GNC 2008

7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
REGYS 20: A promising HRG-based IMU for space application
L.Rosellini, JM Caron
SAGEM Defense and Security, Paris, France
lionel.rosellini@sagem.com

INTRODUCTION

SAGEM DS is Europes leading manufacturer of inertial navigation and provider of space solutions for 30 years. In
2005 at GNC meeting, SAGEM DS announced the release of a new IMU for space application: REGYS 20, which is
based on Hemispherical Resonator Gyro (HRG) technology.

HRG (Fig. 1) is a vibrating mechanical gyro that has a very high Q factor (> 10 000 000) compared with other classical
vibrating gyro (~15 000). As a consequence, the forces necessary to sustain the amplitude of vibration are very low and
the generated drift is then low.


Fig. 1 Hemispherical-Resonator Gyro (HRG)


The philosophy of REGYS 20 development is to provide a medium performance class IMU using a reliable sensor
currently mass produced by SAGEM DS for military systems. A specific hardened electronics is developed by
SYDERAL, a Switzerland company. Electronics has to be as cheap as possible, matching with the required
performances, in order to be able to provide a competitive IMU system. A specific ASIC is currently developed by
ATMEL.

In this paper, main principles of HRG technology are recalled along with some analysis of the main performance drivers
such as phase shifts and gain errors.

The development of REGYS 20 in the frame of Alphabus program is updated.

Finally, we present the performance measurement obtained during integration phase with engineering models,
particularly bias stability, scale factor stability, angular noise and angular random walk.



Fig. 2 Analog processing function board (Engineering Model)



GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
SAGEM DS AND SPACE RATE GYROS

Member of SAFRAN Group, SAGEM Defense & Security activities are centered on three main fields: Optronics
System & Optics, Security Systems & Multibiometrics and Avionics Systems & Navigation. SAGEM DS develops and
manufactures gyroscopes and accelerometers, covering a comprehensive performance range. European n1 and n3
worldwide in inertial and navigation systems, SAGEM DS is provider of space solutions for 30 years such as REGYS
3S (ODIN,STENTOR,XMM, INTEGRAL, PROTEUS ) and REGYS 10 (SPOT 4/5, HELIOS 1A/1B/2B, ENVISAT,
METOP 1/2/3 ).
The development of REGYS20, a new space rate gyro based on the HRG technology, is ongoing. For this development,
SAGEM DS benefits from the expertise of SAGEM VLN (formerly Alcatel Space Electronics) and SYDERAL in space
processing electronics and from ATMEL in ASIC development.

HRG: THE BEST SUITED TECHNOLOGY FOR SPACE

For space gyros, three main specific concerns have to be taken into account :
Radiation hardening,
Low noise
Reliability

The two first ones leads to choose mechanical gyros, such as floated gyro or dry tuned gyros (REGYS 3S or REGYS
10), which are both currently in many equipments in space. Nowadays, REGYS 20 can succeed relatively to these three
criteria at affordable price.

Indeed, HRG technology is based on a mechanical gyro that is naturally hardened mainly because its composed of
fused silica which is an amorphous material.
Moreover, HRG is a solid state gyro composed with a low number of parts (less than 5) whereas laser & fiber optics
gyro are composed of more than 30 parts. Fig. 3 shows the number of parts per axis as a function of gyro technology.
The number of parts of a gyro has been a key parameter in gyro history all over the last century. As it decreased,
reliability and production cost have continuously been improved with each new technology. From the floated gyro in
the 1940s to the vibrating gyro, the number of parts per axis decreased as reliability has increased. For example,
resonator MTBF is higher than 10
6
hours. For space application, this figure become even twice because the leakage,
which is the main mode of failure, disappears.

Moreover, a really high Q factor (more than 10
7
) provides to HRG its low random walk (less than 5.10
-3
/h have been
measured on Engineering models).

Floated Gyro
Tuned Gyro
Gyro Family
0
50
100
150
200
Floated
Gyro
Tuned
Gyro
Laser
Gyro
F.O.
Gyro.
Vibrating
Gyro
T
o
t
a
l

p
a
r
t
s

p
e
r

a
x
i
s
Gyro Family
0
50
100
150
200
Floated
Gyro
Tuned
Gyro
Laser
Gyro
F.O.
Gyro.
Vibrating
Gyro
T
o
t
a
l

p
a
r
t
s

p
e
r

a
x
i
s
Vibrating gyro
Laser Gyro
Fiber Optic
Gyro

Fig. 3 Evolution of gyro technology

GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Another impact of Q factor is the fact that for a given inertial performance, the required performance of analogous
electronics is reduced. With 10
7
Q factor, only a medium class performance analogous electronics (10
-3
) is necessary to
reach 5.10
-3
/h ARW performance. This is particularly interesting for space application because the cost of analogous
electronics is a major part of the cost of the equipment.

