gyroscope
Sign in to savethumb|250px|right|A gyroscope thumb|right|A gyroscope in operation, showing the freedom of rotation in all three axes. The rotor will maintain its spin axis direction regardless of the orientation of the outer frame.
AI overview
A gyroscope is a spinning object mounted in a way that allows it to rotate freely in all directions while maintaining the orientation of its spin axis. This property makes gyroscopes useful for navigation and stabilization systems, since the spinning rotor resists changes to its direction regardless of how the outer frame moves around it.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
31 sectionsContents
- Description and diagram
- History
- Early similar devices
- Foucault's gyroscope
- Commercialization
- Gyroscopic principles
- Rigidity in space
- Precession
- Contemporary uses
- Steadicam
- Heading indicator
- Gyrocompass
- Accelerometer
- Variations
- Gyrostat<!--'Gyrostat' redirects here-->
- MEMS gyroscope
- HRG
- VSG or CVG
- DTG
- Ring laser gyroscope
- Fiber optic gyroscope
- London moment
- Other examples
- Helicopters
- Gyro X
- Consumer electronics
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|250px|right|A gyroscope thumb|right|A gyroscope in operation, showing the freedom of rotation in all three axes. The rotor will maintain its spin axis direction regardless of the orientation of the outer frame.
A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος gŷros 'round' and σκοπέω skopéō 'to look') is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotation (spin axis) is free to assume any orientation by itself. When rotating, the orientation of this axis is unaffected by tilting or rotation of the mounting, due to the conservation of angular momentum.