Implementation of Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope with 3 x 3 Optical Interferometers for Analysis of Resonator Asymmetry

A hemispherical resonator gyroscope (HRG) has been implemented by using a consumer wineglass as the resonator and 3 x 3 optical interferometers as the detectors. The poorness of the off-the-shelf wineglass as the resonator can be overcome by the high performance of the optical interferometer. The effects of asymmetries in stiffness and absorption of the resonator are analyzed theoretically and confirmed experimentally. We prove that the trace of the amplitude ratio of two n = 2 fundamental resonant modes of the resonator follows a straight line in a complex plane. By utilizing the straightness of the ratio and the high performance of the optical interferometer, we extract four real constant parameters characterizing the HRG system. Experimentally, by using a resonator having an average resonance frequency of 444 Hz and Q value of 1477.2, it was possible to measure the Coriolis force at the level of industrial grade. The bias stability was measured as small as 2.093 degrees/h.

Automated summary

In this study, a hemispherical resonator gyroscope (HRG) was implemented using a consumer wineglass as the resonator and 3 x 3 optical interferometers as the detectors. The low quality of the off-the-shelf wineglass as a resonator was overcome by the high performance of the optical interferometer. The asymmetries in stiffness and absorption of the resonator were analyzed theoretically and confirmed experimentally. The straightness of the amplitude ratio of two n = 2 fundamental resonant modes of the resonator in a complex plane was proven. By utilizing this straightness and the high performance of the optical interferometer, four real constant parameters characterizing the HRG system were extracted. Experimental results showed that it was possible to measure the Coriolis force at the level of industrial grade using a resonator with an average resonance frequency of 444 Hz and Q value of 1477.2, and achieve a small bias stability of 2.093 degrees/h.