Frequency symmetry of cobweb-like disk resonator gyroscope (CDRG) has been compared with conventional ring-like disk resonant gyroscope (RDRG) in this study to corroborate that linear beam structures have a better process tolerance than curved beam structures for microfabrication processes. The CDRG comprises multiple concentric cobweb-like rings and each is formed by 16 identical straight beams joined end-to-end. It exhibits asfabricated symmetric vibration behavior superior than that of RDRGs. To compare as-fabricated structural symmetry, CDRG and RDRG are placed side-by-side on the same wafer and simulated using COMSOL. A tested frequency split as low as 0.56 Hz is achieved for CDRG, and the average relative frequency split is 79.7 ppm, which is approximately 7 times smaller than that of RDRG. Additionally, a temperature characteristics test demonstrates that the as-fabricated CDRG has excellent temperature stability, and the relative frequency split varied by 2.83 ppm in the temperature range from -20 to +80 °C. The proposed concept is verified by simulation and experiment results.

A novel cobweb-like disk resonator gyroscope (CDRG) with a very small frequency split between two degenerate modes has been designed and implemented. In comparison with the ring-like DRG (RDRG), the CDRG has fewer fabrication imperfections owing to its all-linear structure. In addition, the CDRG displays a superior nonlinear effect compared with the RDRG, and internal differential electrode excitation and detection were used to further reduce the nonlinear effect. The CDRGs and RDRGs were placed side by side on the same wafer, and the characteristics of these as-fabricated resonators were then tested. The results showed that the resonant frequencies and Q-factors of the CDRGs and RDRGs were approximately 18 kHz and nearly 100k, respectively. The smallest as-fabricated relative frequency split (29.9 ppm) of the CDRGs was about 10.8 times smaller than that (322.5 ppm) of an RDRG built side by side on the same wafer, which had the lowest relative frequency split among all current disk resonator gyros. Finally, the preliminary results for the performance of the CDRG and RDRG in the force-to-rebalance mode and mode matching are given. Under the same conditions, the maximum vibration displacement, scale factor, angular random walk, and bias instability of the CDRG were improved by 62.8%, 112%, 700% and 314%, respectively, compared with the RDRG.

The force-to-rebalance (FTR) closed-loop detection method is commonly used to expand the bandwidth (BW) for micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscopes with low-frequency split and high-quality factors. However, the relationship between the BW and output noise is often incompatible; thus, reducing the detection accuracy of the gyroscope. This paper presents an analysis of the BW and noise spectra under modulation-demodulation FTR gyroscopes. The expressions for the BW and the noise-equivalent rate (NER) spectrum are derived to explore the effects of the loop gain on the BW and NER. It is demonstrated that the gain of the amplifier circuit is maximally transferred to the vibration displacement signal conversion part, which can reduce the output noise without affecting the BW. The simulation and experimental results on the Cobweb-like disk resonator gyroscope show that the derived expressions of BW and NER are correct, and the noise optimization method is effective, which provides an idea for the realization of a high-precision MEMS gyroscope.

The quadrature coupling error is an important factor that affects the detection output of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscopes. In this study, two quadrature error control methods, quadrature force-to-rebalance control (Mode I) and quadrature stiffness control (Mode II) were analyzed. We obtained the main factors affecting the zero-rate output (ZRO) under force-to-rebalance (FTR) closed-loop detection. The analysis results showed that the circuit phase delay in Mode I caused the quadrature channel to leak into the in-phase channel. However, in Mode II, the quadrature coupling stiffness was corrected in real time, which effectively improved the stability of the ZRO. The changes in the vibration displacement and Q-factor were the main factors for the ZRO drift in Mode II. Therefore, we propose an online compensation method for ZRO drift based on multiparameter fusion. The experimental results on a cobweb-like disk resonator gyroscope (CDRG) with a 340 k Q-factor showed that the bias instability (BI) of Mode II was significantly better than that of Mode I. After online compensation, the BI reached 0.23°/h, and the bias repeatability reached 3.15°/h at room temperature.

The structural asymmetry of the MEMS rate-integrating gyro (RIG) mode produces a threshold and an angle-dependent bias (ADB) that cause gyroscopes operating in this mode to stop working at input rates below the threshold and degrade the linearity of the output angle. This defect in the RIG output angle is actually caused by a precession angular-rate bias that results from both damping asymmetry (anisodamping) and stiffness asymmetry (anisostiffness). This paper describes a novel compensation method based on Fourier series fitting combined with a multiple iteration technique. The proposed compensation method can significantly reduce both the input rate threshold and ADB. Simulations indicate that the threshold and ADB caused by anisodamping and anisostiffness can be reduced by three orders of magnitude. An experimental application of this method produced a MEMS RIG threshold as low as 0.05° per second, representing an improvement of two orders of magnitude and lower than has previously been reported.

In high-reliability applications, the health condition of the MEMS gyroscope needs to be known in real time to ensure that the system does not fail due to the wrong output signal. Because the MEMS gyroscope self-test based on the principle of electrostatic force cannot be performed during the working state. We propose that by monitoring the quadrature error signal of the MEMS gyroscope in real time, an online self-test of the MEMS gyroscope can be realized. The correlation between the gyroscope’s quadrature error amplitude signal and the gyroscope scale factor and bias was theoretically analyzed. Based on the sixteen-sided cobweb-like MEMS gyroscope, the real-time built-in self-test (BIST) method of the MEMS gyroscope based on the quadrature error signal was verified. By artificially setting the control signal of the gyroscope to zero, we imitated several scenarios where the gyroscope malfunctioned. Moreover, a mechanical impact table was used to impact the gyroscope. After a 6000 g shock, the gyroscope scale factor, bias, and quadrature error amplitude changed by −1.02%, −5.76%, and −3.74%, respectively, compared to before the impact. The gyroscope failed after a 10,000 g impact, and the quadrature error amplitude changed −99.82% compared to before the impact. The experimental results show that, when the amplitude of the quadrature error signal seriously deviates from the original value, it can be determined that the gyroscope output signal is invalid.