What is GPS and GNSS positioning?

GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a space-based system of satellites that provide the location information (longitude, latitude, altitude) and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth to devices called GNSS receivers. GPS is the world’s most used GNSS system made by the United States.

What is the Inertial Navigation System (INS)?

INS (Inertial Navigation System) measures and integrates orientation, position, velocities, and accelerations of a moving object. INS integrates the device’s measured data, where a GNSS is used as a correction to the integration error of the INS orientation calculation.

What is the difference between IMU and INS?

An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is a device that measures accelerations and angular velocities. Some IMUs can also measure an external magnetic field with a magnetometer. In an Inertial Navigation System (INS), IMU measurement data are used to calculate a unit’s orientation and relative changes in its velocity and position. For navigation, they have to be properly initialized with absolute position and velocity. As velocity and position measurements are based on IMU measurement integration without corrections the INS solution drifts over time depending on IMU performance. Usually, GNSS measurements are used for correction in GNSS-aided INS.

Which sensors do IMU devices use?

IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) device is an INS device, which has a built-in three-axial accelerometer and gyroscope. An additional magnetometer can be added to provide the right heading on the Earth.

Which positioning systems does Dewesoft support?

Dewesoft supports GPS and GLONASS positioning GNSS systems, which are currently the only systems with operational satellites all around the globe. Topcon receivers, DS-IMU1, and DS-IMU2 support also Galileo and BaiDou GNSS systems.

What is Real-time Kinematics or RTK?

RTK (Real-time Kinematics) is a positioning technique that enhances the accuracy of GNSS positioning systems up to 1 cm. It uses an additional GNSS receiver (base station) located on Earth that calculates the correction of satellite signals from space and sends correction information to other GNSS receivers (rovers) on Earth.

How precise are GNSS and IMU devices?

By default GNSS devices have from 3 to 1.2 m standalone accuracy, 3 to 0.3 m with SBAS correction, 0.2 to 0.1 m with Omnistar correction (only available for DS-IMU2 device), and up to 0.01 m with RTK correction system.

How accurate is the GNSS?

GNSS systems and devices have accuracy from 3 to 1.2 m in the standalone version. Higher accuracy can be achieved by different correction methods such as SBAS, Omnistar, and RTK (Real-Time Kinematics). RTK correction provides accuracy up to 1 cm.

12 reviews

NAVION®Inertial navigation systems (INS)

Name: NAVION®
Brand: Dewesoft®
Rating: 4.8 (19 reviews)

NAVION® is a Dewesoft inertial navigation system platform for accurate position, orientation, velocity, and acceleration measurements. Measurements are estimated by a Kalman-based algorithm that combines GNSS positioning with the measurements provided by a MEMS-based inertial measurement unit.

NAVION® is the world's high-performance inertial navigation system of size and weight. It is bundled with a dual antenna for heading and RTK correction configuration which improves positioning accuracy down to 1 cm. Award-winning DewesoftX software included.

Dewesoft NAVION i2 inertial navigation system

GPS and GLONASS

RTK

Inertial platforms

Acceleration

Velocity

Vibrations

Magnometer

Gyroscope

Orientation

Pressure

Digital

USB 2.0

CAN bus

Time source

MIL-STD-810G

IP67

-40°C to +85°C

Shock rating 75g

NAVION® highlights

Performant/affordable INS

NAVION® i2 is our highest-performing inertial navigation system (INS). It offers a great price-performance ratio and can be used in several navigational measurement applications.

RTK by default

The real-time kinematics (RTK) option on NAVION devices is turned on by default. RTK correction improves positioning accuracy down to 1 cm.

Dual antenna heading

Instant and accurate heading determination. With the two antennas included as standard, you have precise heading information within seconds while standing.

High-performance IMU

NAVION features an integrated MEMS-based IMU with gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, and pressure sensors. It can also work as a 9-degrees of freedom (DOF) IMU. The IMU-aided navigation reduces errors caused by GNSS outages.

Fast Ethernet connection

The Navion devices offer secure and fast data streaming via Ethernet communication interface to the PC running DewesoftX software.

Rugged IP68 device

NAVION i2 device features a very rugged design with IP68 standard protection. It is resistant to shocks, falls, and even water. It works in extreme environments and temperatures from -40 °C to +71 °C.

