Gyrolog – Creating a 3-Dimensional Digital Collection of Classical Gyro Instruments

Gyro instruments represent a demanding technology, which became increasingly important during the 20th century. Its significant influence on navigation and guidance of especially maritime and aerospace vehicles make them more and more interesting for historians of technology and museums. Furthermore, they form the essential background for understanding the origin of modern inertial systems.The Chair of Adaptive Structures in Aerospace Engineering of the University of Stuttgart maintains a unique, large collection of all kinds of classic, rotating mass gyro instruments like artificial horizons, directional gyros and rate gyros. The collection was established in the 1960s and was initially used for university teaching and research.To support historical as well as didactical research, it is intended to make these gyro instruments virtually available for experts, but also for a broader community in general. This is done by creating 3-dimensional (3D) digital models of the objects – the purpose of the current Gyrolog project at the University of Stuttgart.The highly complex structures of the gyro instruments represent especially demanding digitisation requirements. Therefore, a combination of methods from photogrammetry, endoscopy and computed tomography (CT) is employed. They aim at creating vectorised 3D models being usable for environments of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.It is planned to make the digital collection available via Internet by the library of the University of Stuttgart in 2020. The access of each instrument is enhanced by relevant metadata, regular photographs as well as details about specifications, origin, and usage.