LORD Corporation, a provider of sensing systems, and Clearpath Robotics, have partnered to bring industry-leading inertial sensors to the Clearpath research robot platform. For precise navigation in applications such as 3D mapping in difficult terrain, LORD inertial sensors are designed to enhance the autonomous capabilities of Clearpath’s robots.

“The partnership between LORD and Clearpath gives users a full array of state-of-the-art inertial sensors available for direct integration on Clearpath platforms or from the Clearpath Components Store,” said Jim Toscano, Senior Business Development Manager, LORD Sensing. “Assembling a highly capable autonomous robot has never been easier.”

LORD designs and manufactures a full-feature inertial sensor product line with a common protocol and advanced software – integrating the best-in-class low noise, low drift gyros and accelerometers. Every unit is fully calibrated and temperature compensated, resulting in superior real-world performance under conditions of temperature variation, shock, and vibration, according to the company. Clearpath Robotics offers LORD inertial sensors to academic and corporate research organizations on its mobile robots for survey and inspection, oil and gas, agriculture, materials handling and other applications. LORD inertial sensors provide dynamic position and orientation information to determine robot heading, as well as roll and pitch accuracy.

“We’ve recommended and used LORD Sensing, MicroStrain sensors for many years, so this partnership is a perfect fit,” said Julian Ware, General Manager, Clearpath Robotics. “Many of our customers develop their own navigation solutions, and having an accurate, reliable inertial measurement unit (IMU) is essential. The LORD Sensing solutions are the best options for mobile robotics development.”

Clearpath provides value-added services for LORD with wide-ranging expertise in integrating sensors for situational awareness and autonomous navigation and is a leader in the Robot Operating System (ROS) community. By partnering, the combined effort will result in robots that can be easily and flexibly configured to accurately navigate and perform inspection, mapping, localization and other tasks in challenging terrains and conditions.

More information about the products featured in this partnership can be found on the Clearpath Robotics and LORD Sensing, MicroStrain websites.