Autonomous Determination of Initial Latitude with an Inertial Measuring Unit

A new method for determining the latitude of a fixed base is presented. This method is based on the strapdown inertial navigation technology using an inertial measurement unit (IMU) consisting of three accelerometers, three gyroscopes, and a processing board. It is shown that constant inclination of the base does not affect the latitude determination. The experiments conducted validate this method. The experimental equipment consists of an IMU with laser gyroscopes and accelerometers. A mathematical model of the error in the latitude that depends on the errors of gyroscopes and accelerometers is developed. The results that demonstrate the requirements to the latitude determination method are presented.