Background A Gyroscope is a device used for measuring or
maintaining orientation, based on angular momentum. Gyroscopes have
been around for over a century now and what were once used as toys
are now used as an instrument everywhere from airplanes for
stabilization to smartphones for screen orientation.
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How Gyroscopes Work A gyroscope in operation with freedom in
all three axes. The rotor will maintain its spin axis direction
regardless of the orientation of the outer frame.
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Precession in Gyroscopes When a force is applied to the top of
the gyroscope you would think it would fall over due to gravity,
but because it is spinning it stays upright; the effect of this is
the cause of precession. Precession is a change in the orientation
of the rotational axis of a rotating body.
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Mechanical Gyroscopes Consist of a spinning wheel or disc in
which the axle is free to assume any orientation. Mostly found as a
toy on the market Consist of large amounts of mass Large scale are
expensive or unavailable
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Electronic Gyroscopes Sense rotational motion Sense changes in
orientation
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MEMS Gyroscopes MEMS A Micro electrical mechanical system. Most
MEMS Gyroscopes use a tuning fork configuration
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MEMS Gyroscopes When the Gyro is rotated, a small resonating
mass is shifted as the angular velocity is changes. The movement is
converted into very low-current electrical signals that can be
amplified and read by many microcontrollers.
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MEMS Gyroscope Applications High Performance and low power
consumption Mass Produced at Low Cost Used in Phones and printed on
circuit board for use in many other applications MEMS are not a
specific type, but a class of gyroscopes that are printed onto
circuit boards.
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Gyroscope Breakout Boards 3-Axis 250 / 500 / 2000 / s Gyro
Sensor L3GD20 $11.50 Operating Voltage: 2.5 V to 5.5 V
Carrier/breakout board for the ST L3GD20 three-axis gyroscope
Supply current: 7 mA Sensitivity range (configurable): 250/s,
500/s, or 2000/s
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Gyroscope Breakout Boards Triple-Axis Digital-Output Gyro
Breakout - ITG-3200 $24.95 Digital-output X-, Y-, and Z-Axis
angular rate sensors (gyros) on one integrated circuit Wide VDD
supply voltage range of 2.1V to 3.6V three 16-bit analog-to-digital
converters (ADCs) for digitizing the gyro outputs, a
user-selectable internal low-pass filter bandwidth, and a Fast-Mode
I2C (400kHz) interface. embedded temperature sensor and a 2%
accurate internal oscillator
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Gyroscope Breakout Boards SparkFun Triple Axis Accelerometer
and Gyro Breakout - MPU-6050 $39.95 Combining a MEMS 3-axis
gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer on the same silicon die
together with an onboard Digital Motion Processor Tri-Axis angular
rate sensor (gyro) with a sensitivity up to 131 LSBs/dps and a
full-scale range of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000dps Tri-Axis
accelerometer with a programmable full scale range of 2g, 4g, 8g
and 16g
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Conclusion The best gyroscope for use in our skiing robot
project would be the SparkFun Triple Axis Accelerometer and Gyro
Breakout - MPU-6050 The accelerometers will be used for
tilt-sensing. Because they are affected by the acceleration of
gravity, an accelerometer can tell you how its oriented with
respect to the Earths surface. The gyroscope will be used to
monitor the orientation of the object in motion, an accelerometer
may not give you enough information to know exactly how its
oriented. Unlike accelerometers gyros are not affected by gravity,
so they make a great complement to each other.