Chinese gyroscope could make navigation more stable for aircraft, ships and oil rigs

Chinese researchers say they have developed a “groundbreaking” fibre-optic gyroscope that is stable across a large temperature range and can be used for navigation.

According to the team from the Tianjin Navigation Instruments Research Institute and Jinan University, the gyroscope could offer a more stable way to measure navigation for aircraft, ships and oil rigs.

Gyroscopes are devices that can sense orientation and the rate at which a moving object is turning, so they play an important role in inertial navigation systems.

Those navigation systems allow for the measurement of vehicles without the need for external signals like satellites. That makes them immune to interference, which is vital for military and security applications.

Traditional gyroscopes rely on moving mechanical components, but fibre-optic gyroscopes use the changing movement of light in optical fibres to operate.

Due to their simple structure and high resolution, a common type – known as an interferometric fibre-optic gyroscope, or IFOG – has been used in both military and civilian settings ranging from aerospace to weapons systems, oil platforms and autonomous vehicles.

South China Morning Post