Stimulated rate optical power measurement in a fiber optic gyroscope
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining performance, or life expectancy of a fiber optic gyroscope comprising:
- simulating movement of the gyroscope;
monitoring an output of the gyroscope during said simulation;
using the monitored output to calculate an optical power value for the gyroscope; and
determining life expectancy of the gyroscope using the calculated optical power value.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Fiber optic gyroscopes having integrated power measurement capabilities and related methods and apparatus. More particularly, fiber optic gyroscopes having an integrated method for determining the optical power by applying an electronic stimulated rate internal to the closed loop digital electronics of the gyroscopes and monitoring the counts out per second (COPS) using each gyroscope'"'"'s counts output signal. Knowing a COPS value, the optical power can be determined by dividing a constant K by the COPS value, i.e. Optical Power=K/COPS. The value of K is specific to each gyroscope, and can be calculated or measured.
-
Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A method of determining performance, or life expectancy of a fiber optic gyroscope comprising:
-
simulating movement of the gyroscope; monitoring an output of the gyroscope during said simulation; using the monitored output to calculate an optical power value for the gyroscope; and determining life expectancy of the gyroscope using the calculated optical power value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A closed loop interferometer fiber optic gyroscope comprising:
-
a synchronous detector; an integrator; and means for introducing a simulated rate diagnostic signal in between the synchronous detector and the integrator, creating a DC steady state disturbance in the closed loop, as if an input angular rate had been applied to the fiber optic gyroscope. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
-
Specification