Research/Patents/US 5442442
US 5442442

RING LASER GYROSCOPE SCALE FACTOR ERROR CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD

Assignee

LITTON SYSTEMS, INC., A CORP. OF DE.

Filed

Oct 28, 1987

Granted

Aug 15, 1995

Location

PACIFIC PALISAD CA US

Abstract

The intensity and frequency variation due to retroscatter in a ring laser gyroscope are determined and used to correct the gyro scale factor. The orthogonal types of scatter due to dielectric variation and due to height variation, which lead to common mode phase delays of 0 and π/2 respectively are taken into account in calculating the correction to the scale factor. The scale factor errors are determined in terms of observable quantities. Scale factor error control is accomplished by extracting a portion of both of the two counterpropagating light beams and measuring their respective intensities, creating intensity modulation indices representative of the sum and difference intensities, using closed loop control of the real-time difference between the intensities of the beam in the ring laser gyro to reduce scale factor variation using push-pull mirror control of at least two mirrors. The residual error after push-pull mirror control minimization is output for use by a navigation system computer.

Source: Google Patents

35 USC §181 Secrecy Order

Imposed

May 17, 1988

Rescinded

May 23, 1994

Duration

6 years

Inventor

  • 1EDWARD KANEGSBERG

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Back to patent indexSource: USPTO 35 USC §181 secrecy order records