Comparative study on north-finding methods based on the fiber optic gyroscope

Although the fiber optic gyroscope has significant advantages in the field of north-finding, it faces challenges such as noise interference and algorithm selection. This paper focuses on the north-finding methods of fiber optic gyroscopes and conducts in-depth comparative research. Based on the analysis of the two-position and four-position north-finding methods for static north-finding, an experimental system was built, which composed of a fiber optic gyroscope, a singleaxis turntable, a turntable controller, and a host computer. Comparative experiments were carried out with the northfinding time and north-finding accuracy as performance indicators. The results show that there is a positive correlation between the data collection time and the north-finding accuracy. Under the same data collection time, the four-position north-finding method has higher accuracy but takes longer. Accordingly, when high accuracy is required, it is recommended to choose the four-position north-finding method, and when the north-finding time is highly valued, it is recommended to choose the two-position north-finding method. This provides a reference for the application of fiber optic gyroscope north-finding technology.