Virtual Rotating MEMS Gyrocompassing With Honeycomb Disk Resonator Gyroscope

High performance north-finding systems (NFSs) based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) gyroscopes are widely concerned over decades. This letter proposes a novel strategy for MEMS gyrocompassing, exploiting the measurements of a honeycomb disk resonator gyroscope (HDRG). Completely different from previous MEMS gyrocompassing approaches for drift reduction of MEMS gyroscopes (e.g., carouseling, maytagging), without any mechanical turning parts, the virtual rotating framework is greatly conducive to the compactness and reliability of NFSs. The experimental results show that the true north can be found with the accuracy of 0.48° for 5 minutes averaging time at 28° latitude, proving the possibility of eliminating the need for physical rotation of MEMS gyroscopes.