Honeywell developing new navigation technology.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin
• Position: Global Defense

* Since its inception, GPS has provided coundess organizations and individuals with precision location data. However, because it is susceptible to jamming, one government agency is looking to develop technology that can help mitigate disruptions.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently awarded Honeywell a contract to develop powerful but small inertial navigation tools, said Chris Lund, director of product marketing at Honeywell Aerospace.

"There is a growing need for increased performance from inertial sensors, both accelerometers and gyroscopes," he said.

The company plans to improve the accuracy of its HG1930 inertial measurement unit by three orders of magnitude, Honeywell said.

Current systems produced are about 100 cubic inches in size. Under the program, Honeywell plans to miniaturize it to 5 cubic inches, Lund said. It will also work to reduce its power consumption from 10 watts to 3 watts.

By reducing the tools' size, weight and power, they can be used on many more systems than currently possible, he said.

"They're equally applicable to both commercial and military platforms," Lund said. "On the commercial side you could see them in industrial applications that need very precise navigation information and commercial aviation applications."

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