Watson Industries, Inc

United States

This solid-state angular rate gyro has a sensing mechanism consisting of piezoelectric bender elements in a tuning fork configuration. The drive elements are resonantly driven in opposite directions. When a rotation occurs, the momentum stored in the vibrating elements causes an out-of-plane bending force (called Coriolis force) that is demodulated to accurately represent the rotation rate.These angular rate gyros have no moving parts, no detectable hysteresis, quick startup, and are low cost since the gyro is electronic rather than mechanical. The preferred configuration made by Watson Industries is a piezoelectric assembly that senses angular rates about its long axis. There is no significant hysteresis or threshold in the angular rate gyro since there is no rotating mass or friction. Resolution is system noise limited to 15mV RMS maximum at 50 Hz bandwidth. The effects of external noise on the gyro are minimized with the unique tuning fork design that responds to rotational motion and rejects linear motion associated with vibration.Since vibration normally contains angular motion as well as linear motion, care should be taken when mounting the angular rate gyro to keep this rotational signal isolated (a 0.01 rotation in 0.01 seconds is equivalent to 1 second). The absence of moving parts gives the angular rate gyro sensor its durability and long life.Multiple axis, custom power and special performance specification versions of this sensor are also available.Watson angular rate gyros have traveled in space, visited the Titanic, and have been used by every U.S. car company. Watson Industries, Inc. has sold tens of thousands of sensors all over the world. The Angular Rate Sensor is used for instrumentation and control for robotics, head and limb motion testing, virtual reality, ship stabilization, automotive testing, and remotely piloted vehicles.

Watson Industries has been designing and making solid-state gyros since 1980. They have now produced a new series of rate gyros, the Pro Gyro. This breakthrough new gyro is built, to be a VSG replacement and much more. Based on proven technology, this gyro is built under AS9100 quality standards with new features including built-in test and enhanced EMIRFI protection.The Pro Gyro has excellent performance for stability, acceleration insensitivity, low mounting sensitivity and vibration rejection. This is achieved by having a sensing element that is finely tuned and temperature compensated. The advanced tuning methods allow better relative tolerances and better signal to noise performance. Special internal mounting holds the gyro sensing element in a stable alignment while rejecting linear vibration.Upgrades that are standard for the Pro Gyro include available rate ranges up to 475 degrees per second, internal power regulation for power input between 8 volts and 45 volts, and a case mounted connector.ApplicationsAerospaceFlight TestingMissile TestingYaw DamperLandCrash TestingWarehouse NavCable Supported Stabilized CameraIndy Car TelemetryCamera StabilizationNuclear Plant Inspection

Watson Industries has manufactured and developed inertial gyro systems since 1980.The company holds numerous patents and is committed to being a leader in the development of angular rate sensing products and systems. The ARS-E332 line of angular rate sensors features our VSG-E series gyros. The VSG gives this angular rate gyro package enhanced performance, reliability and shock survival characteristics.This sensor system is very rugged. The rate gyros are capable of surviving 500 gs of shock. Various output ranges are available. Watson Industries manufactures other systems including tilt sensors, vertical references, magnetic instruments, magnetic heading systems, as well as two lines of individual gyros.

Watson Industries has been designing and making solid-state gyros since 1980. They now provide a new series of rate gyros, the MaxGyro. This breakthrough new gyro is built, using a monolithic three-dimensional tuning fork resonator, to be a VSG replacement and much more. Based on proven technology, this gyro is built with new features including built-in test and enhanced EMIRFI protection.The MaxGyro has best-in-class performance for stability, acceleration insensitivity, low mounting sensitivity and excellent vibration rejection. This is achieved by having a much larger sensing element that is solidly mounted. The larger element allows better relative tolerances for tuning and better signal to noise performance. Solid mounting holds the gyro sensing element in a stable alignment. In contrast, all the competitive MEMS gyros use sensing elements that are supported by thin filaments as springs that are resonant at disturbingly low frequencies. These springs allow the sensing element to shift and resonate under shock and vibration, which affects their performance significantly.ApplicationsAerospaceMissile TestingYaw DamperLandCamera StabilizationGun Sight Stabilization

Originally developed to meet the needs of automotive testing professionals, the Dynamic Measurement System (DMS) was designed for instrumenting the drive and handling characteristics of vehicles. The DMS may be used in almost any application where triaxial angular rate and acceleration data is required. This inertial sensor provides both angular rate and acceleration outputs in analog and digital formats. The DMS features six accelerometer outputs. The X, Y, and Z axis outputs represent the accelerations in the plane of the vehicle body, while the second set of three outputs measure the acceleration aligned with an earth-level coordinate system. This allows forward and lateral acceleration measurements that are essentially free of gravity influences. The triaxial sensor set allows software alignment of sensors, greatly reducing any alignment errors. The serial interface is highly configurable and provides access to almost all operational parameters.This is a microprocessor-based inertial gyro sensor using a 16 bit AD converter, a 14 bit DA converter and an RS-232 interface. The analog angular rate gyro outputs have a range of 100 sec., and a response better than 25Hz. The analog acceleration outputs provide a range of 10 gs and can accommodate a maximum pitch angle of 75 , while accommodating all roll angles. The DMS uses an input of forward velocity to compensate the long term references, allowing the error correction system to work continuously. Other companies manufacture systems which turn off their corrections during high dynamic conditions causing a drift in accuracy over time. The DMS-E604 is much more useful in highly dynamic conditions, and has been designed to provide the best possible combination of reliable data and low cost.DMS is used in automotive testing, pipeline maintenance telemetry, and vehicle dynamics applications.

