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The patterns of all three rings are then numerically integrated in order to determine the turning rate of the craft in three dimensions. As the vehicle executes a turning or pitching motion, interference patterns created in the corresponding rings of the gyroscope are measured by photoelectric cells. In reality, the “rings” are usually triangles, squares, or rectangles filled with inert gases through which the beams are reflected by mirrors. In the ring laser gyroscope, laser beams are split and then directed on opposite paths through three mutually perpendicular hollow rings attached to a vehicle. Gyroscopes utilizing the Sagnac effect began to appear in the 1960s, following the invention of the laser and the development of fibre optics. As a result, a “fringe interference” pattern (alternate bands of light and dark) was detected that depended on the precise rate of rotation of the turntable. Although both beams traveled within a closed loop, the beam traveling in the direction of rotation of the platform returned to the point of origin slightly after the beam traveling opposite to the rotation. In Sagnac’s demonstration, a beam of light was split such that part traveled clockwise and part counterclockwise around a rotating platform. Such devices are based on the Sagnac effect, first demonstrated by French scientist Georges Sagnac in 1913. Optical gyroscopes, with virtually no moving parts, are used in commercial jetliners, booster rockets, and orbiting satellites. The direction a gyrocompass points is independent of the magnetic field of the Earth and depends upon the properties of the gyroscope and upon the rotation of the Earth. The first automatic pilot for ships was installed in a Danish passenger ship by a German company in 1916, and in that same year a gyroscope was used in the design of the first artificial horizon for aircraft. Sperry built the first automatic pilot using a gyroscope to maintain an aircraft on course. Anschütz-Kaempfe for use in a submersible. This ability suggested a number of applications for the gyroscope as a direction indicator, and in 1908 the first workable gyrocompass was developed by German inventor H. During the 1850s Foucault conducted an experiment using such a rotor and demonstrated that the spinning wheel maintained its original orientation in space regardless of Earth’s rotation.
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The angular momentum of the spinning rotor caused it to maintain its attitude even when the gimbal assembly was tilted. Mechanical gyroscopes are based on a principle discovered in the 19th century by Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault, a French physicist who gave the name gyroscope to a wheel, or rotor, mounted in gimbal rings. Gyroscopes are used in compasses and automatic pilots on ships and aircraft, in the steering mechanisms of torpedoes, and in the inertial guidance systems installed in space launch vehicles, ballistic missiles, and orbiting satellites. Gyroscope, device containing a rapidly spinning wheel or circulating beam of light that is used to detect the deviation of an object from its desired orientation. Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.