UCLA

Electrostatic tuning of the resonant modes in microelectromechanical vibratory gyroscopes is often suggested as a means for compensating manufacturing aberrations that produce detuned resonances. In high performance sensors, however, this approach places very stringent requirements on the stability of the bias voltages used for tuning. Furthermore, the bias voltage stability must be maintained over the operating environment, especially with regard to temperature variations. An alternative solution to this problem is to use mass perturbations of the sensor's resonant structure for resonant mode tuning. This paper presents a new mass perturbation technique that only relies on the sensor's integrated actuators and pick-offs to guide the mass perturbation process. The algorithm is amenable to automation and eliminates the requirement that the modal nodes of the resonator be identified by direct measurement. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.