Steven J. Sanders

Fiber optic gyro technology trends - a Honeywell perspective

This paper presents the evolution of FOG development and performance capabilities at Honeywell. A timeline of key milestones is given, and the technology developments and resulting performance improvements are outlined. Data from Honeywells strategic-grade, high-precision FOGs (HPFOG) is included. Their applications include navigation and attitude reference, predominantly in the commercial aircraft industry.

Fiber optic gyro development at Honeywell

Two major architectures of fiber optic gyroscopes have been under development at Honeywell in recent years. The interferometric fiber optic gyro (IFOG) has been in production and deployment for various high performance space and marine applications. Different designs, offering very low noise, ranging from better than navigation grade to ultra-precise performance have been tested and produced. The resonator fiber optic gyro (RFOG) is also under development, primarily for its attractive potential for civil navigation usage, but also because of its scalability to other performance. New techniques to address optical backscatter and laser frequency noise have been developed and demonstrated. Development of novel, enhanced RFOG architectures using hollow core fiber, silicon optical bench technology, and highly stable multifrequency laser sources are discussed.