Navigation / Embedded systems
IMU Electronic Compass
- IMU sensor fusion
- Mahony filter
- STM32
- GNSS
- CAN bus
Developed as part of professional work. Architecture is described at a high level; proprietary schematics, source code and client details are omitted.
The problem
OKHAN, an unmanned surface vehicle, needs a reliable heading reference even when the GNSS compass alone is degraded — multipath near shore, GNSS dropout, or vessel dynamics that outpace GNSS update rate. TODO(berk): confirm and sharpen this framing.
My role
I developed the hardware and embedded firmware for an IMU-based electronic compass that supports the vessel’s GNSS compass system, and contributed to the wider navigation and positioning electronics as part of system integration and maritime field testing.
Constraints
TODO(berk): update-rate requirement, accuracy target, vibration/shock environment on the vessel, power budget.
System architecture
MEMS IMU feeding a Mahony sensor-fusion filter running on an STM32, producing a heading estimate that backs up and cross-checks the GNSS compass. TODO(berk): block diagram (SVG) of the compass board and its interface to the vessel’s navigation computer.
Firmware design
Mahony filter tuned for a marine vibration/motion environment. TODO(berk): filter update rate, calibration routine, how heading is arbitrated against the GNSS compass when they disagree.
Communication
TODO(berk): how the compass reports heading to the rest of the vessel — CAN, NMEA-2000, serial — and why.
Hardest problem
TODO(berk): the specific failure — e.g. an early filter divergence under vessel vibration, a calibration drift issue — how it was diagnosed and fixed.
Result
TODO(berk): measured outcome from field testing — heading accuracy, drift over time, performance vs GNSS-only.
What I’d do differently
TODO(berk)