Wineglass Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope for Planets

Hemispherical Resonator Gyro is a new type of high-precision, high-reliability and long-life solid-state gyroscope. It uses the radial vibration standing wave precession effect of the hemispherical shell lip to sense the rotation of the base. It has high measurement accuracy, super stability and reliability, good shock and vibration resistance and temperature performance, and especially has a unique shutdown anti-radiation ability. In particular, the life expectancy is as high as 15 years. It is a key component of satellite or spacecraft inertial measurement unit and attitude stability control. It has unique advantages and broad prospects in space applications.

Hemispherical Resonator Gyro is the core key component of gyroscope. It has the advantages of light weight, high reliability and long life. It is widely used in satellites, missile weapons, ships and other equipment. Generally, Hemispherical Resonator Gyro also have the characteristics of hard and brittle materials, thin walls, complex shapes, and high processing accuracy requirements, which seriously exceed the precision manufacturing of quartz resonators.

Small size, low noise, high performance and no wear-out has made the Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope (HRG) the choice for high value space missions. Its versatility will be shown by its use for space craft stabilization, precision pointing, air craft navigation, strategic accuracy systems, oil bore hole exploration and planetary exploration.
This is the resonator for a Hemispherical Resonator Gyro (HRG). An HRG senses acceleration by the change in phase of vibration of a cup-shaped resonator, similar to the way a wine-glass resonates when rubbed by a wet finger. The device is rugged and accurate, and it has replaced other models of mechanical gyroscopes on most deep-space missions, as well as in other applications.

At present, the coaxiality of domestically manufactured Hemispherical Resonator Gyro is <3μm, and it is almost impossible to realize high-performance parts with coaxiality <1μm. Since the shape and position accuracy of the gyroscope is positively correlated with the striking accuracy, the ideal gyroscope’s coaxiality and roundness are 0, which is far away. The key to advanced gyroscopes lies in advanced resonators. Traditional quartz resonator processing has processing defects such as collapsed edges, large surface damage layers, and processing dispersion, resulting in large comprehensive processing errors, low processing accuracy, and long processing cycles.