Estimation of 3D angular motion using gyroscopes and linear accelerometers

The authors present a novel, real-time angular motion estimation technique using a linear Gaussian estimator, and the outputs of linear accelerometers and gyroscopes, to assess the actual angular velocity of a rigid body in three-dimensional (3D) space. The method obtains the covariances of the random actual 3D angular velocity, the angular velocity measurement, and the measurement noise from the time averages of the outputs of an array of nine linear accelerometers and the outputs of three orthogonal gyroscopes. These statistics are used by the estimator to calculate the angular velocity of the rigid body in 3D space. The multisensor technique performance is evaluated through a computer simulation. Results indicate that the method leads to more accurate angular velocity values than are obtained conventionally.