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20
GYROsCOPEs TODAY
These days, many devices
use technology that relies
on the same gyroscopic
effect that the gyrobot relies
on to keep its balance. For example, did you know that
gyroscopes are also built into
smartphones? A
gyroscope is used when the screen of a smartphone
changes orientation when turned on its side. When you
play a game on a smartphone in which you control a
character by tilting or rotating the smartphone, you use
the gyroscope: The current position of the smartphone
is determined by the gyroscope, which maintains its
orientation even when the smartphone is tilted.
Of course, the gyroscopes built into
smartphones are much smaller than
the gyroscope in the gyrobot. The
gyroscope is assembled with many other
sensors and measuring instruments on
the
circuit board (the brain, so to speak)
of a smartphone.
Spinning tops, including the common toys you ar
e probably familiar with, have been
around for hundreds of years. The gyroscope, on the other hand, w
as invented
about 200 years ago by a German scientist named Johann Gottlieb F
riedrich von
Bohnenberger, who was an astronomer, mathematician, and ph
ysicist. He simply
called his invention a “Machine.” In 1852, the F
rench physicist Léon Foucault
developed Bohnenberger’s “Machine” into a ne
w device called a gyrocompass. This
was used to determine the location and course of sailing ships.
Incidentally, the name gyroscope comes from the Gr
eek
words:
gyros
= circle, and
skopos
= to look.
– a HistOrY –
Gyroscopes
Since gyroscopes always remain in their
spatial orientation, even if the spatial
orientation of their suspension changes,
gyroscopes are used in aircrafts. In every
airplane cockpit there is a gyroscope tha
t
is part of a device called an artificial
horizon: This device shows the pilots a
horizontal line that remains the same,
even if the aircraft is tilting to make a
turn, for example. The gyroscope
maintains its original horizontal position
even in an airplane flying at an angle. This
enables pilots to see exactly ho
w their
aircraft is positioned in the air,
relative
to the ground. Pilots need this
information when steering the aircraft
if they are unable to orient
themselves with the surface of the
Earth — for example, due to
darkness or clouds.
Summary of Contents for Tightrope-Walking Gyrobot
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