The potential promise of ring laser gyro technology for low cost strapdown inertial rate sensing has attracted very significant research and development investments. The results of these investments are now becoming available in a wide range of gyro products showing applicability to many sensing requirements. The Rockwell program in the ring laser gyro technology has been directed toward understanding of the basic limitations on sensor performance, particularly under severe environments, and development of a family of sensors for applications ranging from tactical missile guidance to inertial navigation systems and re-entry vehicle guidance. This paper described the progress toward these objectives and identifies the significant limitations in performance for the current sensor candidates.

Date Published: 15 December 1978
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 0157, Laser Inertial Rotation Sensors, (15 December 1978); doi: 10.1117/12.965464

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0157:
Laser Inertial Rotation Sensors
Shaoul Ezekiel; G. E. Knausenberger, Editor(s)