Speaker
Description
Demand for high-performance and low SWaP (size weight and power) MEMS accelerometers able to withstand harsh environments is increasing in the space, aviation and defense market due to their inherent advantages versus legacy technologies (e.g., quartz servo accelerometers) and the proliferation of monitoring and control application requiring sensors.
Safran Sensing Technologies Switzerland (Safran STS) proprietary MEMS technology is the ideal a low SWaP, rad hard and reliable solution for the space market, by addressing the performance requirements while levering significant size, power, cost and robustness. Safran STS develop a closed-loop MEMS accelerometer to meet the requirements of a rad-hard accelerometer for incorporation in a low-resource standalone three-axis MEMS accelerometer or Inertial Measurement Unit. Such sensor is mainly adapted for control & navigation purpose like such as entry descent and landing, rover navigation, monitoring and control, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Our proposed MEMS closed-loop accelerometer is well positioned to meet or exceed the majority of the identified mission requirements. For example, the bias and scale factor residue over temperature have been improved by a factor of at least 5 with regards to high-performance open-loop architecture. The initial BOL bias and scale factor stability values of better than 300µg and 300ppm, respectively, have been demonstrated. The recent developments and innovations in MEMS architecture, packaging, and closed-loop electronics leading to radiation hardness and performance improvements will be presented.
