Researchers at the Holistic Electronics Laboratory of the University of Cyprus have invented an innovative kind of vio-inspired gyroscope that consumes 15 times less energy.

According to a press release, Cypriot scientists-researchers at the Department of Holistic Electronics of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus, under the coordination of Assistant Professor Julius Georghiou have invented a new kind of innovative bio-inspired gyroscope, which consumes 15 times less energy than existing gyroscopes.

Gyroscopes are sensors that measure the speed of a circular object with high accuracy. They have extensive application in medical devices, automotive, mobile phones, the toy industry, aerospace, oil industry, etc.

The gyroscopes have prevailed over the past decade in the market due to their size, power consumption and performance are the Micro-electro-mechanical gyroscopes (MEMS Gyroscopes). The market for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), in which prominence have gyroscopes, is estimated that this year will grow by 14%, reaching $ 8 billion, while in 2015 will reach 9.2 billion dollars.

The main challenge faced by existing gyroscopes is the relatively high power consumption needed. As more and more devices require portability and range (medical implants, portable diagnostic devices, mobile phones, tablet computers), high power consumption of existing gyroscope prevents further development of their applications.

That may soon change, as researchers at the University of Cyprus inspired, designed, constructed and confirmed by intensive testing the function of a novel bio-inspired gyroscope that consumes 15 times less energy than existing gyroscopes.

This gyroscope simulates biological gyroscope present in the human vestibular system (the biological system that is responsible for the sense of balance and head movements) and combines micro-electro-mechanical structures with wet mass to obtain the inherent inertia.

The importance of the invention of the new class of gyroscope, the dramatic reduction in power consumption (consumes 7% compared to the existing), is potentially great, because it will open up new avenues for a wide range of portable and autonomous applications integrating gyroscopes.

The latter would solve the painful problems associated with the dysfunction of vestibulo-ocular and vestibulo-spinal reflexes due to vestibular disorders, some of which are oscillopsia, loss of balance, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision.

The research team involved in the design, manufacturing and laboratory testing of this device consists of Assistant Professor in July Georghiou, doctoral candidate Charalambos Andreou and researcher John Pachita.

The researchers have published the invention in the international journal «Sensors» and filed a patent application through the EPO.

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