The Use of Skewed Inertial Sensors in Flight Control Systems

The number of gyros and accelerometers required to satisfy flight control system reliability and fault tolerance requirements can be dramatically reduced by abandoning traditional, orthogonal mounting arrangements. This paper describes a simple yet powerful matrix technique for incorporating skewed inertial sensors which includes a method for fault detection, isolation, and reconfiguration. The advantages and practical limitations of the technique, as well as considerations for its physical implementation, are discussed. Signal transformation and redundancy management are illustrated by a numerical example based on a skewed sensor pentad.