Design and Simulation of a Micromachined Electrostatically Suspended Gyroscope

This paper presents the design and simulation of a micromachined gyroscope employing a levitated-disk proof mass. The disk, which has no mechanical connection to substrate, is suspended and spun electrostatically. A sigma-delta force-feedback system is used to control the position of the levitated disk and also provides a direct digital output, which is a measure of the external rate of rotation. Analytical models were developed to study the behaviour of a sensor prototype. The geometry of sense and control electrodes was designed and optimised to obtain the maximum pick-off signal. System level simulations were performed to study the dynamic behaviour of the device and evaluate its performance. The results showed that the device can achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio (>50 dB) and also it is able to perform as a multi-axis inertial sensor. Simulations also showed that the cross-axis sensitivity is reduced because of the springless design.