Design Requirements for a Testing Laboratory for Inertial Guidance Systems and Components

Published literature and visits to industrial and government laboratories have shown no coherent and reliable stability bases on which to design foundations of a laboratory for testing inertial guidance systems and their components. This study concludes that foundation motion affects testing of only system components, accelerometers, and gyroscopes, but not the entire system. In fact, only a few specific tests, such as the calibration test for accelerometers and the drift test for gyros, are strongly influenced by vibration. Rigorously defensible numerical limits for acceptable vibration conditions are not determinable. Acceptable limits for foundation motions are given for today's guidance systems.