Chapter 3

20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic

Gyro Technology: The
Evolution from Large,
Low-Performance FOGs to
Compact, Precise FOGs and
FOG–Based Inertial Systems
Jay Napoli
KVH Industries, Inc.

3.1 Introduction
Precision gyroscopes have become critical components within an expanding
array of platforms and applications ranging from guided weapons to unmanned
submersibles, and from camera and radar assemblies to automobiles, gun
turrets, and virtual-reality simulators. KVH open-loop fiber optic gyros and
integrated inertial systems, developed over the course of 20 years, offer tactical-
grade performance and excellent reliability within a compact package for a
reasonable cost. The KVH family of FOGs was made possible through
innovations in several key fields, including:
• proprietary single-mode, polarization-maintaining, D-shaped optical
fiber, with an elliptical core;
• revolutionary ThinFiber;
• innovative optical circuit design, component fabrication, and system
integration; and
• patented digital signal processing (DSP) for improved performance.

41
42 Chapter 3

This combination provides innovative technology and an outstanding

cost-to-performance ratio that compare well against other competing tactical-
grade technology currently available on the market.
All of the fiber components needed to assemble the FOGs are made at the
KVH manufacturing facility in Tinley Park, Illinois. This allows KVH to
produce its FOGs in a highly vertically integrated environment, with complete
control over the quality, cost, and supply of the components. The gyros are
either sold as single-axis sensors or assembled into higher-level, multi-axis
products that can be integrated with accelerometers to produce inertial
measurement units (IMUs). These IMUs are often coupled with GPS receivers
to produce an inertial navigation system (INS).
In 1997, KVH announced that it had acquired the assets of Andrew
Corporation’s Sensor Products group, including a unique fiber optic
gyroscope, vehicle land-navigation systems, and various fiber optic products
and technologies. The intent of the acquisition was to integrate these
technologies more fully into the wide range of KVH communications and
navigation systems that it designed and manufactured for military, commer-
cial, and marine applications, as well as to develop new products suitable for a
number of new markets.
In 2011, the production of KVH FOG axes surpassed 50,000 units. By the
end of 2016, that number had climbed to more than 100,000 gyros, both as
standalone systems and as fully integrated components within high-perfor-
mance KVH IMUs and INSs.

3.2 Superior Performance through End-to-End Manufacturing

KVH is one of the only FOG manufacturers in the world to fabricate 100% of
the optical fiber and fiber components used in its FOG products.
The company undertakes all aspects of FOG manufacture, from drawing
the fiber to manufacturing optical components out of the fiber, to assembly of
the optical circuit, and then final integration and calibration with the
FOG electronics. This production chain gives the company complete control
over the various processes involved and ensures the highest level of quality.
KVH utilizes a group technology approach to every FOG design. There are
four main optical components, all of which are assembled from proprietary
KVH optical fiber. These optical components are then spliced together
to make a total of three optical circuit variants that are then housed and
mated to printed circuit boards to create three basic types of gyros. This
versatile design concept means that once software is loaded, KVH can
produce about 60 different types of single-axis products. The single-axis
FOGs can then be assembled into multi-axis FOGs as well as products such as
IMUs and INSs.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 43

3.2.1 At the heart of the FOG: creating the fiber

More than 35 years of research into fiber design has resulted in the KVH
E•Core fiber, a proprietary class of D-shaped-cross-section, non-stress-
induced fiber with an elliptical core that acts as an optical waveguide for
the FOG, resulting in stable performance over a wide temperature range.
These attributes of the E•Core fiber make KVH FOGs extremely well-suited
for stabilization, pointing, and navigation applications.
The E•Core fiber minimizes thermal effects and has a high tolerance for
stress due to bending and other factors. The fiber provides distinctive sensor
capabilities that facilitate the manufacture of couplers and polarizers. The
fiber’s D-shape permits easy access to the light-guiding region without grinding
or polishing. Additionally, the major axis of the elliptical core is parallel to the
flat of the D, allowing accurate alignment of the birefringent axis.
Most FOG manufacturers start instead with inexpensive telecommunica-
tion optical fiber that requires numerous additional processes related to coil
winding and signal processing in order to perform rate measurement. KVH,
on the other hand, draws its own polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber from
pure silica tubes.
The process of creating the fiber begins by manufacturing a preform from
a silica tube using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques. The CVD
process takes about eight hours to complete and involves numerous para-
meters that must be properly adjusted. The tube of silica glass is placed into
one of several preform towers at the KVH manufacturing facility (Fig. 3.1).
Digitally controlled mass-flow controllers meter out specific chemical gases
into the interior of the 1-m-long silica tube. The tube travels past a heating
element at 1700°C to sinter the gases to the inner surface of the tube.

