The Development History of Marine Compasses—“The Compass Enters the Fiber-Optic Era”
2021-11-09 10:27
In the early days of human navigation, magnetic compasses were used to guide ships. With the advent of the industrial era, in 1908, Dr. Anschütz of Germany developed the world’s first conventional mechanical gyrocompass. Since then, mechanical gyrocompasses have gradually become the mainstream marine navigation equipment and have dominated the marine compass market for over 110 years.
I. The Development History of Marine Compasses—“The Compass Enters the Fiber-Optic Era”
In the early days of human navigation, magnetic compasses were used to guide ships. With the advent of the industrial era, in 1908, Dr. Anschütz of Germany developed the world’s first conventional mechanical gyrocompass. Since then, mechanical gyrocompasses have gradually become the mainstream marine navigation equipment and have dominated the marine compass market for over 110 years.
Figure: Chinese Ship
Traditional mechanical gyrocompasses use the high-speed rotation of a gyro rotor to determine north and navigate. However, due to the long stabilization time required for the high-speed rotating rotor, its tendency to generate heat, and its susceptibility to wear, they have the following inherent shortcomings: 1. Long startup time; 2. High maintenance costs (including regular fluid replacement and ball replacement, etc.); 3. They are prone to swing and impact errors, making them less suitable for navigation at high speeds, in highly dynamic conditions, and at high latitudes; 4. Large size, high power consumption, and significant noise levels; 5. Inconvenient to carry and install.
Since the 1990s, with the rapid advancement of optical and electronic technologies, a new generation of fiber-optic gyrocompasses has emerged in the marine navigation market. This new-generation fiber-optic gyrocompass is a solid-state, optomechanical integrated fiber optic gyroscope that addresses the technical challenges inherent in traditional mechanical gyrocompasses. Just as the evolution from analog-signal mobile phones—the “big brothers”—to smart digital phones using digital signals marked a leap forward in communication and navigation technology, this innovation has enabled a significant breakthrough in the field. After decades of industrial development, the technology behind these products has now reached a high level of maturity.
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