With the rapid development of optical gyroscope technology and manufacturing processes, traditional mechanical gyroscope has been superseded in most fields, and the north seeker with mechanical gyroscope as its core also faces upgrading. If only to replace the inertial device without changing the orientation principle and the development of the north seeker will face a lot of problems that can’t be solved, such as in the low temperature, sloshing and other environments, the accuracy is greatly reduced, the field operation support conditions are demanding. To address this issue, a high-precision north seeker based on rotationally modulated fiber optic INS (inertial navigation system) was proposed. The principle of this north seeker does not merely rely on the projection of the Earth’s rotation in the fiber optic gyroscope for orientation. Instead, it employs fiber optic INS to establish state and measurement equations during the north-seeking process, utilizing optimal estimation methods to obtain the system’s azimuth information. To minimize north-seeking errors, the internal platform of the fiber optic INS was designed to rotate stably around the zenith axis using a reliable rotation mechanism and high-precision locking devices. This approach effectively modulates the equivalent eastward gyroscope drift, which has the most significant impact on north-seeking accuracy, to zero during the rotation period. Additionally, a high-precision north-seeking algorithm was employed to mitigate error factors encountered during the rotation process, thereby enhancing the overall accuracy of the system. In physical tests, the orientation accuracy of the proposed north-seeker is measured to be 3.7″, 6.1″, and 4.2″ under laboratory conditions, high and low temperature environments, and vehicle idle vibration conditions, respectively. These results demonstrate that the instrument possesses high precision and strong environmental adaptability, making it a viable alternative to foreign high-precision north-seeking devices.
JIA Lin, WANG Xiao-xu, LIU Sheng-pan.
High-precision North Seeker Based on Rotary Modulated Fiber Optic INS[J].
Science Technology and Engineering, 2026, 26(10): 4424-4432 DOI:10.12404/j.issn.1671-1815.2504647
快速、自主、高精度的定向技术一直在地下资源开采、公路桥梁修建、隧道贯通、地铁建设等民用领域以及军事测绘、制导武器瞄准等军用领域发挥着不可替代的作用,目前解决该问题的主要手段就是利用惯性角速度传感器-陀螺能够测量出地球自转角速度在其敏感轴投影的原理进行定向,主要设备有美国西格勒公司的MARCS陀螺经纬仪,德国DMT公司的GYROMAT系列陀螺寻北仪,寻北精度都优于5″(标准差),目前是国际上精度最高的产品,但是在晃动、低温等环境下精度会大幅下降,同时由于该项技术在军事上过于敏感,这些产品一直对我国实行技术封锁。针对此境况,中国开始了独立研发高精度寻北装置的探索之路,以解放军1001工厂研制的基于悬挂带式机械陀螺的Y/JTG-1型陀螺全站仪、长安大学惯性技术与智能测量工程研究中心研制的基于磁悬浮支承陀螺的磁悬浮陀螺全站仪GAT-3等高精度定向设备已经在中国大型项目工程如港珠澳大桥沉管隧道、青藏铁路西格二线关角隧道、南水北调穿黄隧道、各城市地铁等被广泛成功应用[1-2]。除传统领域之外,高精度寻北装置也在其他新兴领域中扮演着其不可或缺的角色。文献[3]通过倾角传感器和寻北仪组合测量出采煤机的姿态,为建立系统的三维模型奠定了基础;文献[4]利用寻北仪和全站仪精确测量采煤机的大地坐标,为煤矿透明化智能综采工作面自适应割煤的关键技术;文献[5]在为掘进机配备高精度惯导系统的同时,用寻北仪和全站仪使煤矿井下巷道掘进无人化;文献[6]使用寻北仪与靶标构成外部测姿系统,为同步定位与建图(simultaneous localization and mapping,SLAM)系统在严苛条件下提供地理真实姿态信息作为姿态约束,有效降低了SLAM系统的累积误差,对机器人定位和建图具有重要意义。
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