pntOS and MOSA are available on request.

Why it matters

Visual navigation depends on continuous position, orientation and time data, and it needs a processor able to run vision software alongside the inertial solution. A development platform that supplies both moves part of the integration effort from the airframe or avionics team to the component supplier.

The MAVLink, ASPN, pntOS and MOSA variants give integrators a choice of interface to match their system architecture.

Inertial Labs is part of VIAVI, whose PNT offering combines Jackson Labs timing with Inertial Labs navigation, including GNSS transcoding, holdover and dead reckoning for GNSS-denied environments.

Related navigation products in the directory include Embention’s Veronte VBN visual navigation system, Honeywell’s HCINS compact inertial navigation system and Honeywell’s HANA alternative navigation software framework. See also the Inertial Labs profile.