Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S67951/01
Title:	The Application of Parametric Excitation as a Drive Mechanism for a Vibrating Ring Gyroscope
Principal Investigator:	Gallacher, Dr BJ
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	QinetiQ
Department:	Mechanical and Systems Engineering
Organisation:	Newcastle University
Scheme:	First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC
Starts:	14 September 2004	Ends:	13 January 2008	Value (£):	123,536
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Microsystems Optical Devices & Subsystems
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Aerospace, Defence and Marine Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
This project is concerned with applying parametric excitation to a vibrating ring gyroscope. The purpose is to reduce the contamination of the sense signal from the drive signal resulting from electrical feedthrough between the drive and sense electrodes. The electrical feedthrough is due to parasitic capacitance and is associated with electrostatic, piezoelectric and electromagnetic actuation/sensing methods commonly employed in ring gyroscope designs. Also, the possibility of active control of the bandwidths of the gyroscope through using parametric excitation will be investigated. This may be used to narrow the bandwidth of the drive mode whilst maintaining the bandwidth of the sense mode, thus permitting reduced driving amplitudes and hence lower amounts of contamination. The research will commence with the development of an analytical model that will be used to assess the applicability of parametric resonances. An existing multi-axis ring gyroscope design will be used as a vehicle for demonstrating parametric excitation practically. The fabrication process uses silicon and Pyrex wafers and will utilise the fabrication facilities (DRIE, lithography, bonding etc ) at the Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Newcastle University. The electrical and mechanical characteristics of the device will be measured, compared with predictions and used to evaluate the parametric excitation scheme employed. I
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ncl.ac.uk