Multiple vibratory rotation sensors with multiplexed electronics
First Claim
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1. An inertial measurement instrument contained within a compact housing, said instrument comprising:
- a plurality of vibratory rotation sensors, each sensor having a thin-walled axi-symmetric hemispherical shell resonator capable of vibrating in at least one of a plurality of standing waves;
means associated with each sensor for controlling the amplitude of the standing wave on the resonator in that sensor;
means associated with each sensor for applying excitations to the resonator in that sensor;
means associated with each sensor for reading out information about the standing wave on the resonator in that sensor; and
a multiplexer circuit, connected to said controlling means and said excitation means for selectively activating both said control and excitation means.
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Abstract
A vibratory rotation sensor comprising a resonator, a resonator housing and a method for controlling and reading out signals from the sensor is packaged in groups of three, along with a single control and read-out electronics circuit which is either time division multiplexed, frequency multiplexed or a combination of both for the three sensors. This multiple sensor package is compact, lightweight, rugged and well suited for use as an inertial measurement instrument in several subterranean environments such as in mining, tunneling, and oil and gas drilling applications.
24 Citations
9 Claims
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1. An inertial measurement instrument contained within a compact housing, said instrument comprising:
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a plurality of vibratory rotation sensors, each sensor having a thin-walled axi-symmetric hemispherical shell resonator capable of vibrating in at least one of a plurality of standing waves; means associated with each sensor for controlling the amplitude of the standing wave on the resonator in that sensor; means associated with each sensor for applying excitations to the resonator in that sensor; means associated with each sensor for reading out information about the standing wave on the resonator in that sensor; and a multiplexer circuit, connected to said controlling means and said excitation means for selectively activating both said control and excitation means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification