A gyroscope

A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum.^[1] In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation. Although this orientation does not remain fixed, it changes in response to an external torque much less and in a different direction than it would without the large angular momentum associated with the disk's high rate of spin and moment of inertia. Since external torque is minimized by mounting the device in gimbals, its orientation remains nearly fixed, regardless of any motion of the platform on which it is mounted.

Gyroscopes based on other operating principles also exist, such as the electronic, microchip-packaged MEMS gyroscope devices found in consumer electronic devices, solid-state ring lasers, fibre optic gyroscopes, and the extremely sensitive quantum gyroscope.

Applications of gyroscopes include inertial navigation systems where magnetic compasses would not work (as in the Hubble telescope) or would not be precise enough (as in ICBMs), or for the stabilization of flying vehicles like radio-controlled helicopters or unmanned aerial vehicles. Due to their precision, gyroscopes are also used to maintain direction in tunnel mining.^[2]

Description and diagram[link]

Diagram of a gyro wheel. Reaction arrows about the output axis (blue) correspond to forces applied about the input axis (green), and vice versa.

Within mechanical systems or devices, a conventional gyroscope is a mechanism comprising a rotor journaled to spin about one axis, the journals of the rotor being mounted in an inner gimbal or ring; the inner gimbal is journaled for oscillation in an outer gimbal for a total of two gimbals.

The outer gimbal or ring, which is the gyroscope frame, is mounted so as to pivot about an axis in its own plane determined by the support. This outer gimbal possesses one degree of rotational freedom and its axis possesses none. The next inner gimbal is mounted in the gyroscope frame (outer gimbal) so as to pivot about an axis in its own plane that is always perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the gyroscope frame (outer gimbal). This inner gimbal has two degrees of rotational freedom.

The axle of the spinning wheel defines the spin axis. The rotor is journaled to spin about an axis, which is always perpendicular to the axis of the inner gimbal. So the rotor possesses three degrees of rotational freedom and its axis possesses two. The wheel responds to a force applied about the input axis by a reaction force about the output axis.

The behaviour of a gyroscope can be most easily appreciated by consideration of the front wheel of a bicycle. If the wheel is leaned away from the vertical so that the top of the wheel moves to the left, the forward rim of the wheel also turns to the left. In other words, rotation on one axis of the turning wheel produces rotation of the third axis.

A gyroscope flywheel will roll or resist about the output axis depending upon whether the output gimbals are of a free- or fixed- configuration. Examples of some free-output-gimbal devices would be the attitude reference gyroscopes used to sense or measure the pitch, roll and yaw attitude angles in a spacecraft or aircraft.

Animation of a gyro wheel in action

The centre of gravity of the rotor can be in a fixed position. The rotor simultaneously spins about one axis and is capable of oscillating about the two other axes, and, thus, except for its inherent resistance due to rotor spin, it is free to turn in any direction about the fixed point. Some gyroscopes have mechanical equivalents substituted for one or more of the elements. For example, the spinning rotor may be suspended in a fluid, instead of being pivotally mounted in gimbals. A control moment gyroscope (CMG) is an example of a fixed-output-gimbal device that is used on spacecraft to hold or maintain a desired attitude angle or pointing direction using the gyroscopic resistance force.

In some special cases, the outer gimbal (or its equivalent) may be omitted so that the rotor has only two degrees of freedom. In other cases, the centre of gravity of the rotor may be offset from the axis of oscillation, and, thus, the centre of gravity of the rotor and the centre of suspension of the rotor may not coincide.

History[link]

Gyroscope invented by Léon Foucault in 1852. Replica built by Dumoulin-Froment for the Exposition universelle in 1867. National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts museum, Paris.

The earliest known gyroscope-like instrument was made by German Johann Bohnenberger, who first wrote about it in 1817. At first he called it the "Machine".^[3][4] Bohnenberger's machine was based on a rotating massive sphere.^[5] In 1832, American Walter R. Johnson developed a similar device that was based on a rotating disk.^[6][7] The French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace, working at the École Polytechnique in Paris, recommended the machine for use as a teaching aid, and thus it came to the attention of Léon Foucault.^[8] In 1852, Foucault used it in an experiment involving the rotation of the Earth.^[9][10] It was Foucault who gave the device its modern name, in an experiment to see (Greek skopeein, to see) the Earth's rotation (Greek gyros, circle or rotation),^[11] which was visible in the 8 to 10 minutes before friction slowed the spinning rotor.

