Concept, implementation, and control of wide bandwidth MEMS gyroscopes

This paper reports a novel concept for designing wide-bandwidth micromachined gyroscopes with improved robustness. The approach suggests the use of two independently oscillating interconnected proof masses to form a 4-DOF dynamical system, and thus increasing the design parameter space of the inertial system. The concept is implemented using MEMS technology. Computer modeling of the proposed design indicates over 15 times increase in the bandwidth of the system as compared to the conventional gyroscopes. In addition, significantly reduced sensitivity of the gyroscope to structural and thermal parameter fluctuations and damping is demonstrated. By utilizing the disturbance-rejection capability of the inertial system, improved robustness is achieved without sophistication in control electronics. All these advantages of the proposed design might relax strict fabrication tolerances and packaging requirements, reducing production cost of micromachined gyroscopes.