Low-Cost, High-Performance Inertial Rate Sensors

A number of emerging terrestrial and airborne defense systems require high-resolution Line of Sight (LOS) stabilization, which in turn requires high-accuracy, wide-bandwidth gyroscopes. Existing gyroscopes have two main deficiencies: their bandwidth is too low for these applications, and they do not deliver sufficient Angle Random Walk (ARW) performance within the application constraints for noise, size, power consumption, and environmental sensitivity. Current gyroscopes that meet these constraints have ARW performance that is orders of magnitude worse than what high-resolution LOS stabilization requires, while gyros that meet the ARW performance targets are large and have poor environmental sensitivity. IFOS team-members are pioneers in the development of Fiber-Optic Gyroscopes (FOGs), and propose to develop new FOGs that can meet the needs of LOS stabilization. These innovative gyros will be developed using a combination of new components, new coil production methods, and new control techniques. Phase-I focused on design details, trade-offs and production of a proof-of-concept FOG with good ARW performance and a path to meet LOS stabilization requirements. IFOS assembled a complementary team of collaborators including a major aerospace company. In Phase II, the IFOS team will work to optimize and fabricate four complete engineering prototype FOGs for the LOS stabilization target application.