Suppression of Thermal Effect on Closed Loop Fiber Optic Gyroscope

Abstract

Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG), an inertial sensor measures the angular rotation of an object based on the principle of Sagnac effect. FOG is subjected to various environmental disturbances such as temperature, vibration etc., when it is operated in real time. Temperature variation is the major factor that affects the gyro performance. In this paper, a novel compensation approach called temperature soaking method has been presented which makes the gyro insensitive to temperature. This method has been carried out for a 3-axis (Gx, Gy and Gz) FOG and its outputs (bias values) were taken at different temperature points. In order to reduce the bias drift of FOG output, this method uses linear curve fitting function to generate the bias error coefficients. The generated bias error coefficients are subtracted from the existing bias data, which in turn reduces the bias error. The bias values obtained for 3-axis gyro at temperature points from -20°C to +60°C before compensation is then compared with the bias values obtained for after compensation at same temperature points. Experimental results demonstrate that, after compensation the bias drift greatly reduced from 15 to 0°/hr approximately. This method effectively improves the stability and performance of a gyro and makes it to withstand to different environmental conditions which in turn increases the range of applications from military, navigation to space.