MAGNETIC ROLL SENSOR FOR ROLLING AIRFRAMES

Abstract

Measuring the roll rate or roll position of a rolling airframe can be difficult. Some of the smaller missiles, which have roll rates in excess of 20 revolutions per second, have the least amount of room for a roll sensor such as a laser ring gyro or a quartz rate sensor. The large roll rates coupled with the rate sensor’s resolution can cause large errors in just a few seconds. The cost for these devices can be very high. The roll problem on rolling airframes has been solved by using two magnetic sensors that are 90 degrees out of phase from each other to measure the roll. The cost of the sensor is approximately $15 and is packaged in a 20-pin-surface-mount device. This paper addresses the design and the data processing algorithm to produce roll position. The sensor and algorithm were checked for accuracy on a CARCO table.