Jun 6 2006 -- A low-power, highly programmable gyroscope that contains all of the embedded calibration, tuning, and control functionality required to detect the rate at which a system is rotating has been introduced, by Analog Devices, further expanding its iSensor family of highly integrated intelligent sensors.
The single-component solution, which leverages the company's iMEMS Motion Signal Processing technology, requires less than half the design space of existing multi-component discrete solutions, but offers more advanced control functionality. Using the iSensor gyroscope, designers of industrial applications where control is essential - such as instrumentation, platform stabilization and navigation - can realize the benefits of inertial sensing in their systems at a lower cost and up to six-month faster development times.
Traditionally, designers needed to invest significant development time to integrate embedded control features around available gyroscope cores, as well as investing in the capability to motion test and calibrate the sensors; in addition, significant and costly evaluation and prototype design iterations were required to tune the sensor to their system requirements. The ADIS16250 fills a product gap between the ultra high performance, high-cost, and fully integrated gyros well known to the military, and the more recently available moderate performance and less integrated gyros which require significant expertise and test infrastructure on the part of the end user, says the company.
"Gyroscopes have traditionally been used in military and automotive applications in which designers have years of in-house expertise with sensor cores and the test infrastructure required to tune them," said Andy Garner, product line director of the iSensor group at Analog Devices. "However, there are other applications - industrial navigation, stabilization and precise instrument movement, for instance - that benefit from being able to determine motion or direction. In the past, low volumes and lack of expertise would have dissuaded designers from investing in gyroscope technology. Now, Analog Devices' iSensor gyroscope embeds all the test infrastructure and functionality needed to facilitate these new applications, at one tenth the cost of the high-end gyros available today."
The ADIS16250 gyroscope builds on the ADIS1620x family of iSensor accelerometers. The ADIS16250 is the first MEMS gyroscope to provide both digital range scaling and embedded programmability, eliminating a significant barrier to integrating gyroscopes into industrial systems. The programmable features are accessible via a standard interface, enabling rapid adaptation to application-specific requirements, and easing design challenges by providing direct control of device sensitivity, sample rate and output filtering, says the company.