Figure 3.1 Creating the glass preform: a chemical vapor deposition preform tower.
44 Chapter 3

Ultra-pure chemicals, including various rare-earth dopants, are deposited into

the interior diameter (ID) of the tube while slowly passing it through a heating
element. This sinters those chemicals within the ID of the tube and begins the
process of deposition of index layers—which ultimately becomes the cladding
and core of the fiber. Another pass with the tube through a vacuum collapses
the tube into a solid rod, which is essentially a short, inflexible macro optical
fiber fully capable of guiding light.
Once the solid rod has been produced from the silica tube, it undergoes a
number of processes, the end result of which is that the round, 1-m rod is
transformed into a D-shape, with the flat side of the rod parallel to the long
axis of the elliptical core.
The D-shaped preform rod is then placed into a tall fiber-drawing
tower (Fig. 3.2), where it is precisely heated and drawn into a strand of PM
fiber. The fiber can then be wound onto spools for later testing and use within
the FOGs. A single 1-m preform is capable of producing up to 5 km of KVH
E•Core fiber, which is no thicker than a human hair. The fiber itself, with an
external coating (jacket) that is applied during the draw process, is either
170 or 240 microns in diameter; the light-guiding elliptical-shaped fiber core
is 1
3 microns.
The optical components of a FOG are produced in batches and then
spliced together to produce an optical circuit. The optics are housed and

Figure 3.2 The fiber-drawing tower, which can produce up to 5 km of E•Core fiber from a
single 1-m preform tube.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 45

circuit boards are attached to make the final product. Before shipping, the
gyros undergo extensive environmental screening and calibration over
military temperature extremes. Complete documented acceptance-test reports
are generated for both single-axis and multi-axis products.
Each component and assembly within every FOG is 100% tested, and
each process and test machine is connected to a central database. All of the
production and test data are recorded, which provides an enormous resource
of real-time data to track quality yields and productivity with standardized
charts. It also gives KVH the capability to correlate final-product perfor-
mance data to the original fiber data for continual improvement and increased
yields of each component. As an added bonus, customers appreciate the
complete traceability from top-level assemblies back to actual workstations
and build dates to facilitate root-cause analysis, if required.
Since each FOG component is serialized and tracked through assembly
and test, it is possible to take any top-level serial number and trace any single
component back to the rig on which it was made, on what day, and by which
operator. This system extends back to raw tubes used to produce the optical
fiber preforms. KVH can data mine the system and answer such questions as,
“What lower limit on the coil-fiber cutoff wavelength is acceptable to produce
a specific level of end-product performance?” The ability to answer this type
of question allowed KVH to open up the tolerance band on one fiber
parameter without affecting the end-product performance. This change
improved fiber yield and produced a lower-attenuation fiber, further
improving yield in the upper assembly areas.
FOG coil lengths typically vary from 80 to 200 m, which is usually wound
on a bobbin using a standard thread- or level-winding technique (Fig. 3.3).

Figure 3.3 A quadrupole winder, which begins winding fiber onto the bobbin from the
center point of the fiber rather than from end-to-end, permitting far more precise fiber
alignment at each layer. This results in several performance benefits over the FOG’s
handling of temperature variations, shock, and vibration.
46 Chapter 3

In a FOG with a level-wound coil, the fiber is wound onto the bobbin by starting
at one end of the fiber and precisely rotating the bobbin, with the fiber under
monitored tension, until the appropriate amount of fiber has been utilized.
When higher FOG accuracy is necessary, KVH utilizes more-advanced
techniques such as the quadrupole winding method, where optical fiber is
wound onto the bobbin starting from the center point of the fiber length. The
fiber is wound precisely to ensure perfect alignment, which results in
significant performance improvements in terms of reduction of the well-
known Shupe effect compared to level-wound FOGs. This quadrupole
winding process is used in the KVH TG-6000, as well as the KVH 1725, 1750,
and 1775 IMUs, and the DSP-1750 and DSP-1760 FOGs.

