The early history of the closed loop fiber optic gyro and derivative sensors at McDonnell Douglas, Blue Road Research and Columbia Gorge Research

摘要

On September 29,1977 the first written disclosure of a closed loop fiber optic gyro was witnessed and signed off by four people at McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company in Huntington Beach, California Over the next ten years a breadboard demonstration unit, and several prototypes were built. In 1987 the fundamental patent for closed loop operation began a McDonnell Douglas worldwide licensing process. Internal fiber optic efforts were redirected to derivative sensors and inventions. This included development of acoustic, strain and distributed sensors as well as a Sagnac interferometer based secure fiber optic communication system and the new field of fiber optic smart structures. This paper provides an overview of these activities and transitions.