Silicon Sensing participates in Mayflower Autonomous Ship Quest

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) is set to re-embark on its three-week trans-Atlantic journey in April 2022 equipped with two Silicon Sensing’s AMU30 inertial measurement units (IMUs). These Silicon Sensing AMU30 devices send highly precise motion data to the new ‘AI captain’ that guides the vessel. They also assist in measuring sea surface height as part of detailed scientific analysis of ocean topography.  

“The AMU30s have been bullet-proof deployed in extremely challenging conditions and are vital to the Mayflower Autonomous Ship’s mission to collect highly resolute data from the world’s oceans,” said Brett Phaneuf, co-director of the project.

AMU30 is a micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) unit with impressive inertial performance, including exceptional bias stability and low noise characteristics, plus an embedded Kalman Filter based AHRS (attitude and heading reference system) algorithm. It delivers precise 3-axis outputs of angular rate and acceleration, plus roll, pitch and heading angles, altitude and pressure, and temperature, at 200Hz – all critical to precise maritime navigation.

“The two AMU30 are used to make real-time, precision measurements of the movement of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship in 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) so that the AI Captain may make minute manoeuvring adjustments to optimize vessel performance in a complex wavefield, while also providing redundant general navigation capability at sea,” said Phaneuf. "Furthermore, when coupled with optical and RTK (real time kinematics) GPS information, the AMU30 assists the ship in making highly accurate measurements of sea surface height.  Accurate measurements of ocean surface topography are important for studying ocean tides, circulation and the amount of heat the ocean holds.”

The Silicon Sensing AMU30 MEMS IMU with AHRS. Image courtesy Silicon Sensing