The Difference between ring laser gyro and fiber optic gyro
It is reported that the ring laser gyro is a technology started from the 1960s, its main advantage is the high accuracy, low prices than the same precision mechanical gyroscopes. Cost of fiber optic gyro in the 1970s is less than the ring laser gyro,however because of limitation on its design, fiber optic gyro is not as good as the ring laser gyro in the fields of high precision. Modern MEMS gyroscope is very low in price, accuracy meets the general needs in some fields, and it can be integrated onto a microchip, so it has become the main products in the current civilian areas.
But in the military field, laser and fiber optic gyro are still the mainstream products, especially in the guidance, aviation, marine navigation, aerospace and other fields in the long-range missile laser gyroscope application . This is mainly due to the precision of MEMS gyroscopes do not achieve the level of laser gyro, including satellite-guided bombs, short-range ballistic missiles and other weapons can be used MEMS gyroscope guidance, since its positioning must be modified by satellite, and accumulation of error of long-range weapons is too huge, so it is difficult to use a MEMS gyroscope. Especially in submarines, high-precision laser gyroscopes are very necessary and significant, submarine stays underwater long time,who is unable to correct the accumulated error of inertial navigation system via GPS, inertial measurement device which must have extremely high accuracy to meet the requirements .
