Stability of rate gyro in a vehicle with uncertain angular velocity and acceleration

Abstract

Using the Liapunov direct method, we study the stability of motion of a single-axis rate gyro mounted on a space vehicle which is simultaneously accelerating (omega(X)(t)) with respect to the output axis and rotating (omega(Z)(t)) about the spin axis of gyro. The analytical relations, which must be satisfied by the gyro parameters, are obtained for the asymptotical stability of the gimbal motion. In addition, by using a fourth-order Runge-Kutta numerical method, the trajectories of motions of a rate gyro are obtained to verify its stability.