| Axisymmetric microelectromechanical (MEM) vibratory rate gyroscopes are designed so that the two Coriolis-coupled modes exploited for rate sensing possess equal modal frequencies and so that the central post which attaches the resonator to the sensor case is a nodal point of the these two modes. The former quality maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio of the sensor, while the latter quality eliminates any coupling of linear acceleration to the modes of interest, which, if present, creates spurious rate signals in response to linear vibration of the sensor case. When the gyro resonators are fabricated, however, small mass and stiffness asymmetries cause the frequencies of the two modes to deviate from each other and couple these modes to linear acceleration. In a resonator post-fabrication step, these effects can be reduced by altering the mass distribution of the resonator. In this dissertation, a scale model of the axisymmetric resonator of the Disk Resonator Gyroscope (DRG) is used to develop and test methods that successfully reduce frequency detuning (Part I) and linear acceleration coupling (Part II) through guided mass perturbations. |
