Design and Development of a Low-Cost Multisensor Inertial Data Acquisition System for Sailing

This paper presents the development of an inertial measurement data acquisition system intended for use in sailboats. The variables of interest are three-axis acceleration, three-axis rotation, Global Positioning System (GPS) position/velocity, magnetic compass bearing, and wind speed/direction. The design focus is on low-cost microelectromechanical systems-based technology and demonstrating the validity of these technologies in a scientific application. A prototype is constructed and submitted to a series of tests to demonstrate functionality and soundness of the design. Contributions of this paper include the novel application of inertial measurement unit technology to a sailboat racing application, the integration of all instrumentation, creative ruggedized packaging, and emphasizing the use of low-cost commercial off-the-shelf technology.