What is a gyroscope? Gyro in the phone - what is it?

There are a lot of inventions that are characterized by a long and very rich history of use in various devices and devices. You can often hear the name of something, but not even have an idea of what it is intended for. This is how the question arises: what is a gyroscope? It is worthwhile to understand it.

Basic definition

The gyro is a navigation device in which a fast rotating rotor is used as the main element, fixed so that its axis of rotation is rotated. Two frames of cardan suspension provide three degrees of freedom. In the absence of any external influences on the device, the axis of the rotor's own rotation retains a constant direction in space. If it is influenced by a moment of external force, which tends to rotate the axis of its own rotation, it begins its movement not around the direction of the moment, but around the axis that is perpendicular to it.

Device Features

If we talk about what a gyroscope is, it is worth noting that in a qualitatively balanced and fairly fast rotating device mounted on high-quality bearings with low friction there is practically no torque of external forces, so the device is able to maintain its orientation in space almost unchanged. Therefore, it is able to indicate the angle of rotation of the base on which it was fixed. This was the first time that the rotation of the Earth by the French physicist J. Foucault was clearly demonstrated. If you limit the rotation of the axis of a special spring, then when you install the device on an aircraft that performs a turn, the gyroscope will deform the spring until the moment of external force is balanced. In this case, the tension or compression force of the spring will be proportional to the angular velocity of the aircraft. This principle is followed by an aircraft turn indicator and many other gyroscopic instruments. Since very little friction is created in the bearings to maintain the rotation of the gyro rotor, it does not take much energy. Usually, to drive it, and also to maintain this movement, a small electric motor or a jet of compressed air is sufficient.

Gyroscope: Application

Most often this device is used as a sensitive element for pointing gyroscopic devices, and also as a sensor for the angle of rotation or angular velocity for devices operating under automatic control. In some cases, the gyroscope can serve as an energy generator or torque moment.

To date, the principle of the gyro allows active use in aviation, navigation and astronautics. Almost every sea-going vessel has a gyrocompass for automatic or manual control of the vessel, and in some, gyrostabilizers are also used. The ship artillery fire control system is usually equipped with a number of additional gyroscopes that are designed to provide a stable reference system or for measuring angular velocities.

If you understand what a gyroscope is, you should understand that without it, automatic torpedo control is simply unthinkable. Helicopters and airplanes are also necessarily equipped with these devices in order to provide reliable information on the operation of navigation and stabilization systems. These instruments include an air horizon, a gyroscopic turn and roll indicator, a gyrovertical. If we consider a helicopter with a gyroscope, then this device can serve both as a pointing device and as an autopilot sensor. Many aircraft are equipped with gyrostabilized magnetic compasses and other equipment - cameras with gyroscopes, gyro-sensors, navigational sighters. In military aviation, gyroscopes are actively used as components in the bombing and air shooting arsenals.

Application in modern gadgets

So, if we consider what a gyroscope is, it should be noted that this device is actively used not only in the previously mentioned spheres. Modern smartphones and tablets are equipped with a mass of additional functions and modules, while some are very useful, and others can interfere with the comfortable use of the device, irritating users. One of them is the gyro in the phone, which becomes clear when you use your device. On the one hand, it turns out to be very useful, although on the other hand - most users prefer to just turn it off.

Gyro in the phone: what is it?

First you need to determine what kind of device it is and what functional it is characterized by. So, the gyro in the phone - what is it? This element is necessary for determining how the device is oriented in space. In some cases, this sensor can be used to protect individual device elements from falling in the future. In fact, this sensor is designed to determine the change of position, and in the presence of an accelerometer - and acceleration in the fall. Then the information is transferred to the gadget's computing unit. In the presence of certain software, the device decides how to react further to the changes that have occurred to it.

What else is it for?

So, if the question of what a gyroscope is, everything becomes clear, it remains to find out why it is used in telephones. Protection of the innards is not the only task here. In combination with a variety of software on it lies a number of different functions. For example, a smartphone can be used for games in which control is performed by tilting, shaking or turning the device. This kind of management allows you to make games truly fascinating, so they are in high demand.

Interesting features

It can be noted that the Apple products are equipped with gyroscopes, and they play a very significant role, since many applications are tied to them. Under it, specially developed a mode, called CoverFlow. There is a very large number of applications that work in this mode, but you can stop at several that most visually demonstrate it. For example, if you use a calculator on an iPhone, in a portrait position only simple actions will be available to the user, namely addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. But when you rotate the device by 90 degrees, everything changes. The calculator switches to the advanced mode, that is, the engineering mode, in which more functions will be available.

If you understand how the gyro works, it should be noted that its functions can be used to determine your own location on the terrain.

You can view a terrain map using GPS navigation on this device, in which case the map will always rotate in the direction in which your view is directed. Therefore, if you stand face, for example, to the river, it will be displayed on the map, and if you turn, the position of the map will also change. Due to this, orientation on the terrain is greatly simplified and can become quite useful for people who are keen on active recreation.

Problems with the gyro in the phone

You can say about the drawbacks inherent in gyroscopes. Very often they are turned off due to the fact that the programs react to the change in position in space with some delay. For example, if you decide to read lying on the couch, from the screen of a smartphone or tablet, the gyro and the program associated with it will change the orientation of the page every time you turn or change your posture. This causes a lot of inconvenience, since very rarely the device is able to correctly interpret the position in space, and the situation is aggravated because of the belated reaction of the program.

Modern varieties

The first gyros were mechanical. This kind of device is still in use, but with some improvements that make them more useful. At the moment, there is a laser gyro, which lacks the drawbacks inherent in mechanical. And it is such a device used in modern technology.