Editing Gimbal (section)

=== Inertial navigation ===

In inertial navigation, as applied to ships and submarines, a minimum of three gimbals are needed to allow an [[inertial navigation system]] (stable table) to remain fixed in inertial space, compensating for changes in the ship's yaw, pitch, and roll. In this application, the [[inertial measurement unit]] (IMU) is equipped with three [[orthogonal]]ly mounted gyros to sense rotation about all axes in three-dimensional space. The gyro outputs are kept to a null through drive motors on each gimbal axis, to maintain the orientation of the IMU. To accomplish this, the gyro error signals are passed through "[[Resolver (electrical)|resolver]]s" mounted on the three gimbals, roll, pitch and yaw. These resolvers perform an automatic matrix transformation according to each gimbal angle, so that the required torques are delivered to the appropriate gimbal axis. The yaw torques must be resolved by roll and pitch transformations. The gimbal angle is never measured.
Similar sensing platforms are used on aircraft.

In inertial navigation systems, [[gimbal lock]] may occur when vehicle rotation causes two of the three gimbal rings to align with their pivot axes in a single plane. When this occurs, it is no longer possible to maintain the sensing platform's orientation.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}