Common design techniques for quartz rate sensors for both automotive and aerospace/defense market applications

In the early 1990s, Systron Donner Inertial Division (SDID), a subsidiary of BEI Technologies, Inc., possessed a new solid-state rate gyroscope technology that had not yet matured or captured a significant market share. Even though some success had been achieved in defense missile applications, a strategy was clearly needed to further develop the technology and lay the foundation for future growth. The strategy search led to discovery of a leading edge automotive brake system application, which, in turn, led to a radical change in SDID design and manufacturing approaches as well as a dramatic increase in revenues. The resultant radical cost-reduction of Quartz Rate Sensor (QRS) components has benefit for both the automotive and the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) markets. Commonality of design and design techniques is leveraging high-volume, low-cost automotive components into low-volume A&D products.