| 摘要 |
An improved electro-mechanical inertial rotation sensor comprising a rotor which spins at substantially constant speed with respect to an inertial frame of reference. A pickoff generates a signal relating the rotational position of the rotor relative to the apparatus. A phase comparator compares this pickoff signal to a reference signal relating the rotational position of the rotor relative to a fixed orientation in an inertial frame of reference, Changes in phase between the two signals indicate changes in orientation of the apparatus with respect to the inertial frame of reference. In one embodiment, the rotor is driven through an Eddy-current coupling and simultaneously braked by an Eddy-current brake, in a matched torque drive. To generate an accurate reference signal, the rotations of the rotor with respect to the inertial frame of reference are accurately determined using parallel measurements from a similar rotor, used as a test rotor. This test rotor is mounted in a pivot and during operation of the apparatus its axis is alternately oriented so that the test rotor's direction of rotation is alternately in the same direction of rotation (as the primary rotor) and in the opposite direction of rotation. In another embodiment, the rotations of the rotor with respect to an inertial frame ofreference are determined using an optical rotation sensor mounted within the rotor. In a second mode of operation, a test rotor is used to determine the rotations of a vehicle or a body, such as the Earth, which maintains a substantially constant speed with respect to an inertial frame of reference:
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