GYRO COMPASS

Rotor or Wheel behaviour

a) A wheel at rest b) A wheel in motion, c) A wheel in motion, plane

plane of rotor of rotor parallel to
perpendicular to horizontal horizontal
Consider a wheel as shown in above figures
When no force is acting on a wheel/rotor, it will stay in
toppled position or position of rest as in fig (a)
If rotational force or angular momentum (twisting)is
imparted to the wheel as in fig b&c, & if there was no
friction,
it will continue to rotate as shown in above figures
without stopping, and maintain the plane of rotation.

Free Gyroscope
A gyroscope consists of a mass in form of a rotor or wheel, which
is suspended in such a way that it is free to spin about its
axis(called spin axis) passing through its centre of mass and
perpendicular to the plane of rotor
If the spin axis bearing is frictionless, then any rotation imparted
to the rotor will be maintained.
If the gyroscope is not constrained in anyway so that there are no
forces acting upon the rotor so as to alter the direction in which
the spin axis points , then the gyroscope is known as free
gyroscope.
In other words, If a spinning wheel is free to turn about two axes
at right angles to each other and to the spin axis, it is said to be a
free gyroscope.
A free gyroscope, when spinning rapidly, possesses considerable
directional stability or inertia. That is it has a great resistance to
any tendency to change the direction in which its spin axis lies.
The important properties of this are its inherent gyroscopic inertia
and precession.
 eg: earth is a free gyroscope

The earth too may be compared to a free gyroscope.

Earth is freely suspended in space. The earths spin axis lies in the
direction of the pole star, i.e. always pointing in same direction. If we
disregard the negligible gravitational forces of other heavenly bodies,
the earth may be considered free of any external forces.

Construction of a free
gyroscope
To construct a free gyroscope on earth it is required :
That the rotor must be supported against the effect of gravity
The support must be so designed to maintain the freedom of spin axis of rotor
to take up any direction without any constraint
This can be achieved by the use of gimbal mounting which gives rotor
freedom to turn about two axis mutually perpendicular to each other and at
right angles to spin axis.
Consider a heavy spinning wheel
mounted on a circular ring which is horizontal.
This horizontal circular ring is connected to a vertical circular ring at right angles
The vertical circular ring is connected to outer member at right angles
The whole system is so balanced that the centre of gravity of the assembly
is the intersection of the three axes and all the bearings are as free from
friction as possible
This system will exhibit the properties of a free gyroscope if the wheel is
fairly heavy ,well balanced and rotating with a high angular velocity.
A free gyroscope has two unique properties : Gyroscopic inertia and
Precision
 A spinning wheel can be
made to approximate to
a free gyroscope by
supporting the spin axis
in gimbals.
This way on gimbals the
centre of gravity of the
wheel lies at the level of
the gimbals axes and so
that the pivots are
made frictionless.

Three degrees of freedom

The outer member is fixed and hence no
degree of freedom
The vertical circular ring has freedom to
turn about the outer fixed frame, thus
has one degree of freedom
The horizontal circular ring has freedom
to move up or down(tilt) about the
vertical circular ring and has freedom to
turn alongwith the vertical circular ring,
thus it has two degrees of freedom
The rotor is free to spin about its spin
axis, tilt about the horizontal axis along
with horizontal circular ring and turn
about the vertical axis along with the
vertical circular ring, thus the rotor has
three degrees of freedom
This freedom of rotor to spin , tilt & turn
is termed as three degrees of freedom.
Tilt & Drift
The eastward or westward movement of the North end of the axle is called drift

