Dual Foucault Pendulum gyroscope

We report a new type of MEMS degenerate mode lumped mass gyroscope architecture. The Dual Foucault Pendulum (DFP) gyroscope consists of two dynamically equivalent, mechanically coupled proof masses, oscillating in anti-phase motion. This dual axis tuning fork behavior creates a dynamically balanced resonator with x-y symmetry in frequency and damping. Phase synchronization is established by mechanical coupling of the two proof masses, whereas quadrature suppression is achieved by four differential shuttle pairs placed in-between. Dual axis tuning fork behavior provides vibration immunity and anchor loss mitigation, resulting in a Q-factor over 300,000 on both modes at a center frequency of 3.2 kHz. Due to high-Q degenerate mode operation, open-loop performance of 0.003 °/√h ARW and 0.27 °/h in-run bias stability were experimentally demonstrated. We believe Dual Foucault Pendulum is the minimal realization of a dynamically balanced lumped mass degenerate mode gyroscope.