Fiber-optic gyroscopes

From an applications engineer's point of view, fiber-optic gyroscopes appear to be rather ideal devices. They can be small and extremely rugged. In addition, they turn on instantly, have long shelf life, are virtually maintenance-free, and will be low in cost. It is pointed out that the first commercial fiber gyros are now appearing for applications which exploit many of the considered characteristics. However, designers will still have to overcome considerable obstacles before fiber gyros could achieve the status of the ring laser gyros which are replacing mechanical gyros in commercial aircraft. The reasons for the ruggedness of fiber-optic gyros are discussed together with the prospects for improving their accuracy. Attention is given to operation and arising error, approaches for countering errors in rotation rate, methods for obtaining sensitivity and linear output, the search for a wide dynamic range, details regarding guided wave components, and possibilities for the future.