3.2.2 The core design of KVH open-loop FOGs

KVH FOGs are based on an open-loop design consisting of a broadband solid
state optical source and PM fiber, and fiber components fabricated from
E•Core and ThinFiber (see Fig. 3.4). The light energy passes first through a
proprietary 3-dB directional coupler that isolates the detector and then
through a polarizer to ensure that a single polarization state enters the fiber
coil. The polarized light is then split into two paths by the second directional
coupler and directed to opposite ends of a coil of E•Core or ThinFiber. The
fiber coil, with counter-propagating light waves, then serves as the rotational
sensing element.
The scientific principle behind the FOG is the Sagnac effect, which is also
the basis of the ring laser gyro. When the fiber coil is not rotating, the optical

Figure 3.4 A basic functional diagram of a KVH open-loop FOG.

20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 47

path length in both directions is the same, so the two counter-rotating optical
signals are in phase upon their return to the detector. Rotating the coil
introduces an optical phase difference in the counter-rotating light paths
known as the Sagnac phase shift. The phase difference in the two paths results
in a change in amplitude of the recombined signals proportional to the
rotation rate. As such, the FOG is often referred to as an interferometer.
The piezoelectric (PZT) modulator is driven with a sinusoidal signal to
bias the Sagnac interferometer at the most-sensitive operating point. The
open-loop gyroscope has a first-order sinusoidal response to rotation, and the
SF is dependent on the optical intensity and modulation depth. The
interferometer converts this modulation into an output signal comprising
harmonics correlating to the Bessel functions. All of the required information
to determine the rotation rate and stabilize the SF is extracted from the
fundamental signal up to its fourth harmonic.
This light amplitude is measured at the detector and, after processing,
results in an output that is proportional to the rotation rate about the main
axis of the sensing coil. This design permits KVH to create exceptionally high-
performance open-loop gyros that use minimal lengths of fiber and number of
couplers, as well as low-cost light sources.
The FOG has no moving parts, resulting in enhanced reliability. There are
no cross-axis sensitivities to vibration, acceleration, or shock. In addition, the
FOG is stable with temperature and time, making it useful in a wide variety of
applications including land navigation, stabilization and positioning systems,
robotics, and instrumentation.

3.2.3 Design advantages

Topping the list of design advantages held by KVH FOGs is its E•Core and
ThinFiber D-shaped PM optical fibers. The elliptical core of the fiber acts as a
light-guiding path that ensures that the desired polarization of light is
maintained as it travels through the optical circuit, resulting in a strong
optical signal with low attenuation. The geometry-induced birefringence of
the elliptical core exhibits a high birefringence level to prevent polarization
coupling along the coil, with minimal temperature-induced birefringence
changes compared to typical stress-induced PM-fiber performances. As a
result, signals returning to the coil coupler are well aligned with the fiber
polarizer. Temperature-induced polarization drifts are minimized, which is
crucial to reduce the bias drift in the output of the FOG.
For several decades, KVH produced its E•Core optical fiber with a
diameter of ~240 microns. This fiber is still utilized today in some KVH FOG
products. However, in an effort to reduce the physical size of its FOGs
without sacrificing (and instead improving) performance, KVH developed its
E•Core ThinFiber in 2011. ThinFiber has a diameter of ~170 microns,
including the jacket. This thinner fiber means that a longer fiber length can be
48 Chapter 3

wound on a smaller bobbin, which translates into several improved

performance attributes. In addition to the overall performance, the D-shaped
E•Core and ThinFiber permits easy access to the light-guiding core, which is
important when producing couplers and polarizers as it provides an excellent
physical surface for mating fibers.
Another essential design element in high-accuracy KVH FOGs is the use
of the company’s patented DSP technology. Once the optical output from the
FOG is picked up at the detector and transformed into a voltage, this voltage
is passed through an analog-to-digital converter. The DSP approach allows
KVH engineers to devise effective methods for analyzing and correcting this
digitized data on the fly, a capability not possible with analog signal
processing. A simple example is the way KVH FOGs monitor their internal
temperature and then compensate for temperature errors by using a lookup
table stored in memory. The DSP approach and other improvements in
electronics and software have resulted in an increase in the accuracy of KVH
FOGs by orders of magnitude compared to earlier KVH FOG variants, as
will be shown next.

