Global Positioning Systems, Inertial Navigation, and Integration

Chapter 9.1.5: INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS: Laser Technology and Lightwave Gyroscopes

9.1.5 Laser Technology and Lightwave Gyroscopes

Lasers are phase-coherent light sources. Phase-coherent light traveling around a closed planar path will experience a slight phase shift each lap that is proportional to the inertial rotation rate of its planar path (the Sagnac effect). Lightwave gyroscopes compare the phases of two phase-coherent beams traveling in opposite directions around the same path. All require mechanical stability to optical tolerances, and all exhibit some level of angle random walk.

The two common types of laser gyroscopes are illustrated in Fig. 9.10 and described below.

9.1.5.1 Ring Laser Gyroscopes (RLGs) Ring laser gyroscopes use a lasing segment within a closed polygonal light path with mirrors at the corners. These are effectively digital rate integrating gyroscopes, with the phase rate between the counterrotating beams proportional to inertial rotation rate.

The first ring laser gyroscopes were developed in the 1960s, soon after the first practical lasers had been developed. It would take about a decade to make them

practical, however. The problem was scattering of the counterrotating beams off the RLG mirrors that causes the frequencies of the two beams to "lock in," creating a serious dead-zone near zero input rate. Most practical RLG designs employ some sort of dithering to avoid the dead zone. A Zero Lock Gyroscope4 (ZLG) uses a combination of laser frequency splitting and out-of-plane path segments to eliminate lockin.

9.1.5.2 Fiberoptic Gyroscopes (FOGs) Fiberoptic gyroscopes use thousands of turns of optical fiber to increase the phase sensitivity, multiplying the number of turns by the phase shift per turn. A common external laser source can be used for both beams. There are two basic strategies for sensing rotation rates:

Open-Loop FOGs Open-loop designs compare the phases of the two counterrotating beams. They are effectively rate gyroscopes, with the relative phase change between the counterrotating light beams proportional to the inertial rotation rate normal the plane of the lightpath. Those used in inertial navigation typically have dynamic ranges in the order of 103, sensitivities (i.e., minimum detectable inputs) ≥ 10-2 degrees per hour and bias stabilities in the order of 1 degree per hour (or more) [196].

Closed-Loop Integrating FOGs (IFOGs) Closed-loop designs use feedback of the output phase to a light modulator in the loop to null the output. These are effectively rate integrating gyroscopes. They can have dynamic ranges in the order of 106, nonlinearity errors ≤ 10-5, and bias stability in the order of 10-2 degrees per hour (or better) [196].

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