Patent ID: 7188523

Claim:
A vibrating mass gyroscope comprising: a mass disposed for movement; first and second electrodes disposed adjacent the mass along an x-axis and y-axis, respectively; a reference contact point on the mass; circuitry, coupled to the first and second electrodes, adapted to provide during a first mode a dither driving voltage between the reference point and one of the first and second electrodes causing vibrating displacement of the mass along the one of the x-axis and y-axis associated with the one of the first and second electrodes while sensing a measurement voltage between the contact point and the other of the first and second electrodes where the measurement voltage represents a first angular value; the circuitry adapted to provide during a second mode a dither driving voltage between the reference point and the other of the first and second electrodes causing vibrating displacement of the mass along the one of the x-axis and y-axis associated with the other of the first and second electrodes while sensing a measurement voltage between the reference point and the one of the first and second electrodes where the measurement voltage represents a second angular rate value; a signal processor coupled to the circuitry and adapted to receive the first and second angular rate values, and to generate a resulting angular rate value based on both the first and second angular rate values.