3.2.4 Key gyro performance factors

There are five critical areas where industrial- and tactical-grade gyros must
outperform consumer-grade gyros while maintaining a small form factor and
low cost.
• Angle random walk (ARW): The output of a gyro includes a
broadband, random (white) noise element. The ARW describes the
average deviation or error that will occur as a result of this noise
element. It can be obtained from the Allan variance value at the 1-s
crossing time (IEEE-std-952, Specification Format Guide and Test
Procedure for Single-Axis Interferometric Fiber Optic Gyros). At
short averaging times (horizontal axis of the Allan variance plot),
sensor noise dominates the Allan variance and is given as a
1/2 slope.
Major contributors to random noise are the active elements of the
gyro, such as the laser diode and photodiode in a FOG, and the
silicon or quartz vibrating beam and detection electronics in micro-
electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) gyros. There are large noise
performance differences among the various FOG and MEMS gyro
manufacturers, so designers typically pay particular attention to this
parameter. An excessive amount of gyro noise results in loss of sensor
precision and accuracy in the rate or position measurement.
• Bias offset error: A stationary gyro can incorrectly register some
rotation; this is called “bias offset” error. Its deviation from zero is
typically given at 25°C for an ideal environment (i.e., no temperature
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 49

change, vibration, shock, or magnetic field applied). The bias offset is

typically measured by an end-user in their system or application and
calibrated out of actual rate measurements.
• Bias instability (at constant temperature) is the stability of the bias
offset at any constant temperature and in an ideal environment. The
bias instability is best measured using the Allan variance (IEEE-std-
952) measurement technique. It is a fundamental method of deriving
performance specifications for all major gyro types (FOG, MEMS, and
ring laser gyros (RLGs)). The standard definition of bias instability
used by inertial sensor manufacturers is the minimum point on the
Allan variance curve—the lower this value is, the better the bias
performance. The Allan variance is a measurement of all noise
processes, both electrical and optical, including the thermal noise
fluctuations of the sensing coil’s fiber waveguide effective index, shock,
or vibration effects. While a gyro’s constant bias offset is usually
calibrated out, the bias instability introduces an error that may not be
easy to calibrate. Due to bias instability, the longer a gyro operates, the
greater its accumulated rate or position error—a lower bias instability
is critical for applications that need excellent accuracy over long
periods.
• Temperature sensitivity is a vital performance factor for gyros because
this performance can be impacted by changes in temperature. The
parameters sensitive to temperature include noise, bias offset, and SF
stability. System integrators characterize these parameters over
temperature, including temperature rate of change, to confirm that
the performance meets their system targets. KVH FOGs have internal
temperature-calibration tables for bias and SF correction versus
temperature (see Section 3.2.3).
• Shock and vibration sensitivity are essential factors because the gyro
performance can degrade under certain vibration and shock input
beyond the specification limits of the FOG. Shock- and vibration-
induced errors are not easily calibrated. Vibration performance is
important in many industrial and military applications as gyros must
perform accurately in the presence of a random vibration and/or shock
inputs. To help minimize vibration issues, designers typically locate the
gyro where vibrations are dampened and utilize anti-alias and
decimation filtering. The more resistant a gyro is to vibration, the
more reliable the performance and the more freedom the designer has
for gyro location within the system.
Fiber optic gyros are known for high performance in the five key
performance parameters vital for navigation, control, and stabilization,
including a low ARW, small bias offset, excellent bias instability (or low
drift), and reduced temperature, vibration, and shock sensitivity.
50 Chapter 3

3.3 Evolution of the Technology

3.3.1 The creation of D-shaped, elliptical-core fiber
KVH D-shaped E•Core fiber (Fig. 3.5) offers a number of advantages,
including high PM ability (greater than –40 dB-m) and low sensitivity to stress
and temperature. These features make E•Core fiber ideal for fiber splicing and
pigtailing to other optical components since preserving the state of
polarization is critical to the operation of the sensor.
The elliptically shaped core region within KVH optical fiber has a
significantly higher index than the surrounding cladding, creating the
geometrical birefringence necessary to maintain the polarization of the light
within the fiber. Because of its design, it is able to maintain its polarization
and low-loss characteristics when exposed to physical stresses and tempera-
ture-induced changes far better than PM fiber created using stress-induced
birefringence. Both E•Core and ThinFiber are manufactured using high-grade
silica materials and various high-purity dopants. A dual UV-cured acrylate
coating is applied during the drawing process, thereby preventing moisture
from penetrating the fiber, which preserves its mechanical strength and
improves its handling characteristics.
The D-shaped fiber maintains excellent optical qualities while adding a
special external geometry that provides easy access to the light-guiding region
without grinding or polishing. Also, the major axis of the elliptical core is
parallel to the flat of the “D,” allowing accurate alignment of the birefringent
axes. The 1-
3-micron elliptical core is also well matched to the 1-
5-micron
output facet of the light source, as shown in Fig. 3.6, and optimizing the core-
to-facet alignment maximizes the power coupled into the FOG’s optical circuit.

