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Why are east-west accelerations less important to a gyrocompass system?
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gyrocompass
The gyrocompass aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) ship Rainier. Gyrocompasses are navigational instruments that use a continuously driven gyroscope to accurately seek the direction of true (geographic) north.
In a gyrocompass system, east-west accelerations are not considered important due to the specific configuration of the instrument.1
While the pendulosity required for the device's north-seeking property responds to both gravity and vehicle accelerations, the system is designed such that only north-south accelerations generate torques that would cause the gyroscope to wander from true north. If these north-south accelerations were not accounted for, they would render the instrument useless for navigation.1
To maintain accuracy, the system relies on the principles developed by Max Schuler, which ensure that the heading precession caused by acceleration is balanced by the rate of change of the angle between the true and apparent meridians.1