AHRS - Attitude Heading and Reference Systems

An AHRS (Attitude and Heading Reference System) is a device that uses different sensors, like: gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers and a processing unit. Data from these different sensors are corrected and used to compute the roll, pitch, yaw and the attitude for an airborne vehicle. An Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) can be connected to a gnss receiver, together used for geo-referencing aerial imagery and/or airborne laser scanning or for navigation and localisation purposes.

AHRS systems contain sensors on three axes that provide speed / acceleration and attitude information, including heading, pitch and roll angles. In principle AHRS systems are Inertial Measurement Units with a more accurate gyrocompass integrated. 

The accuracy of the AHRS systems relays on the integration of temperature calibrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers. In recent years the accuracy of AHRS systems have increase significatively thanks to the evolution of the sensors and sophisticated fusion algorithms that deliver accurate and reliable orientation (Heave, Heading and Attitude). AHRS Systems are versatile and have different uses as they can determined the orientation with high accuracy for dynamic applications.