Vertical Reference

Vertical Reference Sensors contain gyros and accelerometers that are used to stabilize vehicles and other platforms, such as cameras or antennas. Watson Industries manufactures both analog and digital vertical references.

These sensors output a signal indicating its angle. The accelerometers sense the current angle, but can be inaccurate in the short term depending on how quickly the device was moved. Gyros are also used in a vertical reference because they sense rotations. Using this rate data for short-term angle measurements along with accelerometers for the long term allows the sensor to provide an accurate angle in almost all situations.