![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
im doing an assignment for maths on the gyrocompass. what is the history of this instrument? why was is developed? have there been any similar instruments before or after this one? what is it used for? how do you use the instrument? what are its limitations? what cant it do? what possible errors of measurement can it produce? what are some of the implications of these errors?
if anyone can help me by answering any of these questions id greatly appreciate it! thankyou so much for your time.
krystal.
Rather than go far afield into discussions of paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials I removed the technically incomplete "nonferrous wires with current" digression. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.101.101.98 ( talk) 22:51, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I'm no where close to an expert on gyrocompasses but I'm questioning the article's use of the term "north star" repeatedly. As in "This friction force caused by the fluid results in a torque acting on the axis, causing the axis to turn in a direction orthogonal to the torque (that is, to precess) toward true North (to the North star)." I had always thought that the notion of "true north" being in the general direction of the North star was a coincidence. In a few thousand years true north and the North star will diverge. Shouldn't all of the uses of the "North star" in this article be replaced by something more accurate and less coincidental?
24.159.110.25 23:55, 25 December 2006 (UTC) Brad Dixon
I don't really feel I can change the article itself but I do have a slight issue with the wording of one part. I have done a fair bit of work at university on the gyrocompass, and I think that to cite friction as the "crucial ingredient" is misleading. The actual "crucial ingredient" is the combination of an applied torque and the rotation it causes (it can also be a rotation and a resulting torque, the two are both linked). Friction may be one method of applying this torque but I have not yet come across it.
In its simplest and most effective form, a gyrocompass is a gyroscope in which the gimbals (or mountings) are modified to force the rotor axis to remain horizontal relative to the earth's surface. The components of rotation caused by the spin of the earth mean that the rotor must align itself with the true meridian in order to obey the law of conservation of angular momentum.
Other, more practical gyrocompasses use gravity to keep the rotor horizontal/apply the torque. This is necessary on a pitching and rolling ship, where horizontal is not the same as the floor!
James
Nosrednax 15:54, 28 September 2005 (UTC)
Changed the link of Magnetic North to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_North_Pole#North_Geomagnetic_Pole because it was instead linking to an album by Hopefall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_North.-- M-w-b 09:39, 20 July 2007 (UTC)
It migth also be mentioned the gyrocompass is used is satellite stabilization. In combination with a horizion sensor, this is how early American and Soviet spy satelites maintained 3-axis orientation.
With regard to history, the discussion of Kaempfe vs. Sperry seems to imply that Sperry just stole someone's ideas. Kaempfe was an art major who stumbled on the gyrocompass concept while trying to convince the navy to fund a submarine expedition. Sperry did independant work on gyroscopes, and his engineers dominated the research and development of many gyroscopic-based servomechanisms over a period of years (ship stabilizers, autopilots, etc). What I'm saying is, Kaempfe was first, but Sperry (and Minorsky and others) were really more important, not just someone who stole an idea from someone else. A good book to look at is Bennett's history of control engineering. DonPMitchell ( talk) 22:32, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
t know afterwards either. 80.169.162.100 ( talk) 14:31, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
Regarding the statement in one of the paras: "Since the operation of a gyrocompass crucially depends on the rotation of the Earth, it won't function correctly if the vessel it is mounted on is moving fast in an east to west direction.".....
Either I'm missing something or I fell asleep during Physics 101!
