FREQUENCY READOUT GYROSCOPE

• US 20160003618A1
• Filed: 06/10/2015
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Original Assignee: Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Inventors: Boser, Bernhard E., Kline, Mitchell H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,869,553 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/5755 the devices having a single sensing mass
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/5776 Signal processing not specific to any of the devices covered by groups G01C19/5607 - G01C19/5719
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/243 influencing the phase or frequency of ac

Abstract

A frequency readout gyroscope is provided, having 2 or 3 axes, in which the frequency of the carrier associated with the oscillation of the proof mass changes while the amplitude stays constant. The invention departs from conventional gyroscopes which rely on measuring transducer sense axis displacement (amplitude modulation) to determine angular input rate. The invention utilizes what could be termed a form of frequency modulation, such as evaluating frequency phase difference between the axes of modulation. Examples include gyroscopes having either a quadrature or Lissajous FM mode of operation, in which angle random walk contribution from the electronics is reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude.

Claims

1. An electromechanical system, comprising:

a mechanical resonator having a first mode of vibration and an associated first natural frequency, and a second mode of vibration having an associated second natural frequency, wherein angular rate of motion input couples energy between said first mode of vibration and said second mode of vibration;

sensors and actuators for each of the first mode and the second mode for transduction of an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and transduction of a mechanical vibration into an electrical signal;

sustaining circuitry connected to the sensors and actuators to maintain substantially constant, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations in the first mode at a first oscillation frequency and the second mode at a second oscillation frequency; and

output circuitry to infer an angular rate of motion from mechanical velocity or displacement of said first mode or said second mode, or both said first mode and said second mode.

2. The electromechanical system of claim 1, wherein the substantially constant, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations are substantially equal velocity, or displacement amplitude, or both velocity and displacement amplitude.

3. The electromechanical system of claim 1, wherein the sustaining circuitry maintains one of a substantially +90 degrees and −

90 degree phase difference between the displacement of the first mode of vibration and the displacement of the second mode of vibration.

4. The electromechanical system of claim 1, further comprising a tuner to transduce electrical signals into a change in natural frequency of the first mode and the second mode.

5. The electromechanical system of claim 4, further comprising phase and frequency control circuitry coupled with the mechanical resonator, the tuner and at least one sensor.

6. The electromechanical system of claim 5, wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry comprises a frequency difference detector connected to at least one sensor and a split frequency controller connected to the tuner, and wherein said split frequency controller adjusts natural frequency of at least one of the first mode and the second mode so that the frequency difference between the first mode and the second mode corresponds to a reference value.

7. The electromechanical system of claim 5, wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry comprises a phase difference detector connected to at least one of said sensors and a phase controller connected to the tuner, and wherein said phase controller adjusts natural frequency of at least one of the first mode and the second mode to control the phase difference between the first mode and the second mode to be substantially equal to a phase reference.

8. The electromechanical system of claim 7, wherein said phase reference is selected from a constant +90°

and a constant −

90°

.

9. The electromechanical system of claim 1, wherein said output circuitry comprises at least one frequency demodulator receiving a frequency modulated signal from at least one of said sensors, and generating a demodulated output.

10. The electromechanical system of claim 9, wherein the angular rate of motion is estimated from said demodulated output.

11. The electromechanical system of claim 9, wherein said output circuitry further comprises a rate reference detector which generates a rate reference having a constant-envelope signal of known amplitude, in-phase with the sine of phase difference between two displacement vibrations associated with the first mode and the second mode.

12. The electromechanical system of claim 11, wherein said output circuitry further comprises at least one rate demodulator connected to a frequency measurement unit and an output of said rate reference detector, and wherein the output of at least one said rate demodulator is an amplitude component of measured frequency in-phase with the rate reference.

13. The electromechanical system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second mechanical resonator having a third mode of vibration and an associated third natural frequency, and a fourth mode of vibration having an associated fourth natural frequency, wherein energy from the third mode is coupled to energy from the fourth mode;

additional sensors and additional actuators for each of the third mode and the fourth mode for transduction of an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and transduction of a mechanical vibration into an electrical signal;

additional sustaining circuitry for each of the third mode and the fourth mode connected to the additional sensors and additional actuators to maintain substantially continuous, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations of the third mode at a third oscillation frequency and the fourth mode at a fourth oscillation frequency; and

additional output circuitry to determine angular rate of motion from mechanical velocity or displacement of said third mode or said fourth mode, or both said third mode and said fourth mode.

14. The electromechanical system of claim 13, wherein said first mode, second mode, third mode and said fourth mode have equal velocities.