In the 1860s, the advent of electric motors made it possible for a gyroscope to spin indefinitely; this led to the first prototype gyrocompasses. The first functional marine gyrocompass was patented in 1904 by German inventor Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe.^[12] The American Elmer Sperry followed with his own design later that year, and other nations soon realized the military importance of the invention—in an age in which naval prowess was the most significant measure of military power—and created their own gyroscope industries. The Sperry Gyroscope Company quickly expanded to provide aircraft and naval stabilizers as well, and other gyroscope developers followed suit.^[13]

In 1917, the Chandler Company of Indianapolis, created the "Chandler gyroscope", a toy gyroscope with a pull string and pedestal. Chandler continued to produce the toy until the company was purchased by TEDCO inc. in 1982. The chandler toy is still produced by TEDCO today.^[14]

In the first several decades of the 20th century, other inventors attempted (unsuccessfully) to use gyroscopes as the basis for early black box navigational systems by creating a stable platform from which accurate acceleration measurements could be performed (in order to bypass the need for star sightings to calculate position). Similar principles were later employed in the development of inertial guidance systems for ballistic missiles.^[15]

During World War II, the gyroscope became the prime component for aircraft and anti-aircraft gun sights.^[16] After the war, the race to miniaturize gyroscopes for guided missiles and weapons navigation systems resulted in the development and manufacturing of so called midget gyroscopes that weighed less than 3 ounces (85 g) and had a diameter of approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm). Some of these miniaturize gyroscopes could be spun up to 24,000 revolutions per minute in less than 10 seconds. ^[17]

3-axis MEMS-based gyroscopes are also being used in portable electronic devices such as Apple's current generation of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.^[18] This adds to the 3-axis acceleration sensing ability available on previous generations of devices. Together these sensors provide 6 component motion sensing; acceleration for X,Y, and Z movement, and gyroscopes for measuring the extent and rate of rotation in space (roll, pitch and yaw).

Properties[link]

A gyroscope in operation with freedom in all three axes. The rotor will maintain its spin axis direction regardless of the orientation of the outer frame.

A gyroscope exhibits a number of behaviours including precession and nutation. Gyroscopes can be used to construct gyrocompasses, which complement or replace magnetic compasses (in ships, aircraft and spacecraft, vehicles in general), to assist in stability (Hubble Space Telescope, bicycles, motorcycles, and ships) or be used as part of an inertial guidance system. Gyroscopic effects are used in tops, boomerangs, yo-yos, and Powerballs. Many other rotating devices, such as flywheels, behave in the manner of a gyroscope, although the gyroscopic effect is not being used.

The fundamental equation describing the behavior of the gyroscope is:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \boldsymbol\tau={{d \mathbf{L}}\over {dt}}={{d(I\boldsymbol\omega)} \over {dt}}=I\boldsymbol\alpha

where the pseudovectors τ and L are, respectively, the torque on the gyroscope and its angular momentum, the scalar I is its moment of inertia, the vector ω is its angular velocity, and the vector α is its angular acceleration.

It follows from this that a torque τ applied perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and therefore perpendicular to L, results in a rotation about an axis perpendicular to both τ and L. This motion is called precession. The angular velocity of precession Ω_P is given by the cross product:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \boldsymbol\tau=\boldsymbol\Omega_{\mathrm{P}} \times \mathbf{L}.

Precession on a gyroscope

Precession can be demonstrated by placing a spinning gyroscope with its axis horizontal and supported loosely (frictionless toward precession) at one end. Instead of falling, as might be expected, the gyroscope appears to defy gravity by remaining with its axis horizontal, when the other end of the axis is left unsupported and the free end of the axis slowly describes a circle in a horizontal plane, the resulting precession turning. This effect is explained by the above equations. The torque on the gyroscope is supplied by a couple of forces: gravity acting downward on the device's centre of mass, and an equal force acting upward to support one end of the device. The rotation resulting from this torque is not downward, as might be intuitively expected, causing the device to fall, but perpendicular to both the gravitational torque (horizontal and perpendicular to the axis of rotation) and the axis of rotation (horizontal and outwards from the point of support), i.e., about a vertical axis, causing the device to rotate slowly about the supporting point.

