Editing Gyrocompass (section)

== Errors ==
A gyrocompass is subject to certain errors. These include steaming error, where rapid changes in course, speed and [[latitude]] cause [[Magnetic deviation|deviation]] before the gyro can adjust itself.<ref>[http://www.navis.gr/navaids/gyro.htm Gyrocompass: Steaming Error] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222083129/http://www.navis.gr/navaids/gyro.htm |date=2008-12-22 }}, Navis. Accessed 15 December 2008.</ref> On most modern ships the [[GPS]] or other navigational aids feed data to the gyrocompass allowing a small computer to apply a correction.
Alternatively a design based on a [[Inertial navigation system#Strapdown systems|strapdown architecture]] (including a triad of [[fibre optic gyroscope]]s, [[ring laser gyroscope]]s or [[hemispherical resonator gyroscope]]s and a triad of accelerometers) will eliminate these errors, as they do not depend upon mechanical parts to determinate rate of rotation.<ref name="House">Seamanship Techniques:Shipboard and Marine Operations, D. J. House, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004, p. 341</ref>