C. Plath, a Litton Marine Systems company, has received EC type approval from Bundesamt fur Seeschiffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) for the NAVIGAT 2100 Fiber-Optic Gyrocompass. The certificate authorizes C. Plath to attach the EC Wheel Mark of conformity to the products, in accordance with the European standard EN 60945. The Type Approval includes also other C. Plath products.

The new SR 2100 Fiber-Optic Gyrocompass is the first solid-state, fully electronic digital gyrocompass system for marine application in strapdown technology designed for integrated bridges and advanced high-speed vessels. The fundamental principle of the fiber-optic gyrocompass is the invariance of the speed of light and the so-called Sagnac effect. Here, a fiber-optic coil is used as a very sensitive rate sensor which is capable of measuring the speed of rotation of the earth. A combination of three such fiber-optic coils (gyroscopes) and two electronic level sensors is able to determine the direction of true north. From the three rate of turn signals and the information from the electronic level sensors a complex Kalman Filter computes the direction of the rotation of the earth from which geographical north is derived.

Designed in strapdown technology, the fiber optic gyrocompass is attached directly to the vessel, eliminating the use of a gimbel system. This arrangement supplies heading information and also roll, pitch and rate of turn about all three axes.
The fiber-optic gyrocompass can also be used as a sensor for stabilizer systems not only on merchant marine vessels but also on hydrofoils and catamarans. The extremely short settling time of only 30 minutes will be of great advantage for fast ferries.
More information: Litton Marine Systems