The rising and dipping movement of the North end of the axle is called the tilt

Tilt
If a free gyroscope is situated on the equator and lies with
its axis East West and horizontal, it can be assumed of as
pointing to a star with zero declination and is about to rise.
The East End of the gyroscope axis will follow the movement of this star
and will tilt upwards as the star rises. After nearly six hours the axis will
be vertical and after nearly twelve hours the gyroscope will have turned
completely over with the axis again horizontal but now the original East
end of the axis would be pointing to the star setting due West. After one
sidereal day, the gyroscope would have tilted through 360 and the star
would again be rising.
This rate of tilting of 360 in a day is a rate of 15 per hour.
If the gyroscope had been situated on the equator with its
axis lying in the North South direction, then the North end
would be pointing towards the Pole star and would then
have no apparent movement relative to the Earth.
The rate of tilting thus varies from zero when the axis is lying North
South to a maximum when it is lying East West. That is the rate of
tilting varies as the Sine of the Azimuth.
A free gyroscope situated at a pole with its axis horizontal
would have an apparent turntable motion due to the Earths
rotation. That is it would follow a fixed star around the
horizon but it would not rise or set.
The rate of tilting thus varies from a maximum when the
latitude is 0 to zero when the latitude is 90. That is the
rate of tilting varies as the Cosine of the Latitude. The
following formula gives the rate of tilting of a free
gyroscope at any instant, but note that the rate is
constantly changing and the value given by this formula
cannot be taken over a considerable period of time.
Rate of tilting in degrees per hour = 15 sine Azimuth * cosine Latitude
The direction of tilting is such that the end of the gyroscope axis, which
lies to the East of the meridian, tilts upwards and the end of the axis,
which lies to the West of the meridian tilts downward.

Drift
 Drift is the apparent movement of a gyroscope in azimuth.

A free gyroscope situated at the North Pole with its axis horizontal will have an apparent movement,
which is entirely in the horizontal plane.

Its axis will appear to move in a clockwise direction when viewed from above. This would be due to
the real counter clockwise rotation of the earth beneath.

This circular motion causes the gyroscope to drift through 360 in one sidereal day.

That is at a rate of 15 per hour.

A free gyroscope situated at the equator with its axis horizontal will not drift at all, irrespective of
whether its axis is set in the North South or East West line.

The rate of drift for a gyroscope with its axis horizontal thus varies from a maximum at the poles to
zero at the equator.

That is the rate of drift varies as the sine of the latitude. For a free gyroscope with its axis horizontal:

Rate of Drift in degrees per hour = 15 sine Latitude

The direction of drift depends upon hemisphere so that the North end of a horizontal gyroscopic axis
drifts to the eastwards in the Northern hemisphere but to the Westwards in the Southern
hemisphere.
Path traced by the North end of spin axis in North Latitude, initially set pointing in eastward direction

Consider the gyroscope at point A, pointing eastwards

As the earth rotates, the gyroscopic axis will increase in tilt and drift and follow the curve ABCD.
At B the drift will be zero and gyro will now only tilt.
 As the earth continues to rotate, the drift will now be in opposite direction till point C when tilt is
maximum
From here onwards the tilt is reducing and at point D the drift again becomes eastward to
complete the circle back at A
A gyroscope placed on equator with its axis pointing Eastwards will experience only tilt and no
change in azimuth
A gyroscope placed at poles with its axis pointing Eastwards will experience only drift and no tilt
If the gyroscope is placed on pole with axis pointing Northerly, there will be no tilt and no drift
with rotation of earth, but it will exhibit turntable effect with its axis pointing towards celestial
North Pole

MAKING GYRO NORTH SEEKING

Gravity Control in gyro

A free gyroscope may be made North seeking by attaching a weight to the rotor casing either
above or below the centre of gravity of the rotor.
This so that when the axis lies horizontal the weight is distributed equally between the two ends of
the axis
But when the gyroscope is tilted the weight exerts more thrust on one end of the axis than on the
other.
This causes a torque in a vertical plane and the gyroscope axis is made to precess horizontally.
When one end of a gyroscope axis is to the East of the true meridian, and if it is pointing at a rising
star, then that end will always tilt upwards.
Bottom heavy effect
To cause this end to precess towards the North if the gyroscope wheel is spinning clockwise when
viewed from the West, a downward force is required on the East end of the axis.
This effect can be provided, when the East end of the axis tilts upwards by suspending a control
weight below the gyroscope, thus making the rotor casing bottom heavy.

Top heavy effect

To cause the East end of the axis to precess towards the North if the gyroscope rotor is spinning
anti-clockwise when viewed from the West, a downward force is required on the West end of the
axis.
This effect can be provided when the East end of the axis tilts upward, by supporting the control
weight above the gyroscope, thus making the rotor casing top heavy.
 A gyroscope with gravity control as described above will not settle in the meridian.
But the North-seeking end of the axis will tend to precess towards the meridian when it lies East of
North and tilted upwards.
Similarly it will also tend to precess towards the meridian when the North-seeking end of the axis
lies to the west of North and is tilted downwards
Path traced by free gyro & controlled gyro

