Automatic navigation makes travel safer: Unless they malfunction, machines are tireless and always vigilant. Long in use in ships and airplanes, automatic navigational devices are also coming into use for ground transportation as well. This book discusses the sensors (gyroscopes and accelerometers) used in navigational systems that cannot depend on external data for determining the speed and position.

Zusammenfassung
A description of the inertial technology used for guidance, control, and navigation, discussing in detail the principles, operation, and design of sensors, gyroscopes, and accelerometers, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of particular systems.

Inhalt

1. An Outline of Inertial Navigation.- 2. Gyro and Accelerometer Errors and Their Consequences.- 3. The Principles of Accelerometers.- 4. The Pendulous Accelerometer.- 5. Vibrating Beam Accelerometers.- 6. The Principles of Mechanical Gyroscopes.- 7. Single-Degree-of-Freedom Gyroscopes.- 8. Two-Degree-of-Freedom Gyroscopes.- 9. The Dynamically Tuned Gyroscope.- 10. Vibrating Gyroscopes.- 11. The Principles of Optical Rotation Sensing.- 12. The Interferometric Fiber-Optic Gyro.- 13. The Ring Laser Gyro.- 14. Passive Resonant Gyros.- 15. Testing Inertial Sensors.- 16. Design Choices for Inertial Instruments.