Navigation-grade three-axis resonant fiber-optic gyroscope employing a multiplexed source

Abstract

A three-axis gyroscope is a vital component of an inertial measurement unit that can measure the rotation rates in three directions simultaneously. A novel three-axis resonant fiber-optic gyroscope (RFOG) configuration with a multiplexed broadband light source is proposed and demonstrated. The output light from the two vacant ports of the main gyroscope is reused as drive sources for the other two axial gyroscopes, which effectively improve the power utilization of the source. The interference between different axial gyroscopes is effectively avoided by optimizing the lengths of three fiber-optic ring resonators (FRRs) rather than by inserting other optical elements in the multiplexed link. With the optimal lengths, the influence of the input spectrum on the multiplexed RFOG is suppressed and a theoretical temperature dependence of the bias error as low as 1.08 × 10−4 °/h/°C is obtained. Finally, a navigation-grade three-axis RFOG is demonstrated with a fiber coil length of ∼100 m for each FRR.