Under a constant torque of magnitude τ, the gyroscope's speed of precession Ω_P is inversely proportional to L, the magnitude of its angular momentum:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \tau = \mathit{\Omega}_{\mathrm{P}} L \sin\theta,\!

where θ is the angle between the vectors Ω_P and L. Thus, if the gyroscope's spin slows down (for example, due to friction), its angular momentum decreases and so the rate of precession increases. This continues until the device is unable to rotate fast enough to support its own weight, when it stops precessing and falls off its support, mostly because friction against precession cause another precession that goes to cause the fall.

By convention, these three vectors - torque, spin, and precession - are all oriented with respect to each other according to the right-hand rule.

To easily ascertain the direction of gyro effect, simply remember that a rolling wheel tends, when it leans to the side, to turn in the direction of the lean.

Variations[link]

Gyrostat[link]

A gyrostat is a variant of the gyroscope. It consists of a massive flywheel concealed in a solid casing. Its behaviour on a table, or with various modes of suspension or support, serves to illustrate the curious reversal of the ordinary laws of static equilibrium due to the gyrostatic behaviour of the interior invisible flywheel when rotated rapidly. The first gyrostat was designed by Lord Kelvin to illustrate the more complicated state of motion of a spinning body when free to wander about on a horizontal plane, like a top spun on the pavement, or a hoop or bicycle on the road.

MEMS[link]

A MEMS gyroscope takes the idea of the Foucault pendulum and uses a vibrating element, known as a MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System). The MEMS-based gyro was initially made practical and producible by Systron Donner Inertial (SDI). Today, SDI is a large manufacturer of MEMS gyroscopes.

FOG[link]

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a gyroscope that uses the interference of light to detect mechanical rotation. The sensor is a coil of as much as 5 km of optical fiber. The development of low-loss single-mode optical fiber in the early 1970s for the telecommunications industry enabled the development of Sagnac effect fiber optic gyros.

VSG or CVG[link]

A vibrating structure gyroscope (VSG), also called a Coriolis Vibratory Gyroscope (CVG),^[19] uses a resonator made of different metallic alloys. It takes a position between the low-accuracy, low-cost MEMS gyroscope and the higher-accuracy and higher-cost FOG. Accuracy parameters are increased by using low-intrinsic damping materials, resonator vacuumization, and digital electronics to reduce temperature dependent drift and instability of control signals.^[20]

High-Q Wine-Glass Resonators for precise sensors like HRG ^[21] or CRG ^[22]

DTG[link]

A dynamically tuned gyroscope (DTG) is a rotor suspended by a universal joint with flexure pivots.^[23] The flexure spring stiffness is independent of spin rate. However, the dynamic inertia (from the gyroscopic reaction effect) from the gimbal provides negative spring stiffness proportional to the square of the spin speed (Howe and Savet, 1964; Lawrence, 1998). Therefore, at a particular speed, called the tuning speed, the two moments cancel each other, freeing the rotor from torque, a necessary condition for an ideal gyroscope.

London moment[link]

A London moment gyroscope relies on the quantum-mechanical phenomenon, whereby a spinning superconductor generates a magnetic field whose axis lines up exactly with the spin axis of the gyroscopic rotor. A magnetometer determines the orientation of the generated field, which is interpolated to determine the axis of rotation. Gyroscopes of this type can be extremely accurate and stable. For example, those used in the Gravity Probe B experiment measured changes in gyroscope spin axis orientation to better than 0.5 milliarcseconds (1.4×10⁻⁷ degrees) over a one-year period.^[24] This is equivalent to an angular separation the width of a human hair viewed from 32 kilometers (20 mi) away.^[25]

The GP-B gyro consists of a nearly-perfect spherical rotating mass made of fused quartz, which provides a dielectric support for a thin layer of niobium superconducting material. To eliminate friction found in conventional bearings, the rotor assembly is centered by the electric field from six electrodes. After the initial spin-up by a jet of helium which brings the rotor to 4,000 RPM, the polished gyroscope housing is evacuated to an ultra-high vacuum to further reduce drag on the rotor. Provided the suspension electronics remain powered, the extreme rotational symmetry, lack of friction, and low drag will allow the angular momentum of the rotor to keep it spinning for about 15,000 years.^[26]

