Micromachined Vibrating Ring Gyroscope Architecture with High-Linearity, Low Quadrature Error and Improved Mode Ordering

A new micromachined vibrating ring gyroscope (VRG) architecture with low quadrature error and high-linearity is proposed, which successfully optimizes the working modes to first order resonance mode of the structure. The improved mode ordering can significantly reduce the vibration sensitivity of the device by adopting the hinge-frame mechanism. The frequency difference ratio is introduced to represent the optimization effect of modal characteristic. Furthermore, the influence of the structural parameters of hinge-frame mechanism on frequency difference ratio is clarified through analysis of related factors, which contributes to a more effective design of hinge-frame structure. The designed VRG architecture accomplishes the goal of high-linearity by using combination hinge and variable-area capacitance strategy, in contrast to the conventional approach via variable-separation drive/sense strategy. Finally, finite element method (FEM) simulations are carried out to investigate the stiffness, modal analysis, linearity, and decoupling characteristics of the design. The simulation results are sufficiently in agreement with theoretical calculations. Meanwhile, the hinge-frame mechanism can be widely applied in other existing ring gyroscopes, and the new design provides a path towards ultra-high performance for VRG.