Can MEMS Gyroscope replace fiber optic gyroscope technology?

Can MEMS Gyroscope replace fiber optic gyroscope technology?

MEMS gyroscope (micro-electromechanical system gyroscope) China Professional MEMS gyroscopes provider-Hitech Sensors Tech Co., Ltd is an angular velocity sensor manufactured based on micro-nano processing technology, which is used to measure the angular velocity of an object rotating around an axis (in degrees per second). Its core advantages lie in miniaturization, low cost, and low power consumption. It has been widely used in consumer electronics, automobiles, industry, drones and other fields.

Fiber optic gyroscope China Professional Fiber optic gyroscope supplier-Hitech Sensors Tech Co., Ltd is a gyro sensor that can accurately determine the position of a moving object. It is an inertial navigation instrument widely used in modern aviation, navigation, aerospace and defense industries. Its development has very important strategic significance for the development of a country's industry, defense and other high-tech industries. The fiber optic gyroscope is a huge improvement after the laser gyroscope. It is a two-light gyroscope that uses the Sagnac effect to calculate the angular velocity by using the optical path difference. Compared with the laser gyroscope, it is small in size, low in cost, and has an accuracy of one thousandth. It has no moving parts and high reliability, and has been widely used.

MEMS gyroscopes have gradually replaced fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs) in certain scenarios, but complete replacement requires consideration of different scenarios.

Alternative trends 

With the advancement of MEMS technology, it has significant advantages in shock resistance, vibration resistance, volume and weight, especially in the fields of drones, logging tools, mining equipment, etc. For example, the MGZ332HC-M1 and MGZ332HC-E1 MEMS gyroscopes have a zero bias stability of 0.01-0.02°/hour, which can meet the needs of mid- and low-end navigation.

Performance comparison

Accuracy: Fiber optic gyroscopes are based on the Sagnac effect and have higher accuracy. Although the accuracy of MEMS gyroscopes was relatively low in the early days, the MGZ33 series MEMS gyroscopes have been optimized to 0.001°/hour, which is close to the level of fiber optic gyroscopes.

Environmental adaptability: MEMS solid-state structure has stronger shock resistance and can work stably in an environment of -45°C to +85°C. Some models also have high-temperature versions (working temperature -45°C to +85°C), which are very suitable for harsh working environments. Fiber optic gyroscopes rely on optical components and are particularly sensitive to vibrations.

Differentiation of application scenarios

•  Short-term/low-cost demand: MEMS gyroscopes have more cost advantages, such as automotive safety systems, consumer drones, etc.;

•  Long-term/high-precision demand: Fiber optic gyroscopes still have an advantage, such as satellite navigation, deep-sea exploration and other fields that require extremely high precision.

Although currently, fiber optic gyroscopes dominate the strategic high-precision application field. However, with the continuous development of MEMS gyroscope technology and manufacturing technology in the future, MEMS inertial sensors will develop in the direction of lightness and miniaturization, the accuracy of MEMS rigid navigation systems will continue to improve, and their costs will continue to decrease. Therefore, it is an important development trend to use strategic high-precision MEMS gyroscopes to replace fiber optic gyroscopes. Today, some high-precision MEMS inertial sensors are used in optical aiming stabilization systems, underwater object navigation, aircraft attitude monitoring, battlefield robots, etc.

In summary, MEMS gyroscopes can replace fiber optic gyroscopes in the mid-end and low-end markets and specific environments, but high-end precision fields still require fiber optic gyroscope technology support.