The Difference Between IMU, AHRS, and INS

Shopping around for an inertial sensor, people think of INS. Maybe you need an IMU, which is super simple. Understanding the difference between IMU, AHRS, and INS is going to help pick the right product for your specific application. Watch the video below as Morgan explains the difference between IMU and AHRS, as well as a complete breakdown of INS.
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Timestamps:
1:49 IMU Inertial Measurement Unit - Raw Data without Navigation
3:11 AHRS - Attitude Heading Reference System - An IMU + GPS Positioning
3:44 INS - Inertial Navigation System - Smart Navigation
4:38 RTK Real-Time Kinematics - Centimeter-level Accuracy for Your INS
7:42 RTK + Compassing - Why is Compassing Paired With RTK?

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An IMU only consists of a magnetometer, accelerometer, and gyro. Sometimes magnetometer is not included in the package. It will not have a smart-system.

AHRS stands for attitude heading reference system and includes a GPS, but no Kalman filter. It has all the benefits of the IMU, plus GPS position. This is a good fit if there is already a filter in mind to be designed, or already incorporated.

INS is an inertial navigation system. It takes all the sensors, fusing them into one system. It knows exactly where it is in the world based on just that output. INS is not a GPS. It has a Kalman filter in it, which is how the sensor itself fuses all the individual parts into one and gives navigation output with everything incorporated. It has a sensor fusion built into the device, giving a more accurate output, and includes a gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer, and GPS. This allows your robot to understand where it is in the world.

The Kalman filter is a software package. The Kalman filter gives a fused output that the rest of your robot can run on. RTK, real-time kinematics, is a process where GPS position is taken from a base station, and output corrections are sent to your rover. The value of using an RTK base is if you work off any type of triangulation base, you can get a position. With the two GPS system combination, you can get centimeter-level accuracy. This is only available in the INS system. Another feature only accessible with INS is compassing. Based on the distance between the two GPS positions, you can derive heading, giving accurate heading dimensions to your regular navigation system.

The be-all solution that everyone really wants is, can I get great compassing heading and have position accuracy too with RTK? The answer is yes!

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