Author Description

There has been a growing need in society today for objects that humans use, both militarily and commercially, to be durable, faster, and efficient. From tanks and automobiles to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and robots, the need for improved performance is ubiquitous. Electronic sensors are no exception. In recent years, there has been a substantial amount of time and money invested in improving the performance and operability of position, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems. These systems need to be lighter, cheaper, and more power efficient to match the growing global dependence on them. In the defense sector, such devices should be able to match the various constraints and performance criteria of air and land robots, munitions, and constrained vehicle platforms. Currently, the standard navigation system that the US military uses is GPS. However, one of the drawbacks of GPS is its inherent weak signal and vulnerability to jamming by natural and unnatural means. This sole dependence on GPS technology may prove to be catastrophic if the signal is lost or broken. As such, development of microelectromechanical system(MEMS) inertial sensors that can provide navigation-grade performance can alleviate the military's reliance on a single PNT. This report focuses primarily on improving the performance of one PNT system, a resonant quadruple-mass gyroscope (QMG), which has been manufactured in-house by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, Maryland.