Spinning projectile’s attitude measurement using intersection ratio of magnetic sensors

Abstract

Concerning on the problem of low measuring precision of the current micro-inertial sensors, a novel attitude measurement method is proposed to dismiss the drift for remarkable attitude error. According to the output of the onboard three-axis magnetic sensor in the process of projectile flight, a low-cost attitude detection system is designed by using the intersection ratio of the sensor. First, the output model of the onboard three-axis magnetic sensor is established. The mathematical relationship between the characteristic ratio of magnetic sensor output and the pitch angle is then derived. Then, the solution and correction algorithm of the attitude angles are studied. Finally, the effectiveness of the attitude measurement method has been validated by carrying out the semi-physical experiments. The experimental results indicate that the error of attitude angles is within ±1° and the attitude angle error of the combined magnetic sensors is not cumulative. Meanwhile, the geomagnetic field strength is dispensable during the whole calculation process. Compared with the “Zero Crossing Method”, the proposed method has shown a nearly two-times higher accuracy and has no limitation of “MAGSONDE window”. What is more, this method proves to be more simple and has a doubled update rate in attitude angle calculation.