Theory

A Gyrometer (or gyroscope) is a device for measuring orientation along one or several axis. In our case, we want a gyrometer to measure the rotation of the robot on the vertical axis to determine its orientation wrt the playing field.

To do so, we will need a Yaw gyrometer. Pitch and Roll are not necessary if we plan to stay on a horizontal surface, but can be useful to determine whether the robot is on a plane or not (for instance, auto-shutdown if it is held in someone's hand).

Components

STMicroelectronics

Some interesting products:

• LY550ALHLPY503AL Pitch and Yaw, +/-500deg/s+/-30 deg/s ($8, sparkfun)
• LPR550ALLPY530AL Pitch & Roll, +/-500 deg/s

• LY530ALHand Yaw, +/-300deg/s (+/-1200($8, full scale)
• LPR530AL Pitch & Roll, +/-300 deg/ssparkfun)

Only the LY530AL is available for now, though.