3.3.2 The first generation of KVH FOGs

The initial commercial FOGs produced by KVH in 1997 using E•Core fiber
were offered as part of the E•Core series. Available in both analog and digital

Figure 3.5 (a) An electron micrograph and (b) illustration of the cross-section of KVH
D-shaped elliptical-core fiber.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 51

Figure 3.6 An illustration of the alignment between the elliptical core of KVH fiber and the
output facet of the light source.

variants, the E•Core 1000 and E•Core 2000 were compact for their day (Figs. 3.7
and 3.8), with moderate but solid performance (see Table 3.1 for specifications).

3.3.3 The shift to digital signal processing

In 2000, KVH engineers refined all aspects of the FOG design, with an eye
toward size and weight reduction and a substantial increase in performance.
One of these improvements included a shift to digital signal processing (DSP).
The new signal processing involves synchronously detecting the fundamental
component of the piezoelectric modulation frequency, whose magnitude is
proportional to the rotation rate. The system digitally samples the gyro
detector output signal at a frequency that is an integer multiple of the
modulator drive frequency. A fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the sampled

Figure 3.7 The original KVH E•Core 1000 open-loop fiber optic gyro.
52 Chapter 3

Figure 3.8 The original KVH E•Core 2000 open-loop fiber optic gyro.

Table 3.1 E•Core 1000 and E•Core 2000 basic specifications.

Attribute Specification Specification
Performance E•Core 1000 E•Core 2000
Input rotation rate ± 100˚/s ± 30, 60, or 100˚/s
p p
Angle random walk 0.3˚/ h 0.08˚/ h
Bias instability ≤ 20˚/h < 4˚/h
Scale factor linearity 5,000 ppm 2,000–4,000 ppm
Physical
Dimensions 4.3”
3.3”
1.6” 4.41”
4.27”
1.69”
(109
84
41 mm) (112
108
43 mm)
Weight 0.55 lb. (0.25 kg) 0.75 lb. (0.34 kg)

Table 3.2 DSP-3000 basic specifications.

Attribute Specification
Performance
Input rotation rate ± 375˚/s
p
Angle random walk ≤ 0.067˚/ h
Bias instability ≤ 1˚/h
Scale factor linearity < 500 ppm
Physical
Dimensions 3.5”
2.3”
1.3” (88.9
58.4
33 mm)
Weight 0.6 lb. (0.26 kg)

data generates the coefficients corresponding to the fundamental modulator

drive frequency and at the second, third, and fourth harmonics. As a result,
the system can maintain a constant modulation depth and provide sensor
output data over a wide operating range (see Table 3.2).
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 53

Figure 3.9 The KVH DSP-3000 FOG family, a series of DSP–based open-loop gyros.

The result of KVH’s migration to DSP was a new series of FOGs called
the DSP-3000 that incorporated proprietary DSP technology (introduced in
Section 3.2.3) in a package slightly larger than a deck of cards and
dramatically more capable than the predecessor E•Core systems (Fig. 3.9).

3.3.4 Changing the game: the invention of ThinFiber

In 2011, KVH’s engineering efforts led to a breakthrough in size and
performance: E•Core ThinFiber, which has about 30% less volume than the
standard KVH E•Core fiber. This development enabled KVH to utilize twice
as much optical fiber on a significantly smaller bobbin and to dramatically
increase performance. This breakthrough in fiber technology has set a new
standard in fiber optic gyros for size, performance, and cost.
The first of the new FOGs to be launched with this new fiber was the
DSP-1750 in 2009, the world’s smallest high-performance FOG (see Table 3.3
for specifications). This super-compact commercial FOG offers revolutionary
performance levels for a unit its size, including input rates five to ten times
faster than the original KVH E•Core FOGs and an ARW five times better
than the KVH DSP-3000 series. In addition, its bias stability is eight times
better than the DSP-3000 series, achieving a level of performance previously
only available in larger, more expensive closed-loop FOGs and RLGs.
The design of the DSP-1750 FOG provides system integrators with
maximum versatility thanks to its single- or dual-axis configurations (see
Figs. 3.10 and 3.11), a small size that enables various mounting and interfacing
possibilities, and optional magnetic shielding. Due to its design, in which the
54 Chapter 3

Table 3.3 DSP-1750 basic specifications.

