Effective Frequency Lock-In Changes of a Ring Laser Gyroscope Due to Harmonic Components of Dithering Signal

The frequency lock-in phenomenon is the most important error factor that degrades the performance of a ring laser gyroscope by causing a nonlinear output to the rotational angular velocity input. To solve the problem of frequency lock-in, a mechanical dithering technique has been proposed and most successfully and widely applied to date. In addition, in the case of dithering with a sinusoidal signal of a single-frequency component, the theoretical background is well established. However, in actual applications, it is almost impossible to implement a perfect single sinusoidal signal, owing to various electrical and mechanical constraints. In general, although the occupied portion is smaller than the fundamental frequency component, the dithering signal inevitably includes harmonics. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the influence of the corresponding harmonic component to accurately predict the frequency lock-in characteristics of a ring laser gyroscope. In this study, it is assumed that the dithering signal has odd harmonics, and through numerical experiments, the frequency lock-in widths of the ring laser gyroscope according to the dithering amplitude change and the effectiveness of improving the related characteristics according to the application of random dithering are analyzed. The analysis confirmed that the resonance condition, including the higher harmonics of mechanical dithering, can be a major variable that determines the frequency lock-in characteristics of the ring laser gyroscope. To improve the relevant performance of the ring laser gyroscope, in-depth research from that point of view is necessary.