So please update me if I've missed (or forgotten) something from class, and forgive me for excising the statement from the article and labeling it as sneaky vandalism. I suspect vandalism as the reason for the statement (rather than a simple factual error), as its author's has likely concluded that most people know that the Earth rotates from west to east, and that moving quickly from east to west would tend to cancel out a vessel's angular rotation relative to a fixed point in outer space, thus providing a 'scientific' rational for the statement. Or at least that's my best guess for the vandal's M.O. (see comments below on why I've changed my view on this -hz) Best: HarryZilber ( talk) 12:58, 27 August 2010 (UTC)
Supplementary note: Here's a good solid page of theory on gyro compasses, in a reference work called American Practical Navigator, 2002, pg.93, by Nathaniel Bowditch ( ISBN 9780939837540). A quick scan doesn't bring up anything supporting the original statement. However a separate review of a gyrocompass's sundry features shows that its 'automatic north-seeking' function is dependent of the earth's rotation (by means of gyroscopic procession, if the spin axis is pointing other than true north). Thus the original sentence can be correctly modified to read:
...as I've performed numerous times in the past. Comments? HarryZilber ( talk) 18:02, 27 August 2010 (UTC)
References
Should we not include at least a short reference to Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe and his 1904 patent on the theoretical workings of a gyrocompass? I strongly feel that the current article is woefully incomplete without mentioning that. ( Cyberroach ( talk) 14:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC))
[1] -- HDP ( talk) 11:03, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
I think a mathematical description of a gyrocompass is useful, for students and for general people. I tried to add a section, but it was erased at once without discussing even this topic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Antoniuspisa ( talk • contribs) 05:27, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
The gyrocompass wiki page says that "aircraft commonly use heading indicators or directional gyros, which are not gyrocompasses and do not position themselves to north via precession, but are periodically aligned manually to true north". The wiki page for Heading_indicator says that they are aligned manually to magnetic north. I don't know enough about aircraft to know which is correct. Adaviel ( talk) 23:20, 13 November 2014 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Gyrocompass. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 20:34, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
I don't want to make large-scale changes here without feedback or discussion.
the WP definition of a Gyroscope is a spinning disk with two gimbals. I think we should cleary distinguish between the spinning disk (the rotor) and a gyroscope mechanism (with two gimbals). The expression "rotate about one of its symmetry axes" appears many times, couldn't we just say rotor spin axis as per Gyroscope.
"We establish cartesian coordinates (X1,Y1,Z1)"
Peter.corke ( talk) 01:55, 28 December 2018 (UTC)
This angle is undefined in the section on second and third fixed angles
of rotation.
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
im doing an assignment for maths on the gyrocompass. what is the history of this instrument? why was is developed? have there been any similar instruments before or after this one? what is it used for? how do you use the instrument? what are its limitations? what cant it do? what possible errors of measurement can it produce? what are some of the implications of these errors?
if anyone can help me by answering any of these questions id greatly appreciate it! thankyou so much for your time.
krystal.
Rather than go far afield into discussions of paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials I removed the technically incomplete "nonferrous wires with current" digression. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.101.101.98 ( talk) 22:51, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I'm no where close to an expert on gyrocompasses but I'm questioning the article's use of the term "north star" repeatedly. As in "This friction force caused by the fluid results in a torque acting on the axis, causing the axis to turn in a direction orthogonal to the torque (that is, to precess) toward true North (to the North star)." I had always thought that the notion of "true north" being in the general direction of the North star was a coincidence. In a few thousand years true north and the North star will diverge. Shouldn't all of the uses of the "North star" in this article be replaced by something more accurate and less coincidental?
24.159.110.25 23:55, 25 December 2006 (UTC) Brad Dixon
I don't really feel I can change the article itself but I do have a slight issue with the wording of one part. I have done a fair bit of work at university on the gyrocompass, and I think that to cite friction as the "crucial ingredient" is misleading. The actual "crucial ingredient" is the combination of an applied torque and the rotation it causes (it can also be a rotation and a resulting torque, the two are both linked). Friction may be one method of applying this torque but I have not yet come across it.
In its simplest and most effective form, a gyrocompass is a gyroscope in which the gimbals (or mountings) are modified to force the rotor axis to remain horizontal relative to the earth's surface. The components of rotation caused by the spin of the earth mean that the rotor must align itself with the true meridian in order to obey the law of conservation of angular momentum.
Other, more practical gyrocompasses use gravity to keep the rotor horizontal/apply the torque. This is necessary on a pitching and rolling ship, where horizontal is not the same as the floor!