Attribute Specification
Performance
Input rotation rate ± 490˚/s (standard) or ± 1000˚/s
p
Angle random walk ≤ 0.013˚/ h
Bias instability ≤ 0.1˚/h
Scale factor linearity < 200 ppm
Physical
Dimensions 1.7” diameter
0.9” height (45.7-mm diameter
22.9-mm height)
Weight Single axis: 0.24 lb. (0.11 kg)
Dual axis: 0.30 lb. (0.14 kg)

Figure 3.10 The KVH DSP-1750 FOG single-axis FOG, the first to be built using KVH
ThinFiber technology.

Figure 3.11 The KVH DSP-1750 dual-axis FOG with tethered sensing coils for flexible
installation.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 55

optical sensor is tethered to the control electronics, the DSP-1750 is extremely

easy to integrate into a broad range of systems and applications.
Just over a year later, KVH further enhanced ThinFiber-based FOGs
with the introduction of the DSP-1760 (see Table 3.4 for specifications).
Available as a housed or unhoused OEM variant in one-, two-, or three-axis
configurations (Fig. 3.12), the DSP-1760 series is the logical progression in
KVH’s ongoing improvements in technology. It is built using the higher-
performance quadrupole winding (discussed previously in Section 3.2.1)
and improved software and algorithms, while taking advantage of higher
processing power and improved electronics. The result is a versatile, single- or
multi-axis FOG with improved performance but no increase in cost.

3.3.5 Expanding capabilities with high-performance fully integrated

systems
Beginning in 2009, KVH offered IMUs and INS based on the DSP-3000, but
the major breakthrough in size, price, and performance came in 2012 with the

Table 3.4 DSP-1760 basic specifications.

Attribute Specification
Performance
Input rotation rate ± 490˚/s
p
Angle random walk ≤ 0.012˚/ h
Bias instability ≤ 0.05˚/h
Sale factor linearity < 50 ppm
Physical
Dimensions 3.5” diameter
2.9” height (88.9-mm diameter
73.7-mm height)
Weight Single axis: 1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg)
Dual axis: 1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg)
Three axis: 1.3 lbs. (0.60 kg)

Figure 3.12 The KVH DSP-1760 FOG, which offers one-, two-, and three-axis
configurations in both housed and unhoused variants for increased versatility.
56 Chapter 3

introduction of the 1750 IMU, which combined the E•Core ThinFiber-based

DSP-1760 with very-low-noise, solid-state MEMS accelerometers to create a
commercial off-the-shelf IMU (Fig. 3.13). Since then, the high-performance
DSP-1760 FOG has served as the foundation for all new KVH FOGs and
integrated inertial system platforms. Considering the many design, perfor-
mance, and cost advantages that KVH DSP-1760 and related ThinFiber FOGs
offer, it follows that these versatile units present ideal solutions for integrated
IMUs and INSs.
The KVH 1750 IMU provides
• highly accurate six-degree-of-freedom angular rate and acceleration
data,
• excellent bias instability (<0.05 deg/h),
• a cylindrical package that is only 89 mm in diameter and 74 mm in
height (3.5” diameter
2.9” height), and
• weight less than 0.6 kg (1.4 lbs).
Recognizing that different applications may have dramatically different
performance versus cost needs, the 1750 IMU served as the platform for an
expanded family of IMUs, including the ultra-high-performance 1775 IMU and
the 1725 IMU, which offers FOG performance for the cost of a MEMS system.
The 1775 IMU is designed to deliver the highest level of performance of
the IMU product line offered by KVH. The 1775 IMU is an advanced inertial
sensor system that utilizes the proven technology of the DSP-1760 fiber optic

Figure 3.13 The KVH IMU 1750, the first high-performance KVH inertial system based on
the E•Core ThinFiber technology.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 57

gyro, integrated with three low-noise accelerometers, and three axes of

magnetometers for automatic gyro-bias compensation even in the presence of
strong magnetic fields. The 1775 IMU was developed for systems and
applications where very high bandwidth and low latency, noise, and drift are
critical to system performance.
The 1775 IMU (Fig. 3.14) offers easy integration for designers of higher-
level inertial navigation, guidance, and stabilization systems by offering
user-programmable features such as an adjustable baud rate, as well as an
adjustable data rate as high as 5,000 Hz so that communication latency can be
adjusted to receive accurate, timely data. These features are particularly
important for such challenging applications as drilling, mining, pipeline
inspection and maintenance, mobile mapping systems, and stabilization
systems for radar, LIDAR, and very-high-speed gimbals.
Developed as a highly accurate alternative to MEMS–based inertial
systems, the 1725 IMU offers the performance of a FOG–based inertial
system at prices comparable to MEMS systems. The 1725 IMU includes three
DSP-1760 FOGs and three low-noise accelerometers, and was designed
for applications in which affordability, high performance, and high band-
width are critical (Fig. 3.15). This cost-effective FOG–based IMU highlights
flexibility with multiple interfaces, programmable message outputs, and baud
and data rates. The 1725 IMU is scalable with high bandwidth and low noise,
so it can provide the data output required for challenging applications and still

