An Adaptive Damping Network Designed for Strapdown Fiber Optic Gyrocompass System for Ships

The strapdown fiber optic gyrocompass (strapdown FOGC) system for ships primarily works on external horizontal damping and undamping statuses. When there are large sea condition changes, the system will switch frequently between the external horizontal damping status and the undamping status. This means that the system is always in an adjustment status and influences the dynamic accuracy of the system. Aiming at the limitations of the conventional damping method, a new design idea is proposed, where the adaptive control method is used to design the horizontal damping network of the strapdown FOGC system. According to the size of acceleration, the parameters of the damping network are changed to make the system error caused by the ship’s maneuvering to a minimum. Furthermore, the jump in damping coefficient was transformed into gradual change to make a smooth system status switch. The adaptive damping network was applied for strapdown FOGC under the static and dynamic condition, and its performance was compared with the conventional damping, and undamping means. Experimental results showed that the adaptive damping network was effective in improving the dynamic performance of the strapdown FOGC.