In intermediate North latitude, a free gyroscope set with its axis North South and horizontal has
an apparent motion such that the North end of its axis describes a circle round the celestial pole.
The projection of such a circle on a vertical plane to the Northward of the gyroscope position is
illustrated as the firm line in the diagram below.
The North seeking end of the axis of a gravity controlled gyroscope, started in a similar position
will trace out an elliptical path as illustrated by a pecked line in the figure above.
At position A with the gyroscope axis horizontal the gravity has no effect. The North end of the axis
drifts Eastwards and tilts upwards, initially at the same rate as the free gyroscope. When the North
end of the axis has tilted above the horizontal the gravity control causes precession towards the
West.
This effect at first is not as great as the natural drift towards the East and merely slows the Easterly
movement. But later (at position B) the rate of precession becomes equal and opposite to the rate
of drift and thereafter as the axis continues to tilt upwards, the axis moves towards the West.
All the time the axis lies to the East of the meridian, the axis is tilting upwards so that the greatest
tilt and hence the greatest rate of precession occurs when the gyroscope axis has returned to the
meridian (C).
Once the North end of the axis has precessed to the West of the meridian the rotation of the earth
causes it to tilt downwards and the rate of precession decreases until at position (D) the rate of
precession is again equal and opposite to the rate of drift.
Thereafter the axis moves Easterly with a continuing decrease in tilt until the axis again crosses the
meridian at its original starting point
Path traced by North end top heavy gyroscope placed in North latitude

Path traced by North end top heavy gyroscope placed in South latitude

Path traced by North end top heavy gyroscope placed at Equator

 The time taken for a gyroscope axis to trace out a complete ellipse depends on the degree of
control, which is provided, but it will always be less than the sidereal day which is required for a
complete circle of a free gyroscope. The period of commercial gyroscope compasses is often
chosen as 84 minutes.
The size and proportions of the ellipse depend upon the starting position of the gyroscope and the
degree of control. In practice the gravity control is such that the ratio of the major axis of the
ellipse to the minor axis is very large. That is the ellipse is very wide in proportion to its depth. For
the purpose of explaining the ellipse height was increased.

Making controlled gyro north seeking-Damping

In order to respond to the drift, tilt and precession, which make it North seeking, the suspension of
a gyroscope must be virtually frictionless.
A gravity-controlled gyroscope as described above would then oscillate indefinitely on either side
of the meridian.
The requirement of gyro is that it must settle down and maintain a fixed direction with respect to
earth
This settling position should also be stable, i.e. if gyro is disturbed, it will return back to this
direction
In order that the oscillation shall become smaller with each cycle so that the gyroscope axis finally
settles in the meridian, some form of damping other than by friction is required.
Damping in Tilt
Damping in tilt means that when the North-seeking end of the gyroscope axis is tilted a damping
torque is applied in a horizontal plane in such a direction that the resultant precession in a vertical
plane causes the tilt of the axis to decrease.
As the tilt of the gyroscope is decreased so the precession in azimuth becomes progressively less
and the gyroscope spirals in from its starting position to a final settling position as shown.

The trace of north end of axis finally settling down near the meridian-damping in tilt

The amplitude of each oscillation is reduced to 1/3rd of the previous oscillation and thereby resulting in
the axis finally settling down in the meridian.

Damping in Azimuth
Damping in azimuth is achieved by introducing a torque in a vertical plane, which causes a
precession opposite to the gravity control precession but out of phase with it, i.e. with a time
delay.
The resultant precession in a horizontal plane causes the axis to overshoot the meridian less each
time it crosses it until the gyroscope axis reaches its settling position.
The trace of north end of axis finally settling down in the meridian-damping in azimuth

The controlled gyro will not settle in a fixed direction , but will oscillate about the meridian
To damp the unwanted oscillation, another torque perpendicular to the first one has to be applied,
which will cause a precession in direction perpendicular to the original precession.
In the top heavy controlled gyro torque about the horizontal axis gave precession about the
vertical axis.
If we can now apply a torque about the vertical axis, it will produce precession about the
horizontal axis.
The magnitude & direction of this force should be pre-calculated to achieve the required damping
of oscillation.
This is referred as Damping in Tilt, whereas in case of bottom heavy controlled gyro, it is referred
as Damping in Azimuth.
To achieve damping in tilt, the point of application of the control force (due to top heavy effect) is
offset slightly to the east of the vertical,
resulting in component of the same force producing a torque about the vertical axis,
the resultant precession about the horizontal axis will ensure that the amplitude of oscillation is
reduced and the gyro finally settles in the meridian.
The amount of offset in Sperry mark XIV gyro is 3mm as shown in the figure below

