I've been evaluating different methods to sense a gyroscope's orientation, and needed some advice in determining if one method in particular is sound. (It has been years since I had a class in mechatronics and/or generators)
Assume a freely rotating gyroscope given an initial rotational velocity and then allowed to coast (unpowered):
- If I were to place a permanent magnet on the rotating component (aka the rotor) so that it's North-South orientation is perpendicular to the axis of rotation, wouldn't the magnitude of the voltage induced in the coil depend on the rotor's tilt within the coil? That is, wouldn't the coil AC voltage be at a maximum when the magnet was rotating perpendicular to the coil's axis and a minimum when the axis are aligned? Assume I can account for the effect the slowing speed of the rotor has on coil voltage.
- If this theory is sound, what would be the best way to digitally quantify the magnitude of the AC voltage? The simplest way I can think of is to rectify it, use smoothing cap, and read it via an ADC. I'm open to other, more sensitive (and easily accomplished) methods.
If I actually play around with this idea, it will be done on a personal budget and on my spare time, so please keep that in mind before recommending extremely expensive or complex ideas.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Dave