Design of a triple-axis MEMS-based fluidic gyroscope

In this paper, we present a realizable structure and simulation of a triple-axis microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based fluidic gyroscope sensor. The computational fluid dynamics FLUENT package is employed to obtain a fully transient flow solution that includes the effect of angular rate. In the sensor, four axisymmetric jets comprising two perpendicular pairs of flows are generated in a fluidic network by a piezoelectric actuator, without requiring any check valve. The angular rate is measured using the deflection of the jets under apparent Coriolis acceleration by an in-plane hot wire system. The heat transfer between the hotwire and the ambient gas is calibrated for a low velocity of the gas flow. The structure of the sensor is considered to diminish the cross-sensitivity between the horizontal and vertical components of angular rate. The hot wires can be fabricated by a mass standard MEMS process with only one mask, and the fluidic network can be fabricated by a hot embossing technique.