Designed specifically with the rail industry in mind, the Train Measurement System (TMS) features an extensive sensor suite inside of an extremely rugged package. With two angular rate sensors and a single axis accelerometer, the TMS is an ideal choice for any application measuring, roll, yaw, superelevation, truck hunting, or track irregularities.One of the cornerstones of the TMS is its rugged design. The gyros used in this package are isolated from vibration internally, and the sensor inputs are processed by an on-board microprocessor. This allows the TMS to be mounted directly to the truck underneath a rail car or locomotive. The durable enclosure that houses the TMS electronics is designed to allow for mounting in such a demanding environment.The TMS-E232 is used in the rail industry for track testing and high speed train tilt testing. This sensor is also useful on vehicles when the required mounting location is in an extremely harsh environment.ApplicationsLandTrain Tilt ControlRail Track Testing

Originally developed to meet the needs of automotive testing professionals, the Dynamic Measurement System (DMS) was designed for monitoring the drive and handling characteristics of vehicles. The DMS may be used in almost any application where triaxial angular rate and acceleration data is required. This inertial sensor provides both angular rate and acceleration outputs in analog and digital formats. The DMS features six accelerometer outputs. The X, Y, and Z axis outputs represent the accelerations in the plane of the vehicle body, while the second set of three outputs measure the acceleration aligned with an earth-level coordinate system. This allows forward and lateral acceleration measurements that are essentially free of gravity influences. The triaxial sensor set allows software alignment of sensors, greatly reducing any alignment errors. The serial interface is highly configurable and provides access to almost all operational parameters.The DMS-EGP02 is designed for vehicle applications where accurate heading is required, but a magnetic compass is infeasible. This sensor is equipped with a dual GPS antenna system that provides heading data even when the vehicle is not is motion. The addition of the GPS antennas also gives vehicle velocity data to the DMS which enhances the units performance during highly dynamic maneuvers such as sharp turns. This makes the DMS-EGP02 inertial gyro sensor a more complete system since it does not require velocity information to be supplied from an external sensor.The DMS-EGP02 is useful in automotive testing, vehicle dynamics, and marine applications. This sensor can be used as a replacement for the discontinued Watson IMU-E604, and is most useful in applications where strong magnetic fields make heading data from a fluxgate magnetometer unreliable.ApplicationsAerospaceStabilized CameraAttitude IndicatorUAV ControlDisplayCompass SystemsDrone: Primary GyroUAV: ResearchUnmanned VehiclesBackup Attitude InstrumentHeading Reference

Stabilization is one of our specialties at Watson Industries. We have been involved with a large number of applications, from trains to cameras. The SMS is designed primarily for instrumentation: it stabilizes on the Bank (X) and Elevation (Y) axis so that the mounting arm with its payload will always stay level, regardless of the motions of the vehicle.Our gyro-stabilized platforms are built around a rugged pan and tilt mechanism. This is a high resolution digital system uses the best wide bandwidth, low noise, solid-state gyros. The whole system is user configurable and can adapt to a wide range of payloads and requirements.Watson Industries also provides custom systems for special requirements. Our system design is modular and configurable for economical and quick adaptation to a wide variety of hardware configurations. Of course Watson Industries excellent product support and applications engineering goes along with every product.ApplicationsLandStabilized InstrumentsOceanStabilized Instruments

The FGM-301 is the best product for measuring DC and low frequency magnetic fields in three dimensions. This is a compact magnetic sensing device suitable for a wide variety of magnetic field measurement applications. Being an analog sensor, the FGM-301 provides high resolution and low signal delay. This product is far more stable and linear than magneto-resistive and magneto-inductive magnetometers.Watson Industries has been developing state-of-the-art fluxgate magnetometers for almost thirty years to provide the FGM-301. As a result, this magnetometer is relied on for precision measurements from pole to pole in very critical projects.ApplicationsAerospaceCompass SystemsHeading ReferenceLandSolar Storm DetectionMagnetic Field MeasMagnetic Mass SenseGeological MappingHeading Reference

The GCM-360 is a unique product for defining the magnetic field of the earth. This unit provides heading, GPS coordinates and sensor information. It includes a high accuracy triaxial fluxgate magnetometer and a triaxial accelerometer. This sensor is equipped with a dual antenna GPS system that provides heading data even when not in motion. This unit will output several data items including GPS true north heading, latitude, longitude, magnetic heading, X, Y, and Z axis magnetic field. An antenna spacing of 0.500 meters 5mm is required. The fore antenna is placed 0.5 meter ahead of the aft antenna on a line parallel to the x axis of the sensor package.ApplicationsLandSolar Storm DetectionGeological SurveyHidden Object DetectionMagnetic Field Mapping