Inertial Navigation Solutions for navies

The performance of a fiber-optic gyroscope can be changed by altering the length and diameter of its coil, making it adaptable to a wide range of performance needs. Performance can further be increased by pushing back the technological limits of the optical components that are used within the FOG gyroscope.

Because iXblue has complete mastery over all the components that are integrated into its systems, from its own optical fiber and components, to its accelerometers and algorithms, the company can push the limits of the FOG technology to have it reach new peaks of performance.

The FOG (Fiber-Optic Gyroscope) is the result of more than 30 years of research and development and is today considered to be the best gyroscope in the world: its performance is deemed genuinely unlimited.

Based on the Sagnac effect, FOGs are passive systems that use light to calculate motion. Rotations movements are measured by sending identical laser beams, in opposite directions, through a long fiber-optic coil.The laser beam travelling against the direction of rotation experiences a slightly shorter path delay than the other beam. Measuring the phase shift between the two beams reveals changes in orientation. Objects being free to rotate in three dimensions, iXblue’s Fiber-optic based inertial navigation systems contains three FOG gyroscopes, measuring rotations on those three different axes.

Fiber-Optic Gyroscopes are truly solid-state passive systems. Indeed, the FOG technology does not involve any movement of mechanical parts causing dithers, vibrations, frictions and resulting in parts’ weariness and noise. This ensures many benefits for the user: acoustic stealth, robustness of the system (Power-on and Forget), cost-effectiveness and the lowest cost-of-ownership on the market

Operating as a single component and relying only on light motion, FOGs are resistant to external disruptions such as shocks, extreme temperatures, magnetism or vibrations. This is why FOGs equip systems operating in extreme environments or expecting high resistance from their sensors: satellites, strategic submarines, long-range artillery, extreme deep-water robots and vehicles.

iXblue has end-to-end control of its value chain, from the design work carried out in its engineering offices through to manufacturing in the company’s own production facilities. Its control over the performance of its products and its capacity to adapt are guarantees of quality and excellence.

Having high performance sensors is key to ensuring a vessel’s operability and survivability. The data collected through these sensors need to be processed, monitored, and distributed to the ship’s systems. This is where Netans NDDS comes into action.

In addition to sensors and data distribution systems, iXblue provides an in-house ECDIS system, Gecdis-W, covering the full spectrum of a vessel critical’s navigation systems.

Gecdis-W is fully compliant with the latest IEC-IMO and IHO standards and regulations. It is the most intuitive interface available on the market.

Thanks to a 100% proprietary chart engine, Gecdis-W provides key benefits to military sailors:

• A highly configurable man-machine interface where most frequently used functions can be reached in one click
• Smooth data management to import and export data, according to regulations, and a rich database functionality

Among other application, Gecdis-W can be used for:

• Screen kilo: to ensure safe naval fleet navigation by allowing to visualize the areas of navigation for each ship in the fleet, with respect to reference ship.
• Gun sector: to visualize the weapon coverage areas. It provides optimized navigation with respect to the weapon categories onboard.
• Submarine Moving Haven: to avoid collisions with submarines. This feature specifies dynamic or static 3D risk areas.