15. The electromechanical system of claim 13, further comprising an additional tuner for transduction of electrical signals into a change in natural frequency of the first mode, the second mode, the third mode, and the fourth mode.

16. The electromechanical system of claim 15, further comprising phase and frequency control circuitry coupled with at least one mechanical resonator, the additional tuner and at least one sensor.

17. The electromechanical system of claim 16, wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry comprises a phase difference detector connected to sensing means of the first resonator and a negative feedback controller connected to a tuning means of the first resonator, wherein said negative feedback controller adjusts one or more natural frequencies of one or both modes in order to control phase difference between said first and second oscillations with respect to a first phase reference.

18. The electromechanical system of claim 17:

wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry further comprises a phase difference detector connected to a sensor of said second resonator, and a negative feedback controller connected to a tuning means of the second resonator; and

wherein said negative feedback controller adjusts one or more natural frequencies of one or both modes in order to control the phase difference between the third and fourth oscillations with respect to a second phase reference.

19. The electromechanical system of claim 18, wherein said first phase reference is +90°

and the second phase reference is −

90°

.

20. The electromechanical system of claim 19, wherein the output circuitry comprises at least two frequency measurement units, wherein the first measured frequency outputs of the first frequency measurement unit are representative of oscillation frequencies of the first and second modes of vibration, and the second measured frequency outputs of the second frequency measurement unit are representative of oscillation frequencies of the third and fourth modes of vibration.

21. The electromechanical system of claim 20, wherein each frequency measurement unit is comprised of at least one frequency demodulator.

22. The electromechanical system of claim 20, wherein the output circuitry further comprises a subtractor connected to outputs of said first frequency measurement unit and second frequency measurement unit to generate a subtractor output signal as a difference between said first and second measured frequencies.

23. The electromechanical system of claim 20, wherein the output circuitry further comprises one or more phase demodulators, and wherein said output circuitry derives integrated angular rate from determining a phase difference between vibrations of said first mechanical resonator and said second mechanical resonator.

24. An electromechanical system, comprising:

a mechanical resonator having a non-zero average frequency difference between oscillations of said mechanical resonator in a first mode of vibration and a second mode of vibration, wherein angular rate of motion input couples energy between said first mode of vibration and said second mode of vibration;

sensors and actuators for each of the first mode and the second mode for transduction of an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and transduction of a mechanical vibration into an electrical signal;

sustaining circuitry connected to the sensors and actuators to maintain substantially constant, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations in the first mode at a first oscillation frequency and the second mode at a second oscillation frequency;

phase and frequency control circuitry coupled with the mechanical resonator and at least one sensor for controlling phase difference, frequency difference, or a combination of phase and frequency difference between said first mode and said second mode; and

output circuitry to estimate angular rate of motion from instantaneous frequencies, mechanical velocity, or displacement of said first mode or said second mode, or both said first mode and said second mode.

25. The electromechanical system of claim 24, wherein said first and second modes of said mechanical resonator are intentionally unmatched to reject cross damping error, and wherein said angular rate of motion is determined from measuring instantaneous frequencies of said first mode and said second mode.

26. The electromechanical system of claim 24, wherein angular rate is determined from said instantaneous frequencies in response to performing frequency demodulation followed by amplitude demodulation.

27. The electromechanical system of claim 24, further comprising a tuner to transduce electrical signals into a change in natural frequency of the first mode and the second mode.

28. The electromechanical system of claim 27, further comprising phase and frequency control circuitry coupled with the mechanical resonator, the tuner and at least one sensor.

29. The electromechanical system of claim 28, wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry comprises a phase difference detector connected to at least one of said sensors and a phase controller connected to the tuner, wherein said phase controller adjusts natural frequency of at least one of the first mode and the second mode to control the phase difference between the first mode and the second mode to be substantially equal to a phase reference.

30. The electromechanical system of claim 29, wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry comprises a frequency difference detector connected to at least one sensor and a split frequency controller connected to the tuner, wherein said split frequency controller adjusts natural frequency of at least one of the first mode and the second mode so that the frequency difference between the first mode and the second mode corresponds to a reference value.

31. The electromechanical system of claim 24, wherein the angular rate of motion is determined in response to measuring oscillation frequency of one or more vibration modes.

32. The electromechanical system of claim 24, wherein said output circuitry comprises at least one frequency demodulator receiving a frequency modulated signal from at least one of said sensors, and generating a demodulated output.

33. The electromechanical system of claim 32, wherein said output circuitry further comprises a rate reference detector which generates a rate reference having a constant-envelope signal of known amplitude, in-phase with the sine of phase difference between two displacement vibrations associated with the first mode and the second mode.

