iXblue launches its first navigation-grade accelerometer

iXblue, a global high-tech company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced navigation and positioning technologies, has announced the launch of the iXal A5, the company’s first navigation-grade accelerometer dedicated to high-performance applications.

Based on the Vibrating Beam Accelerometer (VBA) technology and the Vibrating Inertial Accelerometer (VIA) concept developed by the French aerospace lab ONERA, and industrialized by iXblue, the iXal A5 is the first high-performance accelerometer to be launched by the company.

Benefiting from five years of in-house manufacturing for iXblue’s own Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), the iXal A5 is a rugged sensor that provides high accuracy and repeatability, as well as a high input range (+/-100 g) and an insensitivity to magnetic field. This offers iXblue’s iXal A5 an excellent resistance to challenging environments. The sensor can thus be used in various high-performance civil and defense applications including land, air, surface and underwater navigation, guidance, bridge monitoring and stability, as well as Offshore drilling platform monitoring.

“We have been manufacturing accelerometers for use on our own state-of-the-art inertial navigation systems for over five years now,” states Rachid Taibi, Quartz Sensor Business Line leader at iXblue. “The market for high-end performance accelerometers having significant growth potential, we decided to make our technological expertise available by launching our own dedicated product.”
Manufactured in France within iXblue’s production facilities and capitalizing on the company’s end-to-end control of its value chain, the new iXal A5 accelerometer is an ITAR-free product with no restrictive component. Launched during the Inertial 2019 Symposium in Naples, Florida, the iXal A5 is the first product of a wider range of accelerometers that will offer a scalable solution covering both navigation and strategic grade applications.