Switched state fiber optic gyroscope

摘要

An improved fiber optic gyroscope with a substantial improvement in dynamic range and scale factor stability over a basic fiber optic gyroscope is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the detected output of the gyroscope is demodulated to yield first and second voltage levels respectively proportional to preselected sine and cosine components of the detected output. These first and second voltage levels are respectively switched between a feedback network which stabilizes the drive level and a rate sensing circuit which senses the rotation rate. Such switching occurs when operational states are switched in order to stabilize the drive level from the feedback network and to provide the most sensitive one of the first and second voltage levels to the rate sensing network.