Virtually rotated MEMS gyroscope with angle output

We experimentally demonstrate a virtually rotated MEMS Rate Integrating Gyroscope (RIG) with 0.0015 °/√Hz angle white noise, 0.0085° angle flicker, and 0.02 °/s/√Hz angle random walk. RIGs exhibit unlimited full scale range and bandwidth, but frequency/damping mismatch imperfection arising from fabrication set a rate threshold below which the RIGs fail to operate. Here we show that by applying virtual rotation using the gyroscope's control electrodes along with dynamic mismatch controls, the angle-dependent bias drifts are averaged out, allowing measurement of rotation rates lower than 0.1 °/s, which is two orders of magnitude below the rate threshold value. The presented methods may enable commercialization of angle measuring MEMS gyroscopes.