Experimental analysis of the dynamic north-finding method based on a fiber optic gyroscope

Area of Science:

• Geophysics
• Navigation Systems
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Accurate north-finding is crucial for various navigation and surveying applications.
• Traditional static north-finding methods can be susceptible to environmental disturbances.
• Fiber optic gyroscopes offer high sensitivity for measuring Earth's rotation rate.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate and compare static and dynamic north-finding methods.
• To evaluate the influence of servo motor feedback and turntable jitter on north-finding accuracy.
• To propose experimental implementations for both static and dynamic methods.

Main Methods:

• Measuring Earth's rotation rate projection using a fiber optic gyroscope.
• Implementing and comparing static and dynamic north-finding experimental setups.
• Analyzing the impact of servo motor jitters and varying seeking times (120s, 360s).

Main Results:

• The dynamic north-finding method reduced bias error by up to 81.3% and instability by 82.5% compared to the static method.
• These improvements were observed under turntable jittering effects, particularly at shorter seeking times (120s).
• The dynamic method showed significant error and instability reduction across different seeking times.

Conclusions:

• The dynamic north-finding method is demonstrably more accurate than the static method.
• The dynamic method exhibits superior robustness against turntable jittering effects.
• This research validates the advantages of dynamic approaches for precise north determination.