James
Nosrednax 15:54, 28 September 2005 (UTC)
Changed the link of Magnetic North to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_North_Pole#North_Geomagnetic_Pole because it was instead linking to an album by Hopefall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_North.-- M-w-b 09:39, 20 July 2007 (UTC)
It migth also be mentioned the gyrocompass is used is satellite stabilization. In combination with a horizion sensor, this is how early American and Soviet spy satelites maintained 3-axis orientation.
With regard to history, the discussion of Kaempfe vs. Sperry seems to imply that Sperry just stole someone's ideas. Kaempfe was an art major who stumbled on the gyrocompass concept while trying to convince the navy to fund a submarine expedition. Sperry did independant work on gyroscopes, and his engineers dominated the research and development of many gyroscopic-based servomechanisms over a period of years (ship stabilizers, autopilots, etc). What I'm saying is, Kaempfe was first, but Sperry (and Minorsky and others) were really more important, not just someone who stole an idea from someone else. A good book to look at is Bennett's history of control engineering. DonPMitchell ( talk) 22:32, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
t know afterwards either. 80.169.162.100 ( talk) 14:31, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
Regarding the statement in one of the paras: "Since the operation of a gyrocompass crucially depends on the rotation of the Earth, it won't function correctly if the vessel it is mounted on is moving fast in an east to west direction.".....
Either I'm missing something or I fell asleep during Physics 101!
So please update me if I've missed (or forgotten) something from class, and forgive me for excising the statement from the article and labeling it as sneaky vandalism. I suspect vandalism as the reason for the statement (rather than a simple factual error), as its author's has likely concluded that most people know that the Earth rotates from west to east, and that moving quickly from east to west would tend to cancel out a vessel's angular rotation relative to a fixed point in outer space, thus providing a 'scientific' rational for the statement. Or at least that's my best guess for the vandal's M.O. (see comments below on why I've changed my view on this -hz) Best: HarryZilber ( talk) 12:58, 27 August 2010 (UTC)
Supplementary note: Here's a good solid page of theory on gyro compasses, in a reference work called American Practical Navigator, 2002, pg.93, by Nathaniel Bowditch ( ISBN 9780939837540). A quick scan doesn't bring up anything supporting the original statement. However a separate review of a gyrocompass's sundry features shows that its 'automatic north-seeking' function is dependent of the earth's rotation (by means of gyroscopic procession, if the spin axis is pointing other than true north). Thus the original sentence can be correctly modified to read:
...as I've performed numerous times in the past. Comments? HarryZilber ( talk) 18:02, 27 August 2010 (UTC)
References
Should we not include at least a short reference to Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe and his 1904 patent on the theoretical workings of a gyrocompass? I strongly feel that the current article is woefully incomplete without mentioning that. ( Cyberroach ( talk) 14:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC))
[1] -- HDP ( talk) 11:03, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
I think a mathematical description of a gyrocompass is useful, for students and for general people. I tried to add a section, but it was erased at once without discussing even this topic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Antoniuspisa ( talk • contribs) 05:27, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
The gyrocompass wiki page says that "aircraft commonly use heading indicators or directional gyros, which are not gyrocompasses and do not position themselves to north via precession, but are periodically aligned manually to true north". The wiki page for Heading_indicator says that they are aligned manually to magnetic north. I don't know enough about aircraft to know which is correct. Adaviel ( talk) 23:20, 13 November 2014 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Gyrocompass. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 20:34, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
I don't want to make large-scale changes here without feedback or discussion.
the WP definition of a Gyroscope is a spinning disk with two gimbals. I think we should cleary distinguish between the spinning disk (the rotor) and a gyroscope mechanism (with two gimbals). The expression "rotate about one of its symmetry axes" appears many times, couldn't we just say rotor spin axis as per Gyroscope.
"We establish cartesian coordinates (X1,Y1,Z1)"
Peter.corke ( talk) 01:55, 28 December 2018 (UTC)
This angle is undefined in the section on second and third fixed angles
of rotation.