A sensitive DC SQUID magnetometer able to discriminate changes as small as one quantum, or about 2 ×10⁻¹⁵ Wb, is used to monitor the gyroscope. A precesses, or tilt, in the orientation of the rotor causes the London moment magnetic field to shift relative to the housing. The moving field passes through a superconducting pickup loop fixed to the housing, inducing a small electric current. The current produces a voltage across a shunt resistance, which is resolved to spherical coordinates by a microprocessor. The system is designed to minimize Lorentz torque on the rotor.^[27]

Modern uses[link]

In addition to being used in compasses, aircraft, computer pointing devices, etc., gyroscopes have been introduced into consumer electronics. Since the gyroscope allows the calculation of orientation and rotation, designers have incorporated them into modern technology. The integration of the gyroscope has allowed for more accurate recognition of movement within a 3D space than the previous lone accelerometer within a number of smartphones. Gyroscopes in consumer electronics are usually called Accelerometers (Acceleration sensors) and come in 3-axis, 6-axis, etc.

Examples of Gyroscope in consumer electronics include HTC Titan^[28], Nexus One^[29], iPhone 4,^[30], Nokia 808 PureView^[31], Playstation 3 controller, Wii Remote, etc.

Nintendo has integrated a gyroscope into the Wii console's Wii Remote controller by an additional piece of hardware called "Wii MotionPlus".^[32] It is also included in the 3DS, which detects movement when turning.

Cruise ships use gyroscopes to level motion sensitive devices like self-leveling pool tables.^[33]

See also[link]

• Aerotrim
• Anti-rolling gyro — Ship gyroscopic roll stabilizers.
• Attitude indicator
• Balancing machine
• Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics
• Countersteering
• Euler angles
• Eric Laithwaite
• Gyro monorail
• Gyrocar
• Gyroscopic exercise tool
• Heading indicator
• Reaction wheel
• Rifling
• Top
• Turn and bank indicator
• Turn coordinator
• LN-3 Inertial Navigation System
• Stabilizer (ship)
• Vibrating structure gyroscope

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Felix Klein and Arnold Sommerfeld, "Über die Theorie des Kreisels" (Tr., About the theory of the gyroscope). Leipzig, Berlin, B.G. Teubner, 1898–1914. 4 v. illus. 25 cm.
• Audin, M. Spinning Tops: A Course on Integrable Systems. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
• Proceedings of Anniversary Workshop on Solid-State Gyroscopy (19–21 May 2008. Yalta, Ukraine). - Kyiv-Kharkiv. ATS of Ukraine. 2009. ISBN 978-976-0-25248-6.

External links[link]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of High School Physics/Rotational Motion

• The Royal Institution’s 1974–75 Christmas Lecture Professor Eric Laithwaite
• One-Wheeled Robot-Gyrostat by Olga Kapustina and Yuri Martynenko Wolfram Demonstrations Project
• The Little Top That Aims a Gun by Gold Sanders, Popular Science July 1945
• Apostolyuk V. Theory and Design of Micromechanical Vibratory Gyroscopes

Eric Roberts Laithwaite (14 June 1921 – 27 November 1997) was a British electrical engineer, known as the "Father of Maglev" for his development of the linear induction motor and maglev rail system.

Biography[link]

Eric Roberts Laithwaite was born in Atherton, Lancashire, on 14 June 1921, raised in the Fylde, Lancashire and educated at Kirkham Grammar School. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. Through his service in World War II, he rose to the rank of Flying Officer, becoming a test engineer for autopilot technology at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough.

On demobilization in 1946, he attended the University of Manchester to study electrical engineering. His work on the Manchester Mark I computer earned him his master's degree. His subsequent doctoral work started his interest in linear induction motors. He derived an equation for 'goodness' which parametrically describes the efficiency of a motor in general terms, and showed that it tended to imply that large motors are more efficient.^[1] He became professor of heavy electrical engineering at Imperial College London in 1964 where he continued his successful development of the linear motor. He was involved in creating a self-stable magnetic levitation system called Magnetic river which appeared in the film The Spy Who Loved Me where it levitated and propelled a tray along a table to decapitate a seated dummy.

In the 1980s, he was involved in creating a device to extract energy from sea waves (see patent GB2062114); although the technology was successful in trials, it could not be made storm proof, hence it never became a commercial success.

