Fiber-optic gyroscopes

Fiber optic sensors have been under development worldwide for a multitude of applications during the last twenty years. One of the first fiber sensors to begin production is the fiber-optic gyroscope or equivalently the fiber gyro. The history of the fiber gyro is characterized by an early discovery of the basic physical mechanism which then lay fallow for decades until the necessary enabling technologies were developed. The author describes briefly the history of fiber gyro product development including aircraft and spacecraft applications.