Point of attachment if the mercury system is offset from the centre by 3mm
GYRO COMPASS ERRORS
The errors to which a gyrocompass is subject are speed error, latitude error, ballistic deflection
error, ballistic damping error, quadrantal error, and gimballing error.
Additional errors may be introduced by a malfunction or incorrect alignment with the centerline of
the vessel.
Damping or Latitude error
In case of damping in tilt, the spin axis will settle a little to East or West of the meridian
The error is proportional to the tangent of latitude and hence increases with latitude
It also depends on the design and construction of the individual compass
The error is calculated and applied as latitude correction
The gryo using damping in azimuth is not subjected to this error
SPEED ERROR
Speed error is caused by the fact that a gyrocompass only moves directly east or west when it is
stationary (on the rotating earth) or placed on a vessel moving exactly east or west.
Any movement to the north or south will cause the compass to trace a path which is actually a
function of the speed of advance and the amount of northerly or southerly heading.
This causes the compass to tend to settle a bit off true north.
This error is westerly if the vessel's course is northerly, and easterly if the course is southerly.
Its magnitude depends on the vessel's speed, course, and latitude(higher the latitude, smaller the
earths rotational speed and hence greater effect of ships speed)
This error can be corrected internally by means of a cosine cam mounted on the underside of the
azimuth gear, which removes most of the error.
Any remaining error is minor in amount and can be disregarded.

The factor of latitude and speed correction can be worked out in a mathematical formula and set
on the gyro equipment latitude and speed setting, so that the gyrocompass sets in the meridian
Tangent latitude error
Tangent latitude error is a property only of gyros with mercury ballistics, and is easterly in north
latitudes and westerly in south latitudes.
This error is also corrected internally, by offsetting the lubber's line or with a small movable weight
attached to the casing.
Ballistic deflection error
Ballistic deflection error occurs when there is a marked change in the north-south component of
the speed.
East-west accelerations have no effect.
A change of course or speed also results in speed error in the opposite direction, and the two tend
to cancel each other if the compass is properly designed.
This aspect of design involves slightly offsetting the ballistics according to the operating latitude,
upon which the correction is dependent.
As latitude changes, the error becomes apparent, but can be minimized by adjusting the offset.
Ballistic damping error
Ballistic damping error is a temporary oscillation introduced by changes in course or speed.
During a change in course or speed, the mercury in the ballistic is subjected to centrifugal and
acceleration/deceleration forces.
This causes a torquing of the spin axis and subsequent error in the compass reading.
Slow changes do not introduce enough error to be a problem, but rapid changes will.
This error is counteracted by changing the position of the ballistics so that the true vertical axis is
centered, thus not subject to error, but only when certain rates of turn or acceleration are
exceeded.
Quadrantal error
Quadrantal error has two causes.
The first occurs if the center of gravity of the gyro is not exactly centered in the phantom.
This causes the gyro to tend to swing along its heavy axis as the vessel rolls in the sea.
It is minimized by adding weight so that the mass is the same in all directions from the
center.
Without a long axis of weight, there is no tendency to swing in one particular direction.
The second source of quadrantal error is more difficult to eliminate.
As a vessel rolls in the sea, the apparent vertical axis is displaced, first to one side and then
the other.
The vertical axis of the gyro tends to align itself with the apparent vertical.
On northerly or southerly courses, and on easterly or westerly courses, the compass
precesses equally to both sides and the resulting error is zero.
On intercardinal courses, the N-S and E-W precessions are additive, and a persistent error is
introduced, which changes direction in different quadrants.
This error is corrected by use of a second gyroscope called a floating ballistic, which
stabilizes the mercury ballistic as the vessel rolls, eliminating the error.
Another method is to use two gyros for the directive element, which tend to precess in
opposite directions, neutralizing the error.
Gimballing error
Gimballing error is caused by taking readings from the compass card when it is tilted from the
horizontal plane.
It applies to the compass itself and to all repeaters.
To minimize this error, the outer ring of the gimbal of each repeater should be installed in
alignment with the fore-and- aft line of the vessel.
Of course, the lubber's line must be exactly centered as well