Parametric topology optimization of a MEMS gyroscope for automotive applications

Abstract

Automotive MEMS gyroscopes are used for various purposes, such as rollover prevention and dynamic stability. Although, employment of gyroscopes for automotive applications is reported, what is not discussed is the gyro topology design and optimization for these applications. This article reports parametric topology size optimization of a MEMS gyroscope proper for automotive applications. The structure optimization of a translational dual-mass Coriolis vibratory gyroscope (CVG) with electrostatically sense/excitation mechanism is presented for automotive applications. Fabrication considerations conform to the X-FAB procedures, and application uncertainty is inherent in the vehicle lateral model. The proposed design approach takes into account the inaccessible levels of application uncertainty to optimization, which provides results that are more reliable, compared with the ideal models. More than thirteen thousand virtual cases are studied, in which the gyroscope performance specifications including scale factor, linearity, etc. are calculated. The double-lane-change (DLC) maneuver based on ISO 3888-1 is performed on the optimal candidates in order to apply the vehicle application constrains. The suggested optimal solution is the one with the least yaw rate error with respect to the target yaw rate instructed by the maneuver, which suits best for the automotive application. The results show that the yaw rate error of DLC maneuver improved from about 40% to about 1.4% using the optimization algorithm, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.