Bae Systems, Inc.

Atlantic Inertial Systems, Inc.

Rebecka Eley

Martyn John Hucker

Christopher Paul Fell

Stewart McWilliam

Colin H J Fox

Ian Michael Sturland

Christopher Fell

Tracey Hawke

Mark Venables

Stewart Mcwilliam

A vibratory ring structure is described which comprises a ring body and at least one ring electrode secured thereto, the or each ring electrode extending over a first angular extent and: being attached to the ring body over second angular extent, wherein the first angular extent is greater than the second angular extent.

Vibratory ring structure

A method of reactive ion etching a substrateto form at least a first and a second etched feature () is disclosed. The first etched feature () has a greater aspect ratio (depth:width) than the second etched feature (). In a first etching stage the substrate () is etched so as to etch only said first feature () to a predetermined depth. Thereafter in a second etching stage, the substrate () is etched so as to etch both said first and said second features () to a respective depth. A mask () may be applied to define apertures corresponding in shape to the features (). The region of the substrate () in which the second etched feature () is to be produced is selectively masked with a second maskant () during the first etching stage, The second maskant () is then removed prior to the second etching stage.

Reactive ion etching

A two axis gyroscope including a substantially planar vibratory resonator () having a substantially ring or hoop-like structure with inner and other peripheries extending around a common axis, carrier mode drive () for causing the resonator () to vibrate in a cosn&#x3b8; vibration mode, carrier mode pick-off () for sensing movement of the resonator () in response to the carrier mode drive (), X-axis response mode pick-off () for detecting movement of the resonator in response to rotation about the X-axis, X-axis response mode drive () for nulling said motion, y-axis response mode pick-off () for detecting movement of the resonator in response to rotation about the y-axis, y-axis response mode drive () for nulling said motion, and a support () for flexibly supporting the resonator () and for allowing the resonator to vibrate relative to the support () in response to the carrier mode drive () and to applied rotation, wherein the support () comprises only L legs, where, when L is even:=2, andwhere, when L is odd:where K is an integer, L&#x3e;2 and N is the carrier mode order.

Vibratory gyroscopic rate sensor

A three axis rate sensor includes a substantially planar vibratory resonator having a substantially ring or hoop-like structure with inner and outer peripheries extending around a common axis, drive means for causing the resonator to vibrate in a Cos 2&#x3b8; vibration mode, carrier mode pick-off means for sensing movement of the resonator in response to the applied drive z-axis response mode, pick-off means for detecting movement of the resonator in response to rotation about the z-axis, z-axis response mode drive means for nulling said motion, x-axis response mode pick-off mean for detecting movement of the resonator in response to rotation about the x-axis, x-axis response mode drive means for nulling said motion, y-axis response mode pick-off mean for detecting movement of the resonator in response to rotation about the y-axis, y-axis response mode drive means for nulling said motion, and support means for flexibly supporting the resonator and for allowing the resonator to vibrate relative to the support means in response to the drive means and the applied rotation wherein the support means comprises only L support beams, where L&#x2260;2, and K=0, 1, 2 or 3. For example there may be three, five, six or seven support beams.

A three axis sensor including a substantially planar vibrator resonator or having a substantially ring or hoop like structure with inner and outer peripheries e tending around a common axis, drive means for causing the resonator to vibrate in an in lane cos 2&#x3b8; vibration mode, carrier mode pick-off means for sensing movement of the resonator in response to said drive means, pick-off means for sensing in plane sin 2&#x3b8; resonator motion induced by rotation about the z-axis, drive means for nulling said motion, pick-off means for sensing out of plane sin 3&#x3b8; resonator motion induced by rotation about the x-axis, drive means for nulling said motion, pick-off means for sensing out of plane cos 3&#x3b8; resonator motion induced by rotation about the y-axis, drive means for nulling said motion, and support means for flexibly supporting the resonator and for allowing the resonator to vibrate relative to the support means in response to the drive means and to applied rotations, wherein the support means comprises only L support beams, where L&#x2260;2&#xd7;3and J=0, 1 or 2 and K=0 or 1 with L&#x3c;24.

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Plymouth, United Kingdom

Rebecka Eley