34. The electromechanical system of claim 33, wherein said output circuitry further comprises at least one rate demodulator connected to a frequency measurement unit and an output of said rate reference detector, wherein the output of at least one said rate demodulator is an amplitude component of measured frequency in-phase with the rate reference.

35. The electromechanical system of claim 24, further comprising:

a second mechanical resonator having a third mode of vibration and an associated third natural frequency, and a fourth mode of vibration having an associated fourth natural frequency, wherein energy from the third mode is coupled to energy from the fourth mode;

additional sensors and additional actuators for each of the third mode and the fourth mode for transduction of an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and transduction of a mechanical vibration into an electrical signal;

additional sustaining circuitry for each of the third mode and the fourth mode connected to the additional sensors and additional actuators to maintain substantially continuous, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations of the third mode at a third oscillation frequency and the fourth mode at a fourth oscillation frequency; and

additional output circuitry to determine angular rate of motion from instantaneous frequency, mechanical velocity or displacement of said third mode or said fourth mode, or both said third mode and said fourth mode.

36. The electromechanical system of claim 35, wherein said first mode, second mode, third mode and said fourth mode have equal velocities.

37. The electromechanical system of claim 35, further comprising an additional tuner for transduction of electrical signals into a change in natural frequency of the first mode, the second mode, the third mode, and the fourth mode.

38. The electromechanical system of claim 37, further comprising phase and frequency control circuitry coupled with at least one mechanical resonator, the additional tuner and at least one sensor.

39. The electromechanical system of claim 38, wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry comprises a phase difference detector connected to sensing means of the first resonator and a negative feedback controller connected to a tuning means of the first resonator, wherein said negative feedback controller adjusts one or more natural frequencies of one or both modes in order to control phase difference between said first and second oscillations with respect to a first phase reference.

40. The electromechanical system of claim 39:

wherein said phase and frequency control circuitry further comprises a phase difference detector connected to a sensor of said second resonator, and a negative feedback controller connected to a tuning means of the second resonator; and

wherein said negative feedback controller adjusts one or more natural frequencies of one or both modes in order to control phase difference between the third and fourth oscillations with respect to a second phase reference.

41. The electromechanical system of claim 40, wherein said first phase reference is +90°

and the second phase reference is −

90°

.

42. The electromechanical system of claim 35, wherein the output circuitry comprises at least two frequency measurement units, wherein the first measured frequency outputs of the first frequency measurement unit are responsive to oscillation frequencies of the first and second modes of vibration, and the second measured frequency outputs of the second frequency measurement unit are responsive to oscillation frequencies of the third and fourth modes of vibration.

43. The electromechanical system of claim 42, wherein each frequency measurement unit is comprised of at least one frequency demodulator.

44. The electromechanical system of claim 43, wherein the output circuitry further comprises a subtractor connected to outputs of said first frequency measurement unit and second frequency measurement unit to generate a subtractor output signal as a difference between said first and second measured frequencies.

45. The electromechanical system of claim 35, wherein said output circuitry further comprises one or more phase demodulators, and wherein said output circuitry derives integrated angular rate from determining a phase difference between vibrations of said first mechanical resonator and said second mechanical resonator.

46. An electromechanical system, comprising:

a first mechanical resonator having a first mode of vibration and an associated first natural frequency, and a second mode of vibration having an associated second natural frequency, wherein angular rate of motion input couples energy between said first mode of vibration and said second mode of vibration;

sensors and actuators for each of the first mode and the second mode for transduction of an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and transduction of a mechanical vibration into an electrical signal;

sustaining circuitry connected to the sensors and actuators to maintain substantially constant, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations in the first mode at a first oscillation frequency and the second mode at a second oscillation frequency;

output circuitry to infer an angular rate of motion from mechanical velocity or displacement of said first mode or said second mode, or both said first mode and said second mode;

a second mechanical resonator having a third mode of vibration and an associated third natural frequency, and a fourth mode of vibration having an associated fourth natural frequency, wherein energy from the third mode is coupled to energy from the fourth mode;

additional sensors and additional actuators for each of the third mode and the fourth mode for transduction of an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and transduction of a mechanical vibration into an electrical signal;

additional sustaining circuitry for each of the third mode and the fourth mode connected to the additional sensors and additional actuators to maintain substantially continuous, non-zero velocity amplitude vibrations of the third mode at a third oscillation frequency and the fourth mode at a fourth oscillation frequency; and

additional output circuitry to determine angular rate of motion from mechanical velocity or displacement of said third mode or said fourth mode, or both said third mode and said fourth mode.