The IMU (inertial measurement unit) plays a central role in sensor systems for motion sensing, and is mainly used to measure the acceleration, angular velocity, and attitude changes of objects. Typically, it works in conjunction with other sensors (such as GPS, cameras, and LiDAR) to enable higher-accuracy motion tracking, navigation, and control systems.

IMU helps track a robot’s movement and posture by providing real-time data that maintains balance during motion, and assists in determining the robot’s position and orientation, especially in indoor or GPS-denied environments.

By delivering high-dynamic orientation awareness and autonomous motion feedback, IMUs play a key role in the following areas:

The application of IMU (inertial measurement unit) in robot chassis is very important, and its core features directly serve the robot's positioning, navigation, attitude control, and dynamic response capabilities.

1. Real-Time Attitude Sensing and Control

3D Attitude Calculation: The IMU uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure the chassis’ pitch, roll, and yaw angles in real time, helping the robot determine its own orientation, such as whether it is tilting, slipping, or experiencing uneven terrain.

Example: Preventing wheeled robots from tipping over on slopes or slippery surfaces.

2. High-Precision Motion Trajectory Estimation (Dead Reckoning)

Relative Localization Ability: In GPS-denied indoor environments (e.g., warehouses, underground tunnels), the IMU estimates displacement, velocity, and directional changes by integrating acceleration data. This provides an initial motion model for SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping).

Note: Long-term use may result in cumulative errors (requires fusion correction with wheel speed encoder, vision, or lidar).

Short-Term High-Dynamic Response: For fast-moving or frequently turning robots (e.g., AGVs, racing drones), the IMU’s high sampling rate (100–1000 Hz) captures instantaneous motion changes, improving trajectory prediction accuracy.

3. Environmental Adaptability and Robustness

Interference resistance: IMU does not rely on light, magnetic fields, or visual features, making it suitable for harsh environments such as darkness, dust, rain, and snow (e.g., industrial inspection robots and disaster relief robots).

Comparison: Visual navigation may fail in low-light conditions, whereas an IMU can still provide fundamental motion data.

Vibration and Shock Tolerance:Robot chassis equipped with industrial-grade or tactical-grade IMUs (e.g., specialized robots, unmanned vehicles) can maintain data stability even on bumpy roads or during intense movement.

4. Core Component for Multi-Sensor Fusion

Complementary to wheel speed encoders: IMUs compensate for errors in wheel speed encoders during slippage or suspension (such as when tracked robots slip on muddy ground) by fusing data through Kalman filtering to improve positioning reliability.

Assisting SLAM Systems: In laser SLAM or visual SLAM, the IMU provides motion prior information (such as rotation angles and acceleration) which helps reduce feature matching errors and accelerates map building and localization convergence.

Collaboration with GPS: For outdoor robots (e.g., agricultural robots, autonomous vehicles), when GPS signals are briefly lost (e.g., in tunnels or forests), the IMU can provide short-term inertial navigation to maintain continuous positioning.

5. Power Consumption and Miniaturization Compatibility

Lightweight design: MEMS IMUs are compact (e.g., the MPU6050 chip weighs only a few grams) and suitable for integration into lightweight robot chassis (e.g., floor cleaning robots, service robots) without affecting the overall weight distribution.

Energy efficient: Low-power IMUs are suitable for battery-powered mobile robots, extending battery life, especially for long-term tasks (such as inspections and logistics transportation).

6. Key Capabilities in Special Scenarios

Slip Detection: By monitoring sudden changes in chassis acceleration and angular velocity, the IMU can detect wheel or track slippage and changes in ground friction (e.g., adjusting power output when a tracked robot is climbing a slope).

Collision and Drop Response: The IMU detects abnormal accelerations or angular velocities (e.g., when a robot falls down stairs or collides with an obstacle), triggering emergency braking or posture protection mechanisms.

Terrain adaptability analysis: Through acceleration frequency domain analysis (such as FFT processing), determine ground roughness (flat, gravel, steps), and assist the chassis suspension system or gait planning.

IMUs (inertial measurement units) are capable of adapting to a variety of complex environments, particularly in robot chassis applications, due to their autonomy, high dynamic response, and strong environmental adaptability.