A suite of tools for testing, modeling, analysis, and simulation can greatly facilitate the development and evaluation of gyrocompassing based Precision Azimuth and Vertical Angle Measurement (PAVAM) systems and other azimuth and attitude determination devices and modules. The Gyrocompass Modeling and Simulation SystemTM (GMSS) which is especially developed for these systems is used as a virtual laboratory to provide a suite of software modules to simulate a detailed anatomy of a PAVAM system.

The users can perform any kind of virtual experiments they desire to explore the behavior of a PAVAM system design under different combinations of conditions for motion, sensor accuracy, and processing algorithms. The GMSS can perform many virtual experiments that are costly or even impossible in a real hardware system test.

• Windows based GUIs are used to provide the GMSS user interface and data visualization.
• A 6DOF motion simulator is used to simulate motion and disturbances such as vibration and tripod sinking in soil. Different kinds of sensor errors and random noise are simulated, as depicted in Figure 1.

The GUI of the 6DOF Motion Simulator
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• An IMU simulator is used to simulate different kinds of sensor errors and random noise, as depicted in Figure 2.

The GUI of the IMU Simulator
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• A gyrocompass and Kalman Filter simulator is used to simulate coarse and/or fine alignment processes and their algorithms, as depicted in Figure 3.

The GUI of the Gyrocompass and Kalman Filter Simulator
(Click to see full page figure)

• Kalman Filter is used for variables and parameters estimation.
• A Monte Carlo test controller is provided to automate the iterated stochastic test process. Analysis and visualization tools are provided to perform the statistics of the Monte Carlo tests.
• Analysis and visualization tools are provided to perform the statistics of the Monte Carlo tests.
• In addition to the simulation functions, the GMSS also provides a suite of auxiliary tools which are used for real sensor data acquisition, sensor modeling and analysis, system verification and validation. The tools include: Stochastic signal analysis tools---PSD/DFT, Allan Variance and statistical analysis, stochastic signal generation, generic filter and Kalman filter design and testing.
• With the GMSS connected to real external inertial sensors, a real-time hardware-in-the-loop testing, modeling, and simulation system can be achieved.

Based on the sensor parameters of the system, GMSS provides gyrocompass accuracy in terms of: azimuth accuracy, elevation/pitch accuracy and tilt/roll accuracy.

GMSS Brochure