NASA NTRS1989
Current documentation and software do not adequately address the calculation and use of the optimal weight matrices involved in calibrating inertial reference units (IRU). Several facets of the GRO IRU calibration as it relates to the bias and misalignment weighting matrices are investigated. The physical meaning and use of the bias and misalignment weight matrices in IRU calibration are examined. The relation of the weighting and the final biases, misalignments, and their corrections are pursued. Methods for determining reliable, realistic weighting matrices to be used in the GRO IRU calibration (IRUCAL) utility are determined. Possible correlations among observation uncertainties are also explored. For the undetermined case where the maneuvers are insufficient to identify all calibration parameters, the weighting matrices allow as much information as possible to be extracted from the measurements. Finally, applicable simulated flight data are used, incorporating the appropriate calibration maneuvers, to test the weighting matrices in the IRUCAL utility, and examine correlation effects.