Novel On-Line North-Seeking Method Based on a Three-Axis MEMS Gyroscope

A novel on-line north-seeking method based on a three-axis micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope is designed. This system processes data by using a Kalman filter to calibrate the installation error of the three-axis MEMS gyroscope in complex environment. The attitude angle updating for quaternion, based on which the attitude instrument will be rotated in real-time and the true north will be found. Our experimental platform constitutes the dual-axis electric rotary table and the attitude instrument, which is developed independently by our scientific research team. The experimental results show that the accuracy of north-seeking is higher than 1°, while the maximum root mean square error and the maximum mean absolute error are 0.906 7 and 0.910 0, respectively. The accuracy of north-seeking is much higher than the traditional method.