A systematic review of user - conducted calibration methods for MEMS-based IMUs

MEMS-IMUs1 are cost-effective, self-contained, small-size, low-power devices used in various motion tracking and sensing applications. The triaxial gyroscope and accelerometer in a typical 6-axis IMU measure the angular rate and specific force that can be used directly or fused using sophisticated algorithms to estimate position, velocity, and orientation (pose) information. Despite their advantages, MEMS-based IMUs are highly noisy, containing systematic and stochastic errors. Though stochastic noises can be characterized and minimized with various analysis methods and algorithms, systematic errors need to be identified and removed with a suitable calibration process. Among the various calibration methods, the easiest methods for consumer-grade-IMU are user-conducted methods, doable by an end-user without complex equipment use or support. This paper reviews, classifies, and analyzes popular user-conducted calibration methods for MEMS IMUs and lists their features and standard mathematical models based on the literature (published during 2000-2023) systematically collected from popular digital libraries.