Flexible and distributable

Navion offers flexibility. Several NAVION® devices can be distributed and synchronized together over the ethernet connection or Dewesoft DS-WIFI wireless system without requiring additional PCs.

CAN bus output

NAVION® i2 features a CAN bus output port. Once the device is configured and initialized the unit can operate autonomously without connection to DewesoftX software. This makes it ready for integration into 3rd party systems.

PPS output

NAVION® i2 has a PPS synchronization port (via LEMO 4-pin connector) which can be used as the synchronization clock source for all other Dewesoft data acquisition devices.

External inputs

Additional RS232 input for RTK GNSS corrections with support of CMR+, RTCM 2.3, and RTCM 3.x. and a digital input for either odometer or brake pedal switch sensor.

Supports all constellations

NAVION® devices offer support for all GNSS satellite constellations: GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, AltBOC, E5a, E5b NavlC (IRNSS).

Dewesoft flexibility

Connect additional analog sensors (strain gauge, force, temperature, CAN bus, GPS, and countless other data sources) and measure additional parameters simultaneously, with all data perfectly synchronized.

Dewesoft quality and 7-year warranty

Enjoy our industry-leading 7-year warranty. Our data acquisition systems are made in Europe, utilizing only the highest build quality standards. We offer free and customer-focused technical support. Your investment into the Dewesoft solutions is protected for years ahead.

Software included

Every Dewesoft data acquisition system is bundled with award-winning DewesoftX data acquisition software. The software is easy to use but very rich and deep in functionality. All software updates are free forever with no hidden licensing or yearly maintenance fees.

NAVION® i2
A high-end inertial navigation system

NAVION® i2 is a great inertial navigation system for an affordable price. It is small, accurate, reliable, and rugged. This small device is all you need for accurate positioning measurements. It is bundled with dual-antennas and RTK support and works with various satellite constellations such as BeiDou B1, B2, and Galileo E1.

NAVION® i2 is an inertial aided-GNSS navigation system for providing accurate position, orientation, velocities, and accelerations. Measurements are estimated by a Kalman-based algorithm that combines Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements with the measurements provided by a MEMS-based inertial measurement unit.

NAVION® i2 includes a high-precision GNSS sensor and a MEMS-based inertial measurement unit (IMU). The NAVION® i2 chassis is very ruggedized and complies with IP68 environmental protection standards. The device is well-suited for ADAS testing and vehicle dynamics tests.

NAVION® i2 will let you measure any moving object and provide accurate positioning even when the GNSS satellite reception is limited. The device is designed for applications where robust, continuous position, velocity, and heading navigation data are required.

NAVION® i2 also includes RTK (real-time kinematics) compatibility out of the box. RTK is used for even better position accuracy (down to 1 cm).

Dewesoft NAVION i2 inertial navigation system mounted on vehicle roof

NAVION® i2 functionality and features

NAVION® i2 inertial navigation system measures the vehicle’s GNSS position, accelerations, and angular velocities. A Kalman-based algorithm combines GNSS and IMU measurements and provides high accuracy and stability. The built-in IMU sensor has very low drift and helps to maintain position determination even in case of incorrect measurements due to multipath or when the GNSS signal is weak. A GNSS outage of 10s will only cause up to 30cm error.

Main features of NAVION® i2 INS:

High-accuracy 100 Hz GNSS receiver (1.2 m horizontal and 1.9 m vertical positioning accuracy).
Built-in MEMS-based inertial measurement unit (IMU) with accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and pressure sensor.
Electronic circuit performing the Kalman filtering.
Support for GPS (L1, L2, L5), GLONASS (L1, L2, L3), BeiDou (B1, B2), Galileo (E1), AltBOC, E5a, E5b, NavlC (IRNSS) L5 satellite constellations.
Dual-antennas are included by default.
RTK (Real-time kinematics) support.

Measured parameters

NAVION® i2 inertial navigation system provides several output channels:

Latitude, longitude, and altitude.
Orientation (roll, pitch, and heading).
Velocities and angular velocities.
Body accelerations.
Slip angles.

Great connectivity thanks to a connection box

NAVION® i2 inertial navigation system includes a break-out box that includes connection interfaces to PC running DewesoftX data acquisition software or to 3rd-party systems. The break-out box has standard connectors for:

Power supply
Ethernet output
CAN output
RS232 output for RTK and NMEA messages
Synchronization port

IP68 protection in a rugged chassis

The NAVION® i2 inertial navigation system is built-in a sealed compact and robust chassis. NAVION® chassis is certified with IP68 environment protection and is prone to outside elements such as wind, water, mud, and dust. It can be used in practically any weather condition.

