Honour for gyroscope firm

Honour for gyroscope firm

The Segway benefits from the Plymouth-produced gyroscope

A gyroscope - which can guide anything from weapons to scooters - has helped a Plymouth-based company win a prestigious honour.

BAE Systems won a Queen's Award for Enterprise for developing a gyroscope that is used in guns, cars and the unique Segway two-wheeled scooter.

The Silicon Vibrating Structure Gyroscope is based on a ring 6mm wide which vibrates as it is turned around.

The ring's movements are processed electronically and the information picked up is used to guide and stabilise weapons.

The system is the only one of its kind in the world which can withstand the shockforce exerted by heavy gunfire.

This means that artillery shells could one day be as accurate as cruise missiles.

'Outstanding work'

Commercially, the gyroscope is also used in the self-balancing human transport device known as the Segway, another Plymouth invention.

The Segway is already being used by postmen in the United States and can be bought on the internet for £3,000.

Rather more conventionally, it can also be found in more than four million cars, in anti-skid braking and navigation systems.

Mike Turner, from BAE Systems, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be awarded this accolade.

"It is a suitable tribute to the outstanding work that has been carried out to create, develop and produce this technology."

Another Queen's Award-winning device, one which helps mothers at risk of losing their unborn babies, is being tested in Devon.

The Fetal Assist monitor, developed in Wales, can help mums-to-be who have lost their previous baby by monitoring them at home and sending information down the telephone line to the local hospital.

Lightweight monitor

A specialist can then analyse the baby's progress by reviewing its heart rate.

The maternity service in South Devon purchased the portable lightweight monitor more than two years ago.

During the past 12 months it has been used more than 500 times.

Lynne Leyshon, head of Midwifery and Gynaecology Services at South Devon Healthcare, said: "Many of those women would previously have been admitted to hospital for monitoring, incurring a cost to the department of £250 a night as well as unnecessary admission to hospital."

An internal analysis said the Fetal Assist saved the department £50,000 in the past year - covering the initial purchase cost in 10 months.