Figure 3.14 The KVH 1775 IMU is the highest-performing KVH FOG–based inertial
system based on the E•Core ThinFiber technology. The 1775 IMU is available with ±10-g or
±25-g accelerometers.
58 Chapter 3

Figure 3.15 The KVH 1725 IMU brings FOG–based performance and accuracy to an
affordable inertial system; it was designed to offer a high-performance alternative to MEMS–
based inertial systems.

help maintain program costs. The goal of the 1725 IMU is to make the
engineer’s traditional choice between performance and price obsolete.
Most recently, the 1750 IMU became the foundation for an entirely new
inertial navigation system, the GEO-FOG 3D and GEO-FOG 3D Dual.
These new products offer full positioning and navigation capabilities for
demanding applications in unmanned, autonomous, and manned aerial,
ground, marine, and subsurface platforms, such as sub-sea remotely operated
vehicles (ROVs) or mining systems. To achieve this performance level, the
1750 IMU is fully integrated with a three-axis magnetometer, a barometric
pressure sensor, and a dual- or triple-frequency real-time kinematic (RTK)
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to deliver reliable, real-
time, centimeter-level positioning and orientation measurements.
The system’s breakthrough sensor-fusion algorithms automatically switch
from loosely- to tightly-coupled filtering for improved performance under poor
GNSS signal conditions. The system also offers high-speed update rates and
rapid north-seeking gyrocompass capabilities for high-accuracy heading in
environments when magnetometers and GNSS-aided heading cannot be used.
The GEO-FOG 3D Dual INS is also an attitude and heading reference system
(AHRS). This product features two GNSS antennas on a fixed RTK baseline
that offers the same reliability and performance levels as the GEO-FOG 3D,
with increased heading, pitch, and roll accuracy for static and dynamic appli-
cations where single-antenna systems can be problematic (see Fig. 3.16).
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 59

Figure 3.16 The KVH GEO-FOG 3D and GEO-FOG 3D Dual inertial navigation systems,
which use three axes of DSP-1760 FOGs as the core of the embedded 1750 IMU.

3.4 Setting the Course for the Future of FOG Technology and
Expanded Applications
From the start of FOG research, development, and commercial production
efforts, KVH engineers have sought to improve continuously upon the most
important attributes of the company’s FOGs and FOG–based inertial
systems. These efforts have resulted in
• smaller, more-accurate FOGs and inertial systems at a lower cost;
• faster, improved performance over shock and vibration; and
• better yields in manufacturing through the automation of splicing
stations, as well as coupler and polarizer manufacturing stations,
among others.
The future for FOG development is leading to several critical paths:
• the creation and implementation of a continuous-flow manufacturing
process, which will eliminate the need for splicing optical components
together, thereby improving performance and simultaneously reducing
the manufacturing and calibration time required;
• continued research into smaller, more-accurate FOGs and FOG–based
systems; and
• significant cost reductions via FOG design.
The increasing performance levels, reduced size and weight, versatility,
and affordability achieved through the evolution of KVH FOGs and FOG–
based inertial systems to date have made the use of these high-performance
systems practical in an increasing number of applications.
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3.4.1 Navigation and control

KVH high-performance FOGs and IMUs play a vital role in closing the gap
between the needs of the manned, unmanned, or autonomous system user and
the capabilities of the navigation and control solution. KVH FOG–based
inertial systems capture highly accurate angular-rate and acceleration data for
navigation solutions used in aerial, ground, marine, and subsurface unmanned
systems. KVH IMUs and INS are integrated into unmanned, autonomous
and manned navigation systems to both enhance and augment GPS/GNSS,
and to provide accurate, reliable navigation when GPS is blocked or
unavailable (Fig. 3.17).
Users of unmanned and autonomous systems rely on the data from KVH
sensors for navigation and control functions and to produce accurate end
products such as survey maps, imagery, 3D representations of different
environments, search grids for infrastructure inspection, and pipeline mapping
and inspection.