NAVION® i2 device is also highly resistant to high vibration, shocks, and falls. It complies with the MIL-STD-810G standards.

NAVION® i2 is also designed and rated to work in extreme temperatures. It is tested and certified to operate at -40 °C to +71 °C.

The device offers easy-mount vehicles on any type of surface with included suction cup attachment. The suction cups will securely mount the device even to vehicles moving at higher speeds.

1cm accuracy with RTK (Real-time Kinematics)

NAVION® i2 inertial navigation system is compatible with RTK (Real-time Kinematics) correction technology. RTK upgrade improves navigation accuracy down to 1 cm. It supports CMR+, RTCM 2.3, and RTCM 3.x GNSS corrections data.

The RTK corrections data type is automatically detected. The following output parameters are available from one or more offset reference points:

Dewesoft provides all accessories needed to establish the RTK setup:

RTK base station,
Antennas,
3G and RF modems for data transmission between moving vehicles and base stations.

Applications Navigation for Any Industry

Navion devices provide accurate position, velocity, acceleration, and orientation under the most demanding conditions. Devices are designed to meet the needs of navigational applications across various industries such as automotive, aerospace, railway, marine, agriculture, transportation, industrial equipment, and robotics.

Common applications:

Vehicle dynamics testing
Autonomous vehicle testing - ADAS
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles - AUVs
Unmanned Aerial and Ground Vehicles - UAVs and UGVs
Durability testing
Flight dynamics
Precision agriculture
Surveying and mapping
Platform control
Motion compensation

Synchronization With Analog, Digital, and Other Data Sources

Synchronization is the most important aspect of every test and measurement application. Without the right correlation of data, it's impossible to get correct or meaningful results.

Parameters from navigational devices like position, velocity, acceleration, altitude, pitch, roll, and heading are perfectly synchronized to the data from other Dewesoft data acquisition devices:

Analog (vibration, force, temperature, voltage, ...)
Counter and encoder (RPM, angles)
Video
CAN bus and CAN FD
XCP/CCP
Kistler KiRoad
Aerospace buses (IRIG Chapter 10, iNET, MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429)
and other input sources supported by DewesoftX

The Dewesoft GNSS and INS devices can also provide exact time information for the synchronization of other devices.

NAVION i2 and SIRIUS R2DB synchronization

DS-IMU1 Compact Inertial Navigation System

If you need a very small and compact inertial navigation system, then we offer DS-IMU1. It still offers great accuracy in a very small form factor. The DS-IMU chassis is only 3 x 4 x 4.5 cm (1.18 x 1.57 x 1.73 inch).

DS-IMU1 still provides a reliable GNSS-aided inertial navigation including AHRS that provides accurate position, velocity, acceleration, and orientation. It offers up to 100 Hz data rate with USB and RS232 data interface. It features PPS output for synchronization using GPS PPS signal.

DS-IMU1 inertial navigation system is a device in a ruggedized chassis with an IP67 degree of environmental protection and MIL-STD-810G rating.

DS-IMU1 applications

Synchronization and timing with Dewesoft data acquisition systems
Simple positioning
Brake test
Acceleration test
Orientation of different objects
Simple vehicle dynamics test
Simple lane change test
Circle drive
Simple ADAS tests

DewesoftX Professional data acquisition software is included for free

NAVION devices include award-winning DewesoftX Professional data acquisition software. DewesoftX offers an easy interface for device configuration and data acquisition via Ethernet, CAN, or NMEA 0183 protocols.

The measurement data can be visualized and processed with navigational modules such as 3D Map, Polygon, or Vehicle Dynamics. Data can also be exported into an array of standard data file formats for post-processing in 3rd party software. Measurements can also be output on the CAN bus for integration into third-party systems.

