Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Gyroscopes can be used to construct gyrocompasses, which complement or replace magnetic compasses (in ships, aircraft and spacecraft, vehicles in general), to assist in stability (bicycles, motorcycles, and ships) or be used as part of an inertial guidance system. MEMS gyroscopes are popular in some consumer electronics, such as smartphones.
A fibre-optic gyroscope (FOG) senses changes in orientation using the Sagnac effect, thus performing the function of a mechanical gyroscope. However its principle of operation is instead based on the interference of light which has passed through a coil of optical fibre , which can be as long as 5 kilometres (3 mi).
A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) consists of a ring laser having two independent counter-propagating resonant modes over the same path; the difference in phase is used to detect rotation. It operates on the principle of the Sagnac effect which shifts the nulls of the internal standing wave pattern in response to angular rotation.
This type of gyroscope uses a pair of test masses driven to resonance. Their displacement from the plane of oscillation is measured to produce a signal related to the system's rate of rotation. Frederick William Meredith registered a patent for such a device in 1942 while working at the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
Two gyroscopes are used to cancel gyroscopic precession, the tendency of a gyroscope to twist at right angles to an input torque. By mounting a pair of gyroscopes (of the same rotational inertia and spinning at the same speed in opposite directions) at right angles the precessions are cancelled and the platform will resist twisting.
The hemispherical resonator gyroscope (HRG), also called wine-glass gyroscope or mushroom gyro, is a compact, low-noise, high-performance angular rate or rotation sensor. An HRG is made using a thin solid-state hemispherical shell, anchored by a thick stem.
A control moment gyroscope (CMG) is an attitude control device generally used in spacecraft attitude control systems. A CMG consists of a spinning rotor and one or more motorized gimbals that tilt the rotor’s angular momentum .
A rate gyro is a type of gyroscope, which rather than indicating direction, indicates the rate of change of angle with time.If a gyro has only one gimbal ring, with consequently only one plane of freedom, it can be adapted for use as a rate gyro to measure a rate of angular movement.