The ARIES Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) currently uses an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with an inherent rotation rate error bias of 10 degrees/hour. Then need for a more accurate IMU for long term missions has led to the purchase of the Honeywell HG1700 IMU. The HG1700 is a ring laser gyroscope designed specifically as part of the navigation software in multiple U.S. missiles. The objective of this research is to perform numerous bench tests on the HG1700 to test its capabilities and to begin the process of implementing the IMU into the ARIES unmanned underwater vehicle. Specifically, the IMU is tested for correct setup configurations, angle of rotation accuracies, the rotation rate error bias, and positional accuracies. Also, guidelines for integrating the IMU with the current software in the ARIES vehicle are discussed.

Thesis (M.S. in Applied Science (Physical Oceanography))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Anthony J. Healey, Edward B. Thornton. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49). Also available online.