An Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is at the core of all inertial systems.
The IMU degrees of freedom typically reflects the number of sensors axes :
3 DOF for a gyro triad
6 DOF for a full IMU with 3 accelerometers and 3 gyroscopes
IMUs including magnetometers sometime are advertised as 9 degrees of freedom, by counting the magnetic measurements as well. However, in a practical situation, the magnetic field is directly linked to the device's orientation, so 6 DoF still stand for an IMU with magnetometers.
For optimal performance, a temperature sensor is also required if a temperature calibration is applied in the IMU.
In this section, you will learn more details about these sensors and the MEMS technology.
