SMART7 with SPAN Operation

NovAtel's SPAN GNSS+INS technology brings together two very different but complementary positioning and navigation systems namely Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and an Inertial Navigation System (INS). By combining the best aspects of GNSS and INS into one system, SPAN technology is able to offer a solution that is more accurate and reliable than either GNSS or INS could provide alone. The combined GNSS+INS solution has the advantage of the absolute accuracy available from GNSS and the continuity of INS through traditionally difficult GNSS conditions.

A SPAN system consists of the following components:

• NovAtel GNSS receiver
  The NovAtel OEM7 GNSS receiver uses a combination of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, NavIC and QZSS signals to calculate an accurate GNSS position. The OEM7 receiver also supports the timing requirements of the IMU and runs the real-time INS filter.

• IMU
  The Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) consists of three accelerometers and three gyroscopes (gyros) so that accelerations along specific axes and angular rotations can be measured.

• GNSS antenna

In the SMART7-S and SMART7-SI, all three of these components are included in the SMART7 enclosure. After the SMART7 is installed, the appropriate power supply is attached, and a few simple configuration commands are entered, the SPAN system will be ready to navigate.