Variations[edit]

Gyrostat[edit]
A gyrostat is a variant of the gyroscope. It consists of a massive flywheel concealed in a solid casing.[20][21] Its behaviour on a table, or with various modes of suspension or support, serves to illustrate the curious reversal of the ordinary laws of static e uilibrium due to the gyrostatic behaviour of the interior invisible flywheel when rotated rapidly. !he first gyrostat was designed by "ord #elvin to illustrate the more complicated state of motion of a spinning body when free to wander about on a hori$ontal plane, li%e a top spun on the pavement, or a hoop or bicycle on the road. #elvin also made use of gyrostats to develop mechanical theories of the elasticity of matter and of the ether&[22] these theories are of purely historical interest today. In modern times, the gyrostat concept is used in the design of attitude control systems for orbiting spacecraft and satellites.[2'] (or instance, the )ir space station had three pairs of internally mounted flywheels %nown as gyrodynes or control moment gyros. In physics, there are several systems whose dynamical e uations resemble the e uations of motion of a gyrostat.[2*] +,amples include a solid body with a cavity filled with an inviscid, incompressible, homogeneous li uid,[2-] the static e uilibrium configuration of a stressed elastic rod in elastica theory,[2.] the polari$ation dynamics of a light pulse propagating through a nonlinear medium,[2/] the "oren$ system in chaos theory,[20] and the motion of an ion in a 1enning trap mass spectrometer.[22]

MEMS[edit]
A )+)3 gyroscope ta%es the idea of the (oucault pendulum and uses a vibrating element, %nown as a )+)3 4)icro +lectro5)echanical 3ystem6. !he )+)35based gyro was initially made practical and producible by 3ystron 7onner Inertial 437I6. !oday, 37I is a large manufacturer of )+)3 gyroscopes.

FOG[edit]
A fiber optic gyroscope 4(896 is a gyroscope that uses the interference of light to detect mechanical rotation. !he sensor is a coil of as much as - %m of optical fiber. !he development of low5loss single5mode optical fiber in the early 12/0s for the telecommunications industry enabled the development of 3agnac effect fiber optic gyros.

VSG or CVG[edit]
A vibrating structure gyroscope 4:396, also called a ;oriolis :ibratory 9yroscope 4;:96,['0] uses a resonator made of different metallic alloys. It ta%es a position between the low5accuracy, low5cost )+)3 gyroscope and the higher5accuracy and higher5cost (89. Accuracy parameters are increased by using low5intrinsic damping materials, resonator vacuumi$ation, and digital electronics to reduce temperature dependent drift and instability of control signals.['1] <igh uality wine5glass resonators are used for precise sensors li%e <=9['2] or ;=9.['']

DTG[edit]
A dynamically tuned gyroscope 47!96 is a rotor suspended by a universal >oint with fle,ure pivots.['*] !he fle,ure spring stiffness is independent of spin rate. <owever, the dynamic inertia 4from the gyroscopic reaction effect6 from the gimbal provides negative spring stiffness proportional to the s uare of the spin speed 4<owe and 3avet, 12.*& "awrence, 12206. !herefore, at a particular speed, called the tuning speed, the two moments cancel each other, freeing the rotor from tor ue, a necessary condition for an ideal gyroscope.

London moment[edit]

A "ondon moment gyroscope relies on the uantum5mechanical phenomenon, whereby a spinning superconductor generates a magnetic field whose a,is lines up e,actly with the spin a,is of the gyroscopic rotor. A magnetometer determines the orientation of the generated field, which is interpolated to determine the a,is of rotation. 9yroscopes of this type can be e,tremely accurate and stable. (or e,ample, those used in the 9ravity 1robe ? e,periment measured changes in gyroscope spin a,is orientation to better than 0.- milliarcseconds 41.*@10A/ degrees6 over a one5year period.['-] !his is e uivalent to an angular separation the width of a human hair viewed from '2 %ilometers 420 mi6 away.['.] !he 915? gyro consists of a nearly5perfect spherical rotating mass made of fused uart$, which provides a dielectric support for a thin layer of niobium superconducting material. !o eliminate friction found in conventional bearings, the rotor assembly is centered by the electric field from si, electrodes. After the initial spin5up by a >et of helium which brings the rotor to *,000 =1), the polished gyroscope housing is evacuated to an ultra5high vacuum to further reduce drag on the rotor. 1rovided the suspension electronics remain powered, the e,treme rotational symmetry, lac% of friction, and low drag will allow the angular momentum of the rotor to %eep it spinning for about 1-,000 years.['/] A sensitive 7; 3BCI7 magnetometer able to discriminate changes as small as one uantum, or about 2 @10A1- Db, is used to monitor the gyroscope. A precession, or tilt, in the orientation of the rotor causes the "ondon moment magnetic field to shift relative to the housing. !he moving field passes through a superconducting pic%up loop fi,ed to the housing, inducing a small electric current. !he current produces a voltage across a shunt resistance, which is resolved to spherical coordinates by a microprocessor. !he system is designed to minimi$e "orent$ tor ue on the rotor.['0]