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inertial navigation.

Noun
Sci-FiSettingTechnical
MEANING

A method of estimating position, velocity, and orientation using sensors that measure acceleration and rotation.

Use it for

navigation when external signals are unavailable; onboard motion sensors estimating a vehicle's path; accumulated sensor drift; an autonomous vessel tracking its movement

Words that belong together

  • an inertial navigation system
  • inertial-navigation drift
  • inertial navigation without GPS

On the page

The inertial navigation system continued to operate after the antenna was lost.
She compared the star fix with the inertial-navigation estimate and found a growing discrepancy.

Related words

inertial guidanceaccelerometergyroscope
Word forms
Base
inertial navigation

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Science-fiction vocabulary

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: Uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.

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