ELECTROSTATIC SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR GYROSCOPES WITH MINIMUM ELECTRICAL DISTURBING TORQUE VIA NONLINEAR PRE-COMPENSATION

The new electrostatic suspension system (ESS) presented here is applic able to electrostatically suspended gyroscopes (ESG). The electrical d isturbing torque (EDT) acting on the gyro rotor is reduced to much low er levels than possible with the conventional methods, thereby increas ing the attainable accuracy of the instrument. This is achieved by eli minating the conventional pre-load voltage and instead applying only c ontrol voltages via an analogue non-linear pre-compensator to achieve linear position control system operation despite the square law relati ng the suspension force to the applied voltage. The transient and stea dy stare performance of the complete system, with changes in position reference and external disturbing forces, are examined with the aid of computer simulations.