DewesoftX NAVION i2 software configuration

Interactive map visual control

The DewesoftX DAQ software offers real-time 2D and 3D map visual control. The map visual control offers a built-in interactive GPS map via Open Street Maps. Several layers of map tiles are available:

Out-of-the-box satellite imaging with open-source OpenStreetMap layers hosted on Dewesoft’s map servers.
Support for custom tile and WMS layers as well as georeferenced images.
No manual alignment is required.
2D, 3D, and terrain display modes with standard, 1st, or 3d person camera options.
Online or offline support. Images can be pre-downloaded for offline usage.
Support of multiple layers with individually configurable opacity levels.
Channel-based trace coloring with various color schemes.
Ability to display multiple GPS signals on one widget.
3D model widget for yaw, pitch, and roll monitoring.

The mapping widget works no matter the GNSS/IMU hardware used. It works with any Dewesoft GNSS receiver or inertial navigation hardware. The widget also works with 3rd party supported INS hardware such as OxTS, Genesys ADMA, or if you get navigational data through CAN or other supported interfaces.

Virtual 3D polygon

DewesoftX data acquisition software features a virtual polygon module for tests involving moving objects. It can visualize moving and static objects in a 3D virtual space. Polygon can also perform geometric measurements between multiple static or movable objects.

Polygon visualization and outputs can be calculated in real-time during the measurements or offline. It was specifically made for ADAS testing and vehicle dynamics testing but is far from being limited to just these two areas.

Processing mathematics of the virtual polygon module provides definable outputs:

Distance calculations (X and Y distance)
Angle calculations
Gate cross triggers
Time and time reset
Radius calculations

Virtual 3D polygon measurement screen inside DewesoftX software

Additional Resources Manuals, Webinars, and Training Courses

GNSS measurement online training course
Polygon online training course
DewesoftX map visual control software manual
DewesoftX GPS module software manual

SOFTWARE

Award-Winning Data Acquisition Software Included for Free

Dewesoft data acquisition systems are bundled with award-winning DewesoftX data acquisition software. It is the world's most advanced and easy-to-use data recording and signal processing software. Software and hardware work together like magic. It offers simplicity as well as deep functionality to tackle any test and measurement task.

And the best part? You get lifetime FREE software updates and technical support. Software is evolving all the time. New major releases are released every 3 months constantly adding new features, optimizations, and other improvements. There are no hidden costs and will remain free forever.

Plug and Play

Connecting the DAQ system and sensors could not be faster or easier. DewesoftX software will automatically detect the connected DAQ systems and TEDS-equipped sensors will configure the channel configuration automatically. Features like:

Hardware auto-detection.
Smart sensors.
Sensor database.
Advanced TEDS sensor support.
Built-in unit conversion.
Real-time signal preview.
Wiring schematics.

will make you ready for measurement in seconds. Spend less time configuring your DAQ hardware and be more productive. Time is money!

Measure and Store

Powerful storing capabilities with more than 500 MB/s sustained stream rates mean you can always store data at full speed and never again worry about losing data that could compromise your tests. DewesoftX storing features offer:

Real-time data acquisition.
Synchronized acquisition of analog, counter, video, GPS, CAN bus, and many other sources.
Advanced triggering and alarms.
Single or multi-file storage.
Remote and distributed network storing.
Automated test sequences.

Even if you store gigabytes of data, our innovative data file format will ensure you can reload and analyze your data as fast as in a blink of an eye.

Analyse and Publish

NVH, structural testing, power analysis, and more. Forget about using several complex software solutions to record and analyze your data. DewesoftX offers one-stop shop for all test and measurement tasks. Our software offers:

Online and offline mathematics.
Flexible real-time visual displays.
Synchronized video support.
PDF and Word reporting tools.
Data export to many standard file formats.
Unlimited FREE license seats to view and analyze stored data.

DewesoftX is designed with the mindset of a test engineer and offers a complete testing solution in a single software package that is easy and joy to use.

Lifetime Free Updates

We are offering no-bluff or hidden cost licensing model for our data acquisition software. A new major version is released every three months bringing new features, performance boosts, bugfixes, with no additional cost to you. All updates for our existing users are free forever.

Unlimited License Seats

Our licensing model offers unlimited seats for analysing the recorded data. The recorded data file will bundle the license. Simply share data file with your colleagues and they can download software for free and ready to fully analyze the data. No additional licenses are needed.

Free Technical Support

We are putting our customers first. Free worldwide technical support is available for our DAQ software and hardware. Our technical support team is responsive and will attend to every support request and solve it in the fastest possible manner. Local technical support in our local offices is also available for you at no extra cost.