Our ultra-low bias IMUs and gyroscopes can help move your mission forward.
These three industries lose satellite positioning in the same places: deep cuts, pit walls, tunnels and canopy. OSCP builds photonic and MEMS IMUs in Canada that carry heading through the gap, on hardware rated for continuous heavy-equipment vibration.
The challenge
GNSS fails where the work happens. Machine control drops beside retaining walls, under canopy and in deep cuts. Underground there is no satellite signal at all and there never will be. Mobile mapping earns its money in urban canyons, under tree cover and along pit walls, which is exactly where the fix degrades. In all three cases the inertial sensor takes over, and heading error turns into position error with every metre travelled.
Vibration is the second problem. Heavy equipment shakes continuously: engines, tracks, breakers, compactors, drills, haul trucks. MEMS gyros are g-sensitive, so sustained vibration walks their bias and shows up as heading error even while GNSS is healthy. Dust, mud and moisture sit on top of all of it.
The cost lands differently in each industry, but it is the same error. On a grading crew it is idle hours. Underground it is beacon density, survey rework and shorter trusted runs. In mapping it is error smeared across the point cloud, which makes gyro grade a data-quality specification.
How OSCP helps
Carries the outage. A tactical-grade IMU holds blade, bucket, mast or trajectory position through canopy, deep cuts and structure shadow, so the machine keeps working and the run stays usable.
Holds its bias under vibration. The MK2E2 measures rotation via the Sagnac effect on a hybrid photonic integrated circuit, with no moving parts in the sensing path, making it highly resistant to the vibration that walks MEMS bias. Vibration passed at 2, 4 and 8 g and shock at 20 g and 40 g, both to DO-160 style profiles.
Fewer corrections underground. Lower heading drift means fewer beacons to install and maintain, and longer unaided runs between corrections.
Survives the site. Built to withstand harsh environments, so winter earthworks and the swing from portal to face are inside spec.
Fits the machine bus. RS-422 and CAN-FD connect to machine-control ECUs and existing vehicle buses at up to 500 Hz on a 12 to 34 V supply. ITAR-free and made in Canada, so exports run under Canadian controls with no US approval in the loop.
Recommended configuration
| Product | Grade | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| MK2M2 | Tactical Grade MEMS IMU, 0.5 °/hr min in-run bias, typically under 1.0 °/hr | Machine control with good aiding: GNSS available most of the time, wheel or track odometry on the bus, moderate vibration. 40 x 40 x 25 mm, 75 g, 1.2 W. |
| MK2E2 | Tactical Grade Photonic IMU, 0.5 °/hr min in-run bias, typically under 1.0 °/hr | Severe continuous vibration from breakers, compactors, piling rigs or drills, or long runs between corrections, or trajectory quality drives the deliverable. 78 x 63 x 36 mm, 230 g, 2 W. |
| MK2Z | Navigation Grade Photonic IMU, < 0.01 °/hr in-run bias on its optical Z axis | The longest unaided runs, where heading has to hold between widely spaced corrections: underground haulage and drilling, deep pit work, long tunnel survey. Prototype hardware, quoted for evaluation programs, not a production part. 83 x 86.5 x 65 mm, 475 g, 4.5 W typical and 7.5 W max. |
All three share < 15 µg accelerometer bias stability, 0.008 m/s/√hr velocity random walk and the same RS-422 or CAN-FD interface, so shared interfaces keep integration work common across the family. They are different sizes, so none is a mechanical drop-in for another.
On the MK2Z. The optical gyro sits on the Z axis only. Heading comes from that axis, which is what matters for a haul truck, a drill or a survey trolley on a level or gently graded drive. Rotation about X and Y comes from the MEMS suite at 0.5 °/hr. It is a prototype: talk to us about evaluation rather than a production schedule, and ask what has and has not been characterised.
Proof
In our published case study, a 21 minute drive through Montreal with GNSS positioning denied, heading came from the gyro alone with a 1 Hz speed input for distance and no EKF. The MK2E2 finished 5.7 m from ground truth. The MK2M2 finished 20.5 m. Both units ran identical aiding, so the 3.6x gap is set almost entirely by heading drift.
A street is not a pit wall or a drift, but the arithmetic is the same one that governs a long haul road or a mapping run under canopy: heading error accumulates with distance travelled.
Frequently asked questions
We already have GNSS machine control. Why add an IMU?
For the minutes GNSS is not there. Beside a retaining wall, in a deep cut or under canopy the fix degrades or drops, and the blade loses position. The IMU carries it through the gap so the operator is not falling back to stakes.
Underground there is no GNSS at all. What does a better gyro actually buy?
Distance between corrections. Autonomous haulage and drilling navigate on the IMU plus odometry and infrastructure beacons. Lower heading drift means the vehicle travels further before it needs a correction, which shows up as fewer beacons to install and maintain, and less survey rework.
Will site vibration degrade the gyro?
It affects every gyro, but differently. MEMS gyros sense rotation with a vibrating proof mass and are g-sensitive, so sustained shaking couples into rate error. The MK2E2’s optical gyro has no moving parts in the sensing path and is highly resistant, though not immune. Units passed vibration at 2, 4 and 8 g to DO-160 style profiles.
Our incumbent IMU line is going end of life. Is this a realistic replacement?
Often, yes. RS-422 and CAN-FD interfaces, a sealed housing and operation under harsh environment cover most of what an incumbent tactical line was doing. Send us the part you are replacing and the specification you are held to, and we will tell you honestly whether we clear it.