A vibrating wheel micromachined gyroscope for commercial and automotive applications

Vibratory wheel micromachined gyroscopes with electrostatic drive and capacitance detection are presented. The angular rate measurement is performed with an exciting voltage of 10 Vpp(AC) plus 5 V(DC) in atmosphere. Resolution better than 3/spl deg//s has been recorded with self-drive oscillation. In this paper, the following topics are covered: the structure and fabrication of the micromachined gyroscopes, the principle of operation, electronics, control systems, sensitivity as well as projected and measured performance. Associated phenomena and further studies also will be addressed. Resolution better than 1/spl deg//s to meet the automotive application will be available in the near future.