SBG Systems recently released the Quanta Micro, an inertial navigation system (INS) for UAS surveying.
The miniature inertial sensor embeds a dual frequency/quad constellations GNSS receiver for centimetric position with a high performance IMU into a compact form factor, according to a news release. The RTK capable sensor is 50 x 37 x 23 mm and weighs 38g. It offers roll/pitch with less than 0.02° error and heading with less than 0.06° error.
Even though it comes in a small form factor, the sensor embeds all the features found in other SBG inertial sensors, including a built-in datalogger, Ethernet connectivity, a PTP server, multiple serial ports, and a CAN port. A built-in, user friendly web configuration interface makes it easy to configure. The sensor also be configured using SBG API or ROS drivers.
The Quanta Micro supports dual GNSS Antenna mode to improve heading accuracy in low dynamic applications, but also can maintain optimal heading performance in a single antenna.
Data acquired with the sensor can be post processed with Qinertia, SBG’s Post-Processing Kinematic (PPK) tool. This allows for processing with tight coupling of GNSS and inertial data and a merge of forward and backward solutions that maintain centimetric precision even during multiple seconds of GNSS outages. It also improves heading errors to less than 0.035° and roll/pitch to less than 0.015°.
Qinertia is available in a desktop version with a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) but can also be integrated into any processing pipelines.
The Quanta Micro is well suited for applications that require extreme SWaP-C. It has y been selected for the development of LiDAR payloads for drone and mobile mapping systems.
