Tell me more about gyroscopes?

January 8, 2007 8:30 AM

How are gyroscopes measured?

I'm really curious to know how different gyroscope types get measured in order to provide position data. I suppose that an MEMS gyroscope is direct-to-digital, but for other gyroscopes, how is the data measured (e.g. how is difference of position calculated?)


This question asked for someone else via AskMeQ.

posted by exogenous to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

This question might just be worded oddly, but gyroscopes in general provide orientation data, not position data. MEMS gyrsocopes in particular are *motion* sensing, as I recall, not *position* sensing.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:03 AM on January 8, 2007

Exactly. You can use motion sensions to derive (calculation) position, via dead reckoning, given a known starting position, but the gyroscope still doesn't measure position. And still I don't think a gyroscope would be able to measure non-rotating motion, they work due to conservation of angular momentum.

If gyroscopes are used, by themselves, for position sensing, it's news to me. A quick googling/wikipedia doesn't seem to support the notion that they are.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:19 AM on January 8, 2007

I think I phrased that sort of badly, sorry.

What I meant was that I do not thing a gyroscope alone can be used to determine position. At best I think they can determine orientation, and possibly determine rotational acceleration, which could be used to figure out which direction you're facing.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:23 AM on January 8, 2007

Inertial Navigation.
posted by veedubya at 9:33 AM on January 8, 2007

I guess i'm trying to understand what the motion sensors look like or do, and how they would physically be attached to the axis.
posted by arimathea at 9:36 AM on January 8, 2007