3.4.2 Positioning and imaging

Precise positioning and pointing enables the collection of geo-referenced data
by scanners and sensors such as cameras and LIDAR, radar, sonar, and more.
KVH customers rely on our inertial sensors and fiber optic gyros for precise
data used in their unmanned mapping and surveying systems, as well as
augmenting GNSS for unmanned or autonomous positioning and pointing

Figure 3.17 Navigation in GNSS–denied environments is a challenge for small unmanned

vehicles such as those used for research, mapping and surveying, exploration, infrastructure
monitoring, security monitoring, and more. In the Saab Sea Wasp, a groundbreaking
waterborne anti-IED security platform, the KVH FOG–based inertial system provides
accurate navigation data when the GNSS is jammed, blocked, or simply unavailable,
e.g., underwater, in tunnels, and in other such environments.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 61

applications. Integrating inertial and GNSS technology enables a system to

seamlessly determine the precise position of the sensor within the mapping
frame, even in the absence of a GNSS signal.
KVH inertial measurement units and inertial navigation systems provide
fast, accurate data to the company’s customers’ unmanned aerial, subsurface,
and land pointing, positioning, and orientation systems.

3.4.3 Stabilization and orientation

Stabilized platforms such as gimbals and a variety of manned and unmanned
platforms prevent the motion of the vehicle (Fig. 3.18) from interfering with
the gathering of data by a device such as LIDAR, radar, cameras, recording
and measuring sensors, etc. Likewise, stabilization and positioning are critical
for a wide array of other applications, such as humanoid robots (Fig. 3.19),
and even robust and demanding systems such as vehicle-mounted weapons
(Fig. 3.20). In order to obtain the best results, the movement of the platform

Figure 3.18 Ultra high-definition (UHD) cameras and high-speed gimbals require
extremely precise stabilization and pointing in demanding environments. KVH UHD camera
and gimbal customers require gyros with low noise, low drift, high bandwidth, and superior
accuracy, and they have therefore selected KVH DSP-1750 or DSP-1760 FOGs to provide
two or three axes of stabilization for their systems.
62 Chapter 3

Figure 3.19 Eleven of the 23 robot finalists in the live hardware portion of the 2015 DARPA
Robotics Challenge stayed on track thanks to the integration of a KVH FOG–based 1750
IMU within their systems. KVH IMUs were integrated into several of the entries, including the
ATLAS robot platform by Boston Dynamics (shown here), as well as the eventual winner of
the challenge.

Figure 3.20 Compact, robust KVH FOGs offer a combination of exceptionally low noise
and drift, as well as excellent performance in environments with high shock and vibration,
making them ideal for weapon-platform stabilization and other demanding applications, such
as precision payload pointing and stabilization.
20 Years of KVH Fiber Optic Gyro Technology 63

must be isolated from the data-gathering device. Otherwise, the movement

results in errors in the line of sight of the device, creating blurred imagery or
even making the device inoperative.
Single- and multi-axis KVH gyros and IMUs provide orientation and/or
pitch, roll, and yaw data to enable seamless stabilization of payloads on
manned, autonomous, and unmanned systems used in ground, air, marine,
and subsurface applications.

3.4.4 Looking ahead

As KVH engineers look ahead, the next challenge to be met and overcome is
the evolution of smaller, mass-produced, low-cost, high-performance FOGs
that can truly support mass markets, such as cars, with a level of performance
unmatched by alternative gyro technologies.
64 Chapter 3

Jay Napoli has more than 35 years’ experience managing

international sales, business development, and marketing of
a wide range of technical products and systems including
fiber optic gyros (FOGs) and FOG-based systems, enterprise
application software, aerospace systems and instrumenta-
tion, as well as industrial equipment and machinery, and
special alloys and metals. He has served as KVH’s Vice
President of FOG and OEM sales since November 2008. He
joined KVH in 1999 as the Director of FOG and OEM sales. During his
tenure at KVH, Mr. Napoli has been instrumental in helping guide KVH’s
fiber optic gyro product line from the early product stage to the full
commercialization of a versatile family of product offerings supporting
defense and commercial applications worldwide. Prior to joining KVH, Mr.
Napoli worked for Allegheny Teledyne, Inc., first as the Managing Director
for Teledyne Italia and later as Vice President of European business
development. He also worked for Management Science America (MSA)
and Dun & Bradstreet Software as the Managing Director of MSA Italia.
Prior to MSA, Mr. Napoli served in the US Army in various assignments both
in the US and Italy as a field artillery officer. He is a graduate of the Defense
Language Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point.