Fiber Optic Gyro Development at Honeywell

Sanders, Glen A., Honeywell Technology; Sanders, Steven J., Honeywell International Inc.; Strandjord, Lee K.; Qiu, Tiequn, Honeywell Technology; Wu, Jianfeng, Honeywell Technology; Smiciklas, Marc, Honeywell International Inc.; Mead, Derek; Mosor, Sorin; Arrizon, Alejo, Honeywell International Inc.; Ho, Waymon, Honeywell Technology; Salit, Mary, Honeywell Aerospace; Krueger, Neil, Honeywell Aerospace; Laskoskie, Clarence L., Honeywell Technology; Narayanan, Chellappan, Honeywell Technology; Williams, Wes, Honeywell International Inc.

doi:10.1117/3.2522293.ch4

Book: Design and Development of Fiber Optic Gyroscopes

Editor(s): Eric Udd; Michel J. F. Digonnet

Author(s): Glen Sanders, Steven Sanders, Lee Strandjord, Tiequn Qiu, Jianfeng Wu, Marc Smiciklas, Derek Mead, Sorin Mosor, Alejo Arrizon, Waymon Ho, Mary Salit, Neil Krueger, Clarence Laskoskie, Chellappan Narayanan, Wes Williams

Published: 2019

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2522293.ch4

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

Guidance and navigation (G&N) represents one of the core business elements within Honeywell Aerospace. Figure 4.1(a) shows the breadth of platforms on which Honeywell G&N systems are deployed for a multitude of land, sea, air, and space applications. Inertial sensors are necessarily at the heart of these G&N systems. For this reason, Honeywell has been developing, designing, manufacturing, and selling gyroscopes for nearly five decades. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), ring laser gyros (RLGs), and fiber optic gyros (FOGs) all form key pieces of Honeywell’s inertial sensor portfolio. Figure 4.1(b) shows the mapping of these various gyro technologies to applications according to their performance classes: MEMS gyros primarily target the tactical market needs, whereas RLGs satisfy a wide range of highvolume applications, spanning the spectrum from high-end tactical through navigation-grade performance. As can be seen in the figure, Honeywell FOGs service the niche of the most-demanding long-life applications in space, submarine, and strategic applications. Although this high-performance market segment is much lower in volume than mainstream navigation applications, the rigorous performance and life requirements (nav-plus through strategic grade) maintain an active demand for IFOG products.