Micromachined gyroscopes based on a rotating mechanically unconstrained proof mass

This paper describes the state-of-the-art of micromachined gyroscopes based on a spinning, electrostatically suspended rotor as proof mass. This approach has numerous advantages over the prevailing approach for MEMS gyroscopes relying on a two degree of freedom vibrating structure and Coriolis force coupling between two modes. The key benefits of a gyroscope with a suspended rotor are its higher scale factor, the absence of mode coupling issues such as quadrature error and that there is no need to tune modal resonant frequencies. The paper reviews the literature on gyroscopes with a spinning, mechanically unconstrained rotor and then reports on the authors' effort to develop such a gyroscope.