Self-calibrating accelerometer
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a sensing element for an accelerometer having a bias, the sensing element having a plate supported by flexures which allow rotation about a transverse center line thereof;
a center of mass (CG) of the sensing element having two stable positions, one on each side of an axis of rotation defined by a centerline of suspension;
a secondary mass within a proofmass translates in-plane to move the center of mass to thereby effect a self-calibration mechanization that continuously measures and nulls the accelerometer'"'"'s bias under dynamic operating conditions.
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Abstract
The method and apparatus in one embodiment may have: a sensing element for an accelerometer having a bias, the sensing element having a rectangular plate supported by flexures which allow rotation about a transverse center line thereof; a center of mass (CG) of the sensing element having two stable positions, one on each side of an axis of rotation defined by a centerline of suspension; a secondary mass within a proofmass translates in-plane to move the center of mass to thereby effect a self-calibration mechanization that continuously measures and nulls the accelerometer'"'"'s bias under dynamic operating conditions.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a sensing element for an accelerometer having a bias, the sensing element having a plate supported by flexures which allow rotation about a transverse center line thereof; a center of mass (CG) of the sensing element having two stable positions, one on each side of an axis of rotation defined by a centerline of suspension; a secondary mass within a proofmass translates in-plane to move the center of mass to thereby effect a self-calibration mechanization that continuously measures and nulls the accelerometer'"'"'s bias under dynamic operating conditions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method, comprising:
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continuously self-calibrating accelerometer bias under both static and dynamic conditions to thereby remove accelerometer bias as an error source; successively and simultaneously measuring acceleration by two accelerometers with sequentially alternating polarities; and processing the measured acceleration from the outputs of the accelerometers in a digital signal processor using a real time bias estimator algorithm to thereby effect the bias self-calibration. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus, comprising:
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a sensing element in which a secondary mass is suspended within a proofmass of the sensing element for an accelerometer; and a pair of buckled beam flexures that suspend the secondary mass within the proofmass, the suspension allowing the secondary mass to be in one of two bi-stable positions; thereby effecting a self-calibration mechanization that continuously measures and nulls the accelerometer'"'"'s bias under dynamic operating conditions. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification