TopAxyz Digital MEMS Accelerometer

The TopAxyz MEMS accelerometer product line offers a wide performance range, from navigation to tactical grade, with substantial savings in power consumption and reduced size under stringent environments.

TopAxyz inertial sensors are compliant with a large range of civil and military applications such as airplanes, helicopters, UAVs, land vehicles, munitions, satellites and naval.

The Thales 3-axis MEMS accelerometer is compliant with Aeronautic Development Standards (DO254) to guarantee the highest level of quality for safety-critical applications.

Unlike expensive Ka/Ku-Band Satellite based IFC systems that take time to install at scale across large aircraft fleets, A2G is a far lighter and less complex to install (in a matter of hours) system with proven reliability that can achieve ancillary revenue generation from day one. With no disruption, loss of revenue from installation downtime as well as performance being unaffected by weather conditions, airlines can now accelerate and optimise their connected aircraft operations through high speed broadband of up to 110 Mbps.

Thales has developed innovative vibrating inertial sensor technology based on silicon detectors. An accelerometer measures changes in the vibration frequency of the resonator caused by the pressure exerted by the proof mass as the vehicle accelerates. In a gyrometer, the measurement cell comprises two masses, which vibrate in the x axis. Under the effect of angular rotation in the y axis, the Coriolis force causes a vibration in the z axis, with an amplitude proportional to this angular rotation.

This technology needs specialised manufacturing processes, particularly for the cell, which is the key component of the sensors. This involves the vacuum sealing of two silicon sheets to produce vacuum cavities, which in turn allow the vibrating structures to operate with extremely high quality factors.

With the miniaturisation of inertial sensors, made possible by MEMS technology (micro-electro-mechanical systems), a new type of product called Micro Inertial Measurement Units (µIMUs) has been developed, comprising three accelerometers and three gyrometers with a very small mass and form factor (< 50 cm3).

Combined with advances in filtering and Inertial-GNSS hybridisation techniques, these new sensors now match the performance of other high-performance systems with a lower SWaP (Size, Weight and Power)