On the Degradation of MEMS Gyroscope Performance in the Presence of High Power Acoustic Noise

Due to their reduced size, cost, and power requirements relative to traditional gyroscopes, MEMS gyroscopic sensors are finding increasing use in many applications. It is well known that unshielded MEMS gyroscopes can be vulnerable to both mechanical shock and high frequency vibrations. The results of this investigation indicate that MEMS gyroscopes are also susceptible to high power, high frequency content acoustic noise. Acoustic energy frequency components that are close to the resonating frequency of the proof mass in the MEMS gyroscope can produce undesirable motion of the proof mass, resulting in corruption in the angular rate measurement. If the acoustic signals possess enough power in the vicinity of the sensor resonating frequency, the resulting degradation in sensor performance can be severe enough to render the angular rate measurements useless.