Seiko Epson Corporation today began shipping samples of products in
its new XV4001 series of high-precision gyro sensors. These sensors, designed
for car navigation systems, are available with either an SPI or I2C*1digital
output interface.
gyro sensors are generally used in car navigation systems
for pinpointing current position by sensing changes in vehicle travel direction
and for dead reckoning in locations where GPS signals are lost, such as in
tunnels. Users of analog-output quartz gyro sensors have to convert those
analog signals into digital signals, generally by using an external A/D
converter. However, converting the output format involves signal line routing,
peripheral circuitry, and other troublesome complications that place an extra
engineering load on users. Users interested in lightening this load have been
driving higher demand for gyroscopes with digital output interfaces.