What is the purpose of a gyroscope on a boat and how does it work?
In: Engineering
It depends. A gyroscope is a device that can detect turning. In the past, we used spinning mass gyros which is exactly what it sounds like. You had a metal wheel that spun at extremely high speeds. When the boat turns, pitches, or rolls, a force is exerted perpendicular to the axis the gyro is spinning on. A scale measures the force and a computer turns that measurement into a rate of turn.
With this information, you can plug it into a navigation computer to determine your location without GPS, or you can use it in a stabilization system where you can reduce the effects of the waves on the boat.
Modern systems no longer use spinning mass gyros, they either use MEMS, the same type of accelerometers your phone uses to determine it’s orientation, or fiber optic/ring laser gyros.
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