SP-6 magnetometer/electronic compass with advanced in-flight calibration algorithms for correction of hard and soft iron magnetic errors caused by ferro-magnetic materials in the aircraft.
Using a newly developed, unique method the SP-6 is able to cancel out the effects of magnetically active parts and materials on board the aircraft without any form of external aiding. Very high levels of heading accuracy can be achieved even in very compromised mounting locations where the combined effects of field distortion levels exceed the strength of the Earth's own magnetic field.
The SP-6 dramatically simplifies electronic compass installation and eliminates the need for ground based compass swings and calibrations.
The new advanced algorithms have been introduced in production models from July15th 2013 onwards. Previous SP-6 models can be updated to the new firmware by the user or MGL representative using a freely available Windows based application.
The SP-6 contains a three axis magnetic field sensor (magnetoresistive type) and a 3 axis accelerometer (MEMS). The system uses a ARM Cortex M3 32 bit processor.
If a SP-7 AHRS is used on the same communications link, tilt compensation can be performed using gyro based attitude data.This compensation is performed in the display device (EFIS). If the SP-6 is used without external AHRS, tilt compensation is performed using the internal accelerometer.
User and installation manual for new SP-6 firmware. This PDF document describes how to update older SP-6 units to the new firmware, how to perform the in-flight calibration procedure and gives details on how the in-flight calibration mechanism works.
User installable firmware update: Updates older SP-6 devices with in-flight calibration firmware. Requires Windows PC (XP or later and a RS232 serial port. A suitable cable needs to be constructed to connect the SP-6 to the PC.
SP-6 Windows based interface program. Using the SP-6 RS232 link and updated firmware, allows the SP-6 to be checked and calibrated (trail run, the final calibration must be performed installed in the aircraft). This application also allows calibration of the internal accelerometer which is used for tilt compensation for systems that do not have an AHRS.
