ABSTRACT: This paper demonstrates basic research for a new compass system using latest MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) sensors for small vessels. In 2007, MEMS Electro-statically Gyro (ESG) was introduced by TOKYO KEIKI which is a Japanese company. This sensor accuracy has dramatically improved compared to vibration types. For example, instability has been improved 10 times more than the vibration types. The reproducibility was tested and maximum difference was 0.55 [deg/sec] in the field test. The MEMS-ESG could detect the relative angles as accurate as GPS compass in short term use. Even though sensor accuracy has been improved, an improvement of another 10 times is needed to detect the earth?s turn rate. Because of this a second system is required for a complete compass system. A celestial navigation system is one of the possibilities to complement this. Traditionally the sextant has been used for measuring the altitude, but it has some human errors and difficult to measure continuously. Therefore, it might be useful to get sun altitude and direction automatically. In this thesis, the sun altitude and direction detecting system using camera devices are studied. Using 350?288 resolution camera and a radio-controlled clock, the sun movement was detected 5?14? per pixels and 2?16?. per pixels for the altitude and direction respectively. Although this is a basic research for an integrated system, the data should have an enormous affect upon future research.

KEYWORDS: Global Positioning System (GPS), Navigational Equipment, Compass System, Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Electro-Statically Gyroscope (ESG), Ring Laser Gyro (RLG), Fiber Optic Gyro (FOG), MEMS-ESG

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