Method for monitoring a vibrating gyroscope

• US 20060142958A1
• Filed: 06/01/2004
• Published: 06/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Morell, Heinz-Werner, Schmid, Dietmar
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,454 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/56 Turn-sensitive devices using vibrating masses, e.g. vibratory angular rate sensors based on Coriolis forces

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for monitoring a vibrating gyroscope which represents a resonator and forms part of at least one control loop that excites the vibrating gyroscope with its natural frequency by supplying an excitation signal. An output signal can be extracted from the vibrating gyroscope, the excitation signal being derived from said output signal by means of filtering and amplifying. According to the invention, the quality of the resonator is measured. If the measured quality is below a threshold value, an error message is generated.

Claims

1-6. -6. (canceled)

7. A method for monitoring a vibration gyro which represents a resonator and is part of at least one control loop, the vibration gyro being excited by an excitation signal generated by the at least one control loop at a natural frequency of the vibration gyro, said method comprising the steps of:

tapping an output signal from which the excitation signal is derived by filtering and amplification;

inserting an additional phase shift of the excitation signal into the at least one control loop;

evaluating a Q-factor of the output signal caused by the additional phase shift; and

determining that the Q-factor of the vibration gyro is sufficiently high if the Q-factor is above a threshold value.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

demodulating the output signal to an in-phase component and a quadrature component, after amplification and analog/digital conversion of the output signal;

modulating, by the quadrature component, a carrier after filtering of the quadrature component;

supplying the modulated carrier as the excitation signal to the vibration gyro;

supplying, after filtering, the in-phase component to a PLL circuit that controls the frequency and phase of the carrier; and

supplying a signal corresponding to the frequency change to the PLL circuit to shift the phase of the excitation signal and cause a phase change in the carrier.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the phase shift with respect to the carrier is approximately 10°

.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein said step of evaluating a Q-factor comprises evaluating a frequency change of the output signal caused by the additional phase shift.