As a consequence, HRG technology is then the best suited technology for space application and it is interesting to
notice that the US reference for space gyro (Northrop SIRU) uses HRG gyroscopes

HRG PRINCIPLES

In 1851, Lon FOUCAULT measure earths rotation with his pendulum experiment in Panthon (Paris). He measured
11 /h which is already a quite precise measurement (1/h class performance). In 1852, on the basis of this experiment,
he invented the first spinning gyroscope in which the inertia of the rotors axis of rotation is substituted for that of the
plane of vibration.
A century later, industry had acquired a wealth of experience with spinning gyroscopes but was looking for simpler
solutions. Eventually, it created Hemispherical Resonant Gyroscope. The first HRG was developed in the United States
(work started at the end of the 60s first patented in 1979) by David Lynch from the Delco company, which
demonstrated the high performance potential of the technology, then starting in the 80s, by several bodies in the
military-industrial complex of the ex-USSR.

HRG technology is based on a hemispherical resonator that is low damped. It has two orthogonal modes of vibration
that are coupled by Coriolis forces. The basic equation of the system is the following:

+ = + +
+ = + +
m
f
x y y y
m
f
y x x x
y
y y y
x
x x x
& & & &
& & & &


2 2
2 2
2
2
(1)
In this equation, x and y stands for the position of the vibration in each of the two modal direction,
x

and
y

are the
pulsation of each mode,
x

and
y

are the damping of each mode,

x
f
and
y
f
are the forces applied to each mode,
m
is
the modal mass,

is the rotation rate and

is a coefficient called Bryan coefficient.

The solution of such a system is an ellipse shown in Fig 4 of amplitude a, angle

, phase

and quadrature b.
b

x
y
a

Fig. 4 Solution of Equation 1(HRG)

In Equation (1), we can see that coriolis forces are homogeneous to a damping force making the angle of the vibration
to rotate. This is the physical phenomenon that allow to measure rotational rates.


GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland

REGYS 20 CHALLENGE

In order to reach high performance with HRG vibrating gyro, the main challenge is to sustain the amplitude and nullify
the quadrature of vibration without creating drift.

The undesirable generated drift depends on two characteristics:
The modulus of the forces needed to maintain the vibration and nullify the quadrature which are defined by the
physical characteristics of the resonator (damping and anisofrequency) and directly linked with the precision of
manufacturing process.
The errors generated by electronics used to estimate the position of vibration and to apply the forces to the
resonator (mainly gain and phase shifts).

As a consequence, a key parameter to minimize the forces that are applied to the gyro is the Q factor.The performance
of the gyro is then determined by the ratio Q/electronics stability: the higher the ratio, the better the gyro
The Q factor of all vibrating gyros, except HRG, is between 10 000 and 50 000, mainly 15 000. The Q factor of HRG is
greater than 10 000 000 !

Another key parameter is analogous electronics stability. For non hardened applications, 10
-3
class is usual, 10
-4
class is
good performance and 10
-5
is high performance. Using high performance electronics, the potential of HRG performance
is then 0,01/h class while other vibrating gyros using usual to good electronics will have a potential of 30 500 /h
class.

For space application, the main cost of equipment is generally linked with hardened electronics and of course, the more
sophisticated the electronics, the higher the cost.

As performance of the gyro is determined by the product: mechanical performance x electronics performance, it
becomes obvious that the best solution to reduce the price of a space gyro is to use a very high Q factor resonator in
order to minimize the required electronics performance: The best gyro for space application would be a high Q factor
HRG. Another advantage is that high Q factor gives to HRG its low random walk which allows reaching very easily the
required noise performance.

Moreover, because of the low number of parts, the naturally very high reliability of HRG technology (resonator MTBF
> 10
6
hours) is another non negligible advantage of HRG technology for space application.

RATE MODE OR WHOLE ANGLE MODE?

Electrostatic detection and motorization allow the system to get an estimate of the parameters of the ellipse (Fig 4) and
send forces that can influence every of those parameters.
Three controls are available to control the ellipse:
The amplitude control (Ca) that fight against damping to maintain the amplitude
The quadrature control (Cq) that fight against anisofrequency
The precession control (Cp) that allows to change the position of the vibration

Two modes of control can be chosen for controlled loop system, which are presented in Fig 5: rate mode or whole angle
mode.

R
A
T
E

M
O
D
E
W
H
O
L
E

A
N
G
L
E

M
O
D
E
X
Resonator

Vibration
.
Y
Position controled vibration
X
X
Resonator

Vibration
.
Y
Position controled vibration
X
Resonator
Dtection
& vibration
control

Y
X
V
ib
r
a
tio
n

Position free vibration

Resonator
Dtection
& vibration
control

Y
X
V
ib
r
a
tio
n

Position free vibration

Fig5. Rate mode and Whole angle mode
GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
In rate mode, the controlled loop system objectives are to maintain the amplitude constant, nullify the quadrature of the
vibration and maintain the angle of the vibration constant with respect to the case. Inertial data are contained in the
precession control which is fighting against coriolis forces.

