Gyroscopes

Module 2
Outline
1. Sensor Types
2. MEMS Accelerometers
3. MEMS Gyroscopes
4. MEMS Magnetometers
5. Accelerometer-based Euler angles estimation
6. Gyroscope-based Euler angles estimation
7. Accelerometer-Magnetometer-based Euler angles
estimation
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Overview
 Gyroscope sensors (also known as angular rate sensors) are devices that sense the
device angular velocity.
 Angular velocity is the change in rotational angle per unit of time. It is generally
expressed in deg/sec or rad/sec.

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1.1
Gyroscopes
Classification
 There are three basic types of gyroscopes:

 Rotary (classical) gyroscopes

 Optical gyroscopes

 Vibrating structure gyroscope

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Gyroscopes Classification
 There are three basic types of gyroscopes:

 Rotary (classical) gyroscopes

 Optical gyroscopes

 Vibrating structure gyroscope

6
Rotary Gyroscopes
 Exploits the law of conservation of angular
momentum.

 typically consist of a spinning disk or mass

on an axle, which is mounted on a series of
gimbals.

 Each gimbal offers the spinning disk an

additional degree of rotational freedom.
The gimbals allow the rotor to spin without
applying any net external torque on the
gyroscope.

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Rotary Gyroscopes
 As long as the gyroscope is spinning, it will
maintain a constant orientation.

 When external torques or rotations about a

given axis are present in these devices,
orientation can be maintained and
measurement of angular velocity can be
measured due to the phenomenon of
precession.

 Are mostly used today in harsh military and

naval environments which are subject to
shock and intense vibration, and where
physical size is not critical

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Optical Gyroscopes
 operate under the principle of the Sagnac effect.

 This difference in path length (or Doppler shift) is

detected as a phase shift by interferometry. This
phase shift is proportional to the angular velocity
of the system.

 These gyroscopes are often used in naval and

aviation applications, and where physical size is
not an issue.
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Vibrating Structure Gyroscopes
 are MEMS (Micro-machined Electro-Mechanical Systems)
devices.

 Operation principle is based on Coriolis force

 Are easily available commercially, affordable, and

very small in size.

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Coriolis Force
 are MEMS (Micro-machined Electro-Mechanical Systems)
devices.

 Operation principle is based on Coriolis force

 Are easily available commercially, affordable, and

very small in size.

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1.2
Gyroscopes

Parameters
Parameters
 An accurate gyro sensor is a stable gyro sensor. The keys to stable gyro sensors are:
1. Low noise level
2. Stability over temperature
2-1. Bias stability over temperature
2-2. Scale factor stability over temperature
3. Vibration and shock resistance
3-1. Resistance to vibrations other than angular velocity
3-2. Shock resistance

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Noise level
 An accurate gyro sensor is a stable gyro sensor. The keys to stable gyro sensors are

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Bias and Its Stability
 Bias denotes the non-zero Gyro output point, when angular velocity is not being
applied.
 A gyro with a stable bias temperature
characteristic exhibits little or no
variation in bias over a temperature
range when the gyro in a static state. It
can thus accurately sense that it is not
moving.

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Scale Factor and Its Stability
 Bias denotes the non-zero Gyro output point, when angular velocity is not being
applied.
 A gyro with a stable bias temperature
characteristic exhibits little or no
variation in bias over a temperature
range when the gyro in a static state. It
can thus accurately sense that it is not
moving.

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Resistance to Vibrations
 Bias denotes the non-zero Gyro output point, when angular velocity is not being
applied.
 A gyro with a stable bias temperature
characteristic exhibits little or no
variation in bias over a temperature
range when the gyro in a static state. It
can thus accurately sense that it is not
moving.

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Shock Resistance
 Bias denotes the non-zero Gyro output point, when angular velocity is not being
applied.
 A gyro with a stable bias temperature
characteristic exhibits little or no
variation in bias over a temperature
range when the gyro in a static state. It
can thus accurately sense that it is not
moving.

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1.3
Gyroscopes

Applications – Orientation Angles Estimation

Math Basics
 The Gyro gives us the angular velocity with a unit of deg./sec., i.e.:

˙ = 𝑑 𝜃
𝜃
𝑑𝑡

 To obtain the angular position, we can simply integrate the angular velocity.
Assuming that at t=0, θ=0:
𝑡 𝑡
𝜃 ( 𝑡 )=∫ 𝜃˙ ( 𝑡 ) 𝑑𝑡 ≈ ∑ 𝜃˙ ( 𝑡 ) 𝑇 𝑆
0 0

where TS denotes a sampling period (for mechanical systems should be 100÷200 Hz).

 When Gyro data changes faster than the sampling frequency, we will not detect it,
and the integral approximation will be incorrect.
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Approach 2
 Another integration approach is performed in quaternions domain based on relation:

1
˙
𝑞= 𝑞 × 𝝎= Ω ( ⃗
𝜔) ∙𝑞
2

where is a skew-symmetric matrix,

 Then orientation quaternion can be numerically calculated as:

1
˙ 𝜔 (𝑡 )=
𝑞 ^ ( 𝑡 −1) × 𝝎 ( 𝑡 )
𝑞
2 𝜔

^ 𝜔 (𝑡 ) =𝑞
𝑞 ^ 𝜔 ( 𝑡 − 1 ) +𝑞
˙ 𝜔 (𝑡) ∙ 𝑇 𝑆

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Approach 3
 There is one more possibility to compute the orientation quaternion. The main
differential equation:
1
˙
𝑞= 𝝎 × 𝑞= Ω ( ⃗
𝜔) ∙𝑞
2

has an iterative solution which can be written in the following form:

∙ Ω[ ⃗
𝜔( 𝑡 ) ]
^ 𝜔 ( 𝑡 ) = 𝑒𝑇
𝑞 𝑆
^ 𝜔 (𝑡 −1 )
∙𝑞

 By expanding the exponent function in Taylor’s series, we get the final solution:

[ ( ) ]
2
∆𝜃 1
^ 𝜔 (𝑡 )= 𝐼 4 × 4
𝑞 1− 𝜔 (𝑡 ) ] ∙ 𝑞
+ 𝑇 𝑆∙ Ω [⃗ ^ 𝜔 ( 𝑡 −1 )
8 2

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1.6
Gyroscopes

Practical Tasks
Tasks description
1. Capture Gyroscope measurements which correspond to the following test cases: device is
in level plane, wait 3-5 sec., then rotate it to 900 around X, Y or Z axis, hold in rotated
position 3-5 sec., then return back to initial position and wait for 3-5 sec. (log 1); perform
the same as in test case 1 but three-four times (log 2);

2. Show the dependencies of Gyroscope vector components on time; explain the results
and prove why the plots correspond to the test cases;

3. Calculate angle values using all three methods discussed; analyze the results and
find the most accurate one;

4. Show and explain the pros and cons of angles estimation using Gyroscope
measurements only.

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Thank You for attention!