What is the fiber-optical gyroscope?

Gyroscope with optical fiber is a device that measures the rotary movement of the platform or object on which it is using optical fiber technology. This platform can be anything that moves, including a car, boat, aircraft or spacecraft. For stabilization and navigation is most often used by a gyroscope with optical fiber. First, the light source emits a beam of light at election intervals, which is divided into two separate photons. Then the two rays are sent in the opposite direction along the optical fiber.

The length of the optical fiber varies in different gyroscopes. In fact, the largest gyroscopes could have 3.1 miles (5 km) of the optical fiber, firmly curled, although most are much smaller. The detector registers when each photon arrives and calculates the time difference between each.

This use of optical technology is explained by Sagnac effect. When the gyroscope is perfectly calm, two rays of light arrive at the same time. On the other side, when the gyroscope turns or tilted isshortened the way of one photon. By measuring the time difference between the return of each photon, the gyroscope can determine exactly how the platform rotates and how fast.

Gyroscope can determine a lot of information about its movement, so it is very useful as a stabilizer. For stabilizing weapons, such as a rotating gun on a moving tank, a fiber-optical gyroscope can be used. Large ships are often used to stabilize the satellite antenna to maintain radio communication, even during the coarse sea.

Another purpose of the optical fiber gyroscope is navigation. When the global positioning system (GPS) and a gyroscope with optical fiber are combined, the resulting device is called inertia navigacisystem (INS). Ans determines the location of the platform, its speed and its orientation. Everything from cars and monoras to boats and aircraft can be an advantage. Even some spacecraft and satellites carry a gyroscope for the exactou navigation.

Compared to other types of gyroscopes, the fiber-optical gyroscope is smaller, lighter and more durable. It consists mainly of a very light optical fiber; Mechanical gyroscopes have several metal pieces on the stand. The optical fiber version takes longer than mechanical and gas gyroscopes because it has no spinning parts. The fiber-optical type of gyroscope is also very accurate because it is able to detect changes as small as one degree per hour.