In whole angle mode, the controlled loop system objectives are to maintain the amplitude constant nullify the
quadrature of the vibration, the angle of the vibration is free to move, due to coriolis forces. Inertial data is contained in
the angle of vibration which is moving due to coriolis forces.

Its clearly possible to match the performance with both modes. The choice of the mode of control is then driven by the
comparison of the cost of the electronics needed for each mode of control, particularly the cost of the analog to digital
converters. There are two ADCs per axis in the HRG control loop, one is coding the signal x (see Eq.1) and the other is
coding the signal y.
For REGYS 20 noise performance objective, whole angle mode would require 15 bits analog to digital converters and
rate mode only nee 10 bits. Even if whole angle mode is better relatively to scale factor stability, it is possible to reach
1000 ppm scale factor stability with rate mode.

Rate mode is then adapted to space application because it allows to use simpler analogous electronics and as a
consequence to decrease its costs.

REGYS 20 UNIT DESCRIPTION

As showed in Fig 5, REGYS 20 is composed of:
An equipped core with :
o three single axis HRG sensors,
o their proximity electronics,
Three electronic cards:
o Analog processing card(ANB)
o Digital processing card (CMB)
o Power supply card (PWB)
An optical reference to provide solution for axis calibration at customer level


91.5 mm
212 mm
240 mm
Rigid
base plate
CMB board
PWB board
ANB board
Top covers
EMI Shielding
Equipped
HRG core
Optical
reference
Core cavity
frame

Fig. 5 REGYS 20 Unit description
GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland

CONTROLLED LOOP ARCHITECTURE


Fig. 6 REGYS 20 Architecture

Fig 6 shows the general HRG controlled loop architecture of REGYS 20. The HRG core delivers two channel of
detection and receives three channels of motorization. Analog processing functions are composed of detection functions
(anti-aliasing filters zoom ), motorization function (analog filters...) and a high voltage generator.
The digital/analog interface is composed of 3 Digital to analog converters (DAC) and 2 analog to digital converter
(ADC) for each axis.
Digital processing, included in an integrated ASIC, is divided into a core control digital processing and some interface
processing that allow to provide inertial data to MIL-STD-1553 bus or USL RS-422 interface.

PERFORMANCES

Main performances are detailed in Table 1.

Min Typ. Max Unit
Bias stability over 1 hour 1 /h
stability over 1 year 3 /h
repetability ON/OFF 0,5 /h
Noise Random walk [3.10
-4
- 0.5 Hz ] 0.005 0,026 /sqrt(h)
Readout noise [0.5 - 5 Hz] 5 arc sec
angular resolution 0,5 arc sec
Scale factor stability over 1 hour 3000 ppm
stability over 4 months 4500 ppm
Misalignment EOL 0,1
BOL 0,05
Dynamic features output frequency 10 Hz
band pass (3dB) 1 Hz
Life time in orbit 15 years
on ground 5 years
ON/OFF cycles 3000
Flight domain full performance +/- 1.9 /s
coarse performance +/-1.9 +/- 15 /s
correct sign +/- 15 /s
Thermal domain -30 65 C
Thermal variations 15 C/h
Supported protocol MIL-STD-1553
USL - RS422

Table 1 REGYS 20 REGYS 20 main performances
GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland


PERFORMANCES CHARACTERIZATION

REGYS 20 development is still ongoing in the frame of alphabus program. An up-to-date performance characterization
is presented in this paper.

An internal breadboard (IBB) with almost representative analogous electronics (not hardened) has been used to develop
a specific in-factory calibration for gyro and electronics. Main performances under thermal environment from 10C to
45C have been measured with this internal breadboard and are presented in this section.

At this stage of the development, an engineering model, with definitive analogous electronics (hardened) and software
loaded in a FPGA (instead of integrated ASIC for flight models) is being integrated at SAGEM DS.A first performance
characterization at ambient temperature is also presented in this section.

Performances under thermal environment

The measurements have been realized during 33 hours. Three thermal cycles have been applied to the equipment, from
10 C to 45 C. The thermal evolution rate is 6C per hour. Fig 7 presents a description of thermal cycles:
0 50 100 150 200 250
0
20
40
60
Nd'essai
Number of measurement
Temprature
estimate
[C]
0 50 100 150 200 250
0
20
40
60
Nd'essai
Number of measurement
Temprature
estimate
[C]

Fig 7. Thermal conditions of measurement

Long term bias stability (33 hours)

After thermal modelization, bias residuals is presented in Fig 8, the measurement is 0.5/h class. We can notice that
there is an evolution of 0.2/h during the first hours induced by the warm up of the system. After this warm up period,
bias evolution is better.


