MINIATURE HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING GYROSCOPE

TRADITIONAL HIGH ACCURACY INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNITS (IMU'S) RELY ON MECHANICAL OR RING LASER GRYOSCOPES FOR ANGULAR POSITION MEASUREMENT. RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING (HTS) MATERIALSHAS OPENED NEW METHODS OF ANGULAR POSITION SENSING THAT CAN GREATLY LOWER THE SIZE, WEIGHT, AND COST OF THE IMU FUNCTION. IN THIS EFFORT,THE ENGINEERING PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCING A SUPERCONDUCTING GYROSCOPE ARE BEING DEFINED AND ANALYZED. A MINIATURE AND LOW POWERCONSUMING GYROSCOPE IS BEING DESIGNED UTILIZING THE ELECTRON-ELECTRON INTERACTION IN THE NEW CLASS OF HTS MATERIAL. SPECIFICALLY, MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GYROSCOPE IS BEING UNDERTAKEN, INCLUDING SENSOR PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS. HTS MATERIALS ARE BEING STUDIED TO DETERMINE THE MOST SUITABLE CANDIDATE FOR THE SENSOR. AN ACCURACY ASSESSMENT IS BEING CONDUCTED FOR BOTH GIMBALED AND STRAP-DOWN VERSIONS OF THE DEVICE. THE MECHANICAL DESIGN AND MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS ARE THE BASIC GYROSCOPE ARE BEING COMPLETED. FABRICATION TECHNIQUES ARE BEING DETERMINED. THE ACTUAL FABRICATION OF THE SENSOR WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED AT A LATER STAGE. APPLICATIONS OF MINIATURE SUPERCONDUCTING GYROSCOPE INCLUDE A HOST OF DEFENSE SYSTEMS REQUIRING SMALL AND LIGHT WEIGHT IMU'S SUCH AS MISSILE GUIDANCE AND CONTROL, AIRCRAFT ON-BOARD INERTIAL SYSTEMS, DEAD RECKONING EQUIPMENT ON SHIPS OF ALL TYPES PROJECTILE GUIDANCE, AND STRATEGIC DEFENSE APPLICATIONS.