Detection methods of earth´s rotation rate with a MEMS gyroscope

High precision gyroscopes are often used to find the north direction or determine the orientation by detecting the horizontal component of the earth´s rotation rate in the field of north-seeking, oil drilling and mining. The ability to measure the earth´s rotation rate accurately for gyroscopes can be applied as a basic criterion in those areas. MEMS gyroscopes were thought unable to measure the earth´s rotation rate because of its noise and low precision. The detection methods of earth´s rotation rate with a MEMS gyroscope were proposed, including the static and dynamic methods. Several major factors that influence the accuracy were analyzed and compensated carefully. The multi-position static and dynamic experiments were completed with a MEMS gyroscope. For the 36-position static measurement method, a single test takes 720 seconds, the 10 times´ average error is less than 0.03%. For the dynamic experiments with a period of 18 seconds, a single test takes 108 seconds, the 10 times´ average error is less than 1%. The experimental results indicate that the MEMS gyroscopes have great potentials in the field of north-seeking and orientating.