Bias
(/h)
Temperature (C)
Bias
(/h)
Temperature (C)

Fig 8.Bias stability under thermal environment

GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Scale factor stability
During the same measurement as bias stability, scale factor stability is 400 ppm class. In this measurement,
some scale factor measurement reach 900 ppm error. It is due to a problem with thermal regulation of temperature
chamber.
Scale factor
error (ppm)
Temperature (C)
Scale factor
error (ppm)
Temperature (C)

Fig9. Scale factor stability under thermal environment


Performances at ambient temperature

Performances at ambient temperature that are presented in this section have been measured with an engineering model
(EM) delivered by SYDERAL, with representative analogous electronics. However, the software is in a FPGA instead
of ASIC in the flight models.

We focus on the main performance drivers at AOCS level which are noise, bias, scale factor and dynamic transfer
function.
Scale factor and bias stability


Fig 9. Engineering model mounted on a rotating table

The measurement presented in Fig 10 is a scale factor and bias stability characterisation realized at stabilized
temperature during 63 hours. Scale factor and bias are measured applying rotations +1.5/s, 0/s and -1.5/s to the
equipment.

In this trial, we observe 600 ppm of scale factor variation in 63 hours. The main part (almost 500ppm) of this variation
is observed during the first 15 hours and is due to the warm up of the equipment and its thermal stabilization. Indeed,
during this trial, a variation of 3C of the temperature of the electronics have been observed
GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland

Bias stability is measured with no rotation applied to the equipment. As a consequence, only earth rotation is applied
(earth rotation has been removed in the result presented in Fig 10).
A 15 second acquisition is enough to get better than 0.1 /hour precision. During 63 hours, at stabilized temperature,
measured bias stability is +/- 0.4 /h.
Time (hour)
Time (hour)
Bais
stability
(/h)
Scale factor
stability
(SU)
Time (hour)
Time (hour)
Bais
stability
(/h)
Scale factor
stability
(SU)

Fig 10. Scale factor and bias stability


Bandpass andTransfer function

The sampling frequency of inertial data delivered by REGYS 20 is 10 Hz. In order to avoid aliasing problems, the
bandpass of the system has to be around 1 Hz. Fig 11 shows a transfer function measurement realized on an engineering
model with actual analogous electronics. The transfer function between rotation rate and rate estimation is almost like
a first order low-pass filter with 1.5 Hz bandpass.

Gain
[dB ]
Phase
[rad]
Frequency [Hz]
Frequency [Hz]
Gain
[dB ]
Phase
[rad]
Frequency [Hz]
Frequency [Hz]

Fig 11. Measured transfer function


Noise performance

An easy way to characterize noise performance is to measure Allan variance of the signal. For a signal y
t,
Allan
variances is defined:
( )
( ) ( ) ( )

=
+

=
1
1
2
1
1
1
) (
n
i
i i
y y
n

where y
i
is the mean of the signal over time .
GNC 2008
7
th
International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems
2-5 June 2008, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Basically, Allan variance measures the behaviour of the mean of the signal when increasing the integration time.
Applied to inertial sensors, this measurement make possible to estimate the noise performance separating short term and
long term noise.
For short term noises, white noise in angle is a -1 slope, angular random walk is a -0.5 slope and bias stability is an
horizontal line

HRG technology is well known for its low noise. Table 1 and Fig 12 show that, compared with a classic need in ADCS
application REGYS 20 is very promising concerning noise performance. This measurement has been done at 25C
during 2 hours with a signal sampling frequency of 2.4 kHz. This measurement time is not enough to measure long term
noise such as acceleration white noise and so on.

The specification is the following:

REGYS 20 datasheet Measurement
Rate Readout noise 0.0014 3.2.10
-6

Angular random walk 26.10
-3
/ h 3.10
-3
/ h
Bias instability 3.10
-2
/h
Table 1 : Noise characterization
-1
/h
1
0,1
Time (s)
0,01 0,1 1 10 100
Specification
-1
/h
1
0,1
Time (s)
0,01 0,1 1 10 100
-1
/h
1
0,1
Time (s)
0,01 0,1 1 10 100
Specification

Fig 12. Noise measurement at stabilized temperature (Allan variance)



CONCLUSION


REGYS 20 is an ITAR free HRG IMU for space application, using a mass produced already used for military
application. HRG is the best suited technology for space thanks to its natural hardening, high reliability and low random
walk. Moreover, it enables to minimize the required performance of analogous electronics and then reducing its cost.
Protoflight models are expected for delivery in 2009.