Abstract
A novel dual-mass resonant output micromechanical gyroscope is proposed which utilizes resonant sensing as the basis for Coriolis force detection instead of displacement sensing. It can overcome the shortcoming of single-mass resonant output micromechanical gyroscope and can reduce the common mode acceleration error by using a dual-mass topology structure and lever differential mechanism. The structure and operating principle of the device are introduced. Moreover, some important theoretical analyses of the gyroscope are provided in detail. The analytical results have shown that the resonant frequencies of vibrating mass and double-ended tuning fork resonators are 3.153 and 62.853 kHz. The device has a frequency sensitivity of 12.535 Hz/deg/s and a mechanical noise floor of \( 7.957\deg /{\text{h}}/\sqrt {{\text{Hz}}} \) in air. The finite element simulation results verify the accuracy of analytical algorithms. The common mode acceleration error of device can be reduced by 97.6%. The device is fabricated by SOG (Silicon on Glass) micro fabrication technology. Some important performances are measured by experimental method. The micromechanical gyroscope can be used to estimate the rotation rate by further implementing the signal processing electronics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajit S, Mohammad FZ, et al (2008) A 0.1°/h bias drift electronically matched tuning fork microgyroscope. In: Abstracts of MEMS 2008, Tucson, AZ, USA
Bao MH (2000) Micro mechanical transducers: pressure sensors, accelerometers and gyroscope. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Brown D, Hicks J (2005) KUTESat-2, a student nanosatellite mission for testing rapid-response small satellite technologies in low earth orbit. In: 3th Annual Responsive Space Conference, Los Angeles, USA
Degani OB, Seter DJ, Socher E, Nemirovsky Y (2000) A novel micromachined vibrating rate-gyroscope with optical sensing and electrostatic actuation. J Sens Actuators A 83:54–60
Djuric Z (2000) Noise sources in microelectromechanical systems. In: IEEE 22th international conference on microelectronics. Serbia May 2000
Fang JC, Li JL (2009) Integrated model and compensation of thermal errors of silicon micro electromechanical gyroscope. J IEEE Trans Instrum Meas 58:2923–2930
Kubena RL, Kirby DJV, Joyce RJ et al (2000) A new tunneling-based sensor for inertial rotation rate measurements. J Sensors Actuat A 83:109–117
Kudo S, Sugawara S, Wakatuki N (1996) Improvement of transitional response characteristics of a piezoelectric vibratory gyroscope. Jpn J Appl Phys 35:3055–3058
Lan JH, Nahavandi S et al (2007) Development of low cost motion-sensing system. J Meas 40:415–421
Li JL, Fang JC, Yu WB (2005) Silicon micromechanical tuning output gyroscope applied at navigation of micro unmanned aerial vehicle. In: AIAA Guidance Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit. AIAA, San Francisco, USA
Maenaka K, Fujita T, Konishi Y, Maeda M (1996) Analysis of a highly sensitive silicon gyroscope with cantilever beam as vibrating mass. J Sensors Actuat A 54:568–573
Nguyen CT-C, Howe RT (1999) An integrated CMOS micronmechanical resonator high-Q oscillato. IEEE J Solid-State Circuit 34:40–55
Paoletti F, Gretillat MA, Rooji NF (1996) A silicon micro-machined vibrating rate gyroscope with piezoresistive detection and electro-magnetic excitation. In: Proceedings of IEEE Microelectromechanical System Workshop, Switzerland
Pottenger MD (2001) Design of Micromechanical inertial sensors. Dissertation, University of California
Rajendran S, Liewa KM (2004) Design and simulation of an angular-rate vibrating microgyroscope. J Sens Actuators A 116:241–256
Seshia AA (2002) Integrated micromechanical resonant for inertial measurement systems. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley
Seshia AA, Howe RT, Montague S (2002) An integrated microelectromechanical resonant output gyroscope. In: 15th IEEE Micro Electromechanical Systems Conference. Las Vegas, USA, 2002
Wang SR (2000) Silicon micro inertia device theory and application. Southeast University of China, Nan Jing, China
Wang YY, Fan SC, et al (2006) A silicon microelectromechanical resonant gyroscope. In: Proceedings of 6th International Symposium on Instrumentation and Control Technology: Sensors, Automatic Measurement, Control, and Computer Simulation. SPIE, Beijing, People’s Republic of China 2006
Weng JH, Chieng WH, Lai JM (2005) Structural design and analysis of micromachined ring-type vibrating sensor of both yaw rate and linear acceleration. J Sens Actuators A 117:230–240
Wong CH, Tan MJK, Liew M (2003) Electrical characterisation of RF capacitive microswitch. J Sens Actuators A 102:296–310
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge researcher Yang Yongjun from the micro/nano technology research center of CETC, doctor candidate Salman Majeed from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics of China. The work was sponsored by China National Program on key Basic Research Project (973 program, Grant No. 2009CB724000) and a grant from China National Natural Science Fund (Grant No.60904093).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, J., Fang, J., Dong, H. et al. Structure design and fabrication of a novel dual-mass resonant output micromechanical gyroscope. Microsyst Technol 16, 543–552 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-009-0998-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-009-0998-8