KVH Industries, a company that provides manufacturing solutions for global television, high speed Internet and voice services through satellites to mobile users in air, land or sea, has launched the DSP-1750 fiber optic gyro (FOG).
The device is the smallest high performance FOG and is also the first device to utilize KVH’s new 170 micron E.Core ThinFiber Technology. The product was launched at the 2011 Joint Navigation Conference held in Colorado Springs Co. This ultra compact commercial FOG gives extraordinary performance levels and also includes input rates, which are five times faster than the original DSP-1500 FOG. It also offers angle random walk five times more than the KVH DSP-3000 series and has a bias stability, which is eight times better when compared to the DSP-3000 series. This kind of performance is normally seen only in much bigger and highly expensive ring laser gyros and closed loop fiber optic gyros.
According to Jay Napoli, who is the Vice President of FOG/OEM Sales in KVH, the DSP-1750 was invented mainly because of the need to develop a gyro, which is small and accurate. With a thinner optical fiber, enhanced digital signal processing capabilities and new manufacturing techniques, the company has set a higher standard in gyro performance and size. This was achieved by using their ability to control the complete product design, from developing the new E Core ThinFiber to designing newer methods of winding the fiber and building the gyro components into a sensor pack, the size of a wristwatch’s diameter. This product would also be the initiator of a new line of compact inertial navigation and measurement systems.
Its single and dual-axis configuration along with the optional magnetic shielding gives maximum versatility to the system integrators. The KVH’s FOGs are not only rugged and lightweight, but also offer angular rotation data without the help of any moving parts. This would increase the life span of the device considerably and also makes it resistant to vibration to a great extent.