25 June 1999

Silicon sensor in line for UK's biggest engineering prize

The inventors of a tiny gyroscope that is cheap and tough enough to be used routinely in cars now have a 1 in 4 chance of winning the UK's biggest engineering prize, the £50,000 Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award for innovation. On 24 June 1999, the Academy will announce a team from British Aerospace Systems and Equipment (BASE) in Plymouth as one of the four finalists for the award. For engineers Richard Windemer, Chris Fell, Ian Hopkin, Kevin Townsend and Tim Mason, it rewards nearly ten years' effort to fill a real need in the sensor market.

Elaborate gyroscopes based on lasers and optical fibres have been proposed to stabilise cars before, but all the options have proved too expensive. Motor manufacturers have been crying out for a robust, mass production motion sensor to improve vehicle performance. The BASE team produced a gyroscope based on a vibrating silicon ring, smaller than a penny, that can be mass-produced using techniques learnt from the computer chip industry. "The BASE gyroscope is an integral part of our advanced automotive stability system," says Edward Benkert, Advanced Stability Controls Manager at Lucas Varity Automotive. "Combined with other sensors, it will help drivers to avoid potentially dangerous skidding around sharp corners - major motor manufacturers are starting to use the system on their latest models." Lucas Varity chose the BASE sensor because its novel design helps it to withstand shocks and road noise much better than its competitors.

The tiny silicon ring in the new gyroscope vibrates in the same way as a wine glass when you rub a wet finger around the rim. Any angular motion causes a proportional time lag in the ring's vibration pattern - this is the Coriolis effect, which on a much bigger scale determines weather patterns in response to the earth's rotation. Sophisticated control electronics detect the output vibration and provide an output proportional to the rate of turn.

BASE has joined forces with Sumitomo Precision Products to manufacture the silicon gyros - the pilot plant in Japan is already making 3,000 a month. "We have a contract for 18,000 gyros a year from Futaba for model helicopters," says Marketing and Sales Manager Richard Windemer. "More seriously, it could soon be used for roll-over sensing in cars to deploy advanced airbags that protect the head. Most roll-overs happen when you hit a kerb, producing about 150 G lateral acceleration, which knocks out other types of gyros. But ours can survive this kind of impact and continue measuring the roll acceleration to help an air bag to deploy properly."

ends

Notes for editors

1. The Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award is Britain's premier prize for engineering. It is given annually for outstanding innovation of benefit to the community. First presented in 1969, the award consists of a gold medal and £50,000 prize.
   
2. The outright winner of the 1999 Award will be announced in November 1999.
   
3. The three other finalists are Buro Happold for the Millennium Dome, Carbospars Ltd for the AeroRig carbon fibre sailing rig and NDS Ltd for digital terrestrial television.
   
4. The Royal Academy of Engineering aims to pursue, encourage and maintain excellence across the whole field of engineering in order to promote the advancement of the science, art and practice of engineering for the benefit of the public. The Academy comprises the UK's most eminent engineers and is able to use their combined wealth of knowledge and experience to meet its objectives.

For more information please contact:

Jane Sutton at the Royal Academy of Engineering
tel: 020 7227 0536 (direct), email: jane...@...org.uk

Chris Tear at British Aerospace Systems & Equipment
tel. 01752 722059

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