LOW COST HIGH RELIABILITY HRG

THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE STRAPDOWN GYRO, THE HEMISPHERICAL RESONATOR GYRO (HRG). THE HRG OFFERS IMPROVED ROTATION SENSING WITH SIMPLIFIED SYSTEM MECHANIZATION, HIGHER RELIABILITY AND IMPROVE LIFE CYCLE COST FOR INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR BALLISTIC MISSILES, RE-ENTRY VEHICLES, AND INTERCEPTORS. PROTOTYPE HRGS HAVE DEMONSTRATED OVERALL DRIFT RATES OF 0.003 DEG/HR. INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF A MILITARY TEMPERATURE RANGE. THE HRG IS WELL SUITED TO STRAPDOWN APPLICATIONS SINCE IT HAS VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED ANGULAR RATE CAPABILITY TOGETHER WITH EXTREMELY HIGH SCALE FACTOR STABILITY AND LOW INHERENT DYNAMIC SENSITIVITY. INTERNALLY IT DISSIPATES ONLY 12 MICROWATTS AND A CLUSTER OF THREE GYROS INCLUDING ELECTRONICS CAN BE PACKAGED IN LESS THAN 3 IN(3). LACKING ANY WEAROUT MECHANISM IMPLIES LONG OPERATING LIFE AND HIGH RELIABILITY. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF THE HRG AS A RATE SENSOR FOR INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS. A PERFORMANCE MODEL BASED ON SENSOR PHYSICS AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA IS PROPOSED. ACCURACY, DRIFT RATE, RELIABILITY, AND SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE COST SHALL BE ESTABLISHED BASED UPON SUBSYSTEM ERROR BUDGETS.