Is it possible to use the smartphone's gyroscope/etc. to simulate a gyro compass and determine the true north of the earth without the actual compass?

[SHCreeper]

I've been working on an indoor navigation system on my own and was trying to figure out how to get my orientation without using marker. That's when I saw a submarine film which made me wonder how they navigate under water, without any sight and limited GPS functionality. That's where gyro compasses come into view. As far as I can tell they are just rotating plates that keep their relative direction, even if the earth under them rotates away. (relative to who knows what, right?). So I've been wondering if it's possible to detect the earth rotation with the sensors in a smartphone. Does the gyro compass or accelorometer react differently if you move your phone with or against the earth's rotation?  

Thank you if anyone can help me with that!

[chen57]

(relative to who knows what, right?).

they use the magnetic attraction of the north pole i think.

 

Does the gyro compass or accelorometer react differently if you move your phone with or against the earth's rotation? 

the earth moves so slowly that no, i dont think it would react differently.

[SHCreeper]

I mean the earth moves with about 460 meters per second. That's not that slow. Also according to the Sensor Multitool app on my phone, the resolution of my gyroscope is 0.0000174533 rad/s. That does not sound like it would be impossible.

[wasab]

9 hours ago, James Evens said:

Keep in mind that error will sum up but basically with a compass and gyroscope you can build a indoor navigation system. I only have used the gyroscope in the past to estimate a few meter distance not for kilometre of navigation.

If you are in known environment you can triangulate the position by looking at various wifi signals. 

 Which star trek episode are you from?

[Mira Yurizaki]

19 hours ago, SHCreeper said:

So I've been wondering if it's possible to detect the earth rotation with the sensors in a smartphone. Does the gyro compass or accelorometer react differently if you move your phone with or against the earth's rotation? 

The phone's frame of reference is against the Earth, assuming you're not moving either. Which means anything it detects will be relative to Earth, not relative to outside of it. The only way to detect if the Earth is moving is to use another frame of reference.

 

Otherwise you don't need the Earth to figure out if you can detect velocity of a moving body while in/on it. Try to figure out the velocity of a car while riding in it once it gets to a constant speed.