Laithwaite was an able communicator who made many television appearances. Memorable among these were his Royal Institution Christmas Lectures to young people in 1966 and 1974. The latter of these made much of the surprising phenomena of gyroscopes.

In 1974, Laithwaite was invited by the Royal Institution to give a talk on a subject of his own choosing. He decided to lecture about gyroscopes, a subject in which he had only recently become interested. His interest had been aroused by an amateur inventor named Alex Jones, who contacted Laithwaite about a reactionless propulsion drive he (Jones) had invented. After seeing a demonstration of Jones's small prototype (a small wagon with a swinging pendulum which advanced intermittently along a table top), Laithwaite became convinced that "he had seen something impossible". In his lecture before the Royal Institution he claimed that gyroscopes weigh less when spinning and, to demonstrate this, he showed that he could lift a spinning gyroscope mounted on the end of a rod easily with one hand but could not do so when the gyroscope was not spinning. At this time, Laithwaite suggested that Newton's laws of motion could not account for the behaviour of gyroscopes and that they could be used as a means of reactionless propulsion. The members of the Royal Institution rejected his ideas and his lecture was not published. (This was the first and only time an invited lecture to the Royal Institution has not been published.) They were subsequently published independently as 'Engineer Through The Looking-Glass'

Despite this rejection and despite the fact that Laithwaite later acknowledged that gyroscopes behave fully in accord with Newtonian mechanics, he continued to explore gyroscopic behaviour, maintaining the belief that some form of reactionless propulsion could be derived from them. Laithwaite set up Gyron Ltd with William Dawson and, in 1993, applied for a patent entitled "Propulsion System". See US5860317, GB2289757 and WO9530832 for the US, UK and pct application for patents respectively. A United States Patent, Number 5860317, was granted in 1999.

It is not known whether Laithwaite's work on reactionless propulsion may have been influenced by generally similar work in the US by Norman L. Dean.

Although Laithwaite is best known for his ideas concerning gyroscopes, he also held an idea concerning moths. It was that they communicate via ultra short wave electromagnetic phenomena (Inventor in the Garden of Eden, E R Laithwaite 1994 page 199). He persisted in this belief even after the pheromone, which they actually use, had been isolated [Details?] and could even be bought 'over-the-counter' — which seems to go against his account. However, he himself had argued (1960, see below and [1]) that there must be two different mechanisms for detecting pheromones: (i) The orthodox account of chemical-gradients (effective only at short-range), and (ii) Some method for long-distance detection (>"100 yards") even when the wind was in an unfavourable direction — and the only credible solution then had to be electromagnetic, (probably infrared). This explanation did not account for where the necessary energy might come from — a matter later taken up by P.S.Callahan, though he too suffered considerable controversy (largely due to all contestants overlooking Laithwaite's "(i)/(ii)" distinction). Anyway, present indications are that the energy comes from fluorescence effects whereby the pheromone molecules near the female act as a cloud of infrared beacons (invisible to us humans) while these same molecules also act as the conventional concentration-gradient for any nearby male-moths; (Traill, 2005 [2], 2008 [3]).

Laithwaite also had a habit of championing the ideas of amateurs over those of experts. Such ideas included the ones that there are three types of magnetism and that the '196 problem' is not a problem: terminating after relatively few iterations (in fact, the current count runs to millions of iterations – with no sign of termination).

Laithwaite retired from Imperial College in 1986, but was offered no other research post until 1990, when he became Visiting Professor at Sussex University. He was persuaded by George Scelzo of PRT Maglev Systems in Chicago, to submit a proposal to NASA for an electromagnetic launch assist track originally inspired by John Mankins of NASA. He died within weeks of the contract being awarded. The initial stage has been successfully continued by William Dawson and the contract with PRT for this development is still active. The track uses both levitation coils and linear induction motors and it can be seen in the "Magnets" episode of Modern Marvels on the History channel.

He was also a keen entomologist and the co-author of The Dictionary of Butterflies and Moths (1975); he had one of the finest British collections of specimens. He married, in 1951, Sheila Gooddie; they had two sons and two daughters.

Published works[link]

Articles[link]

• A Radiation Theory of the Assembling of Moths The Entomologist, June–July 1960, vol.93(1166–1167), pp. 113–117, 133–137 +plate(III)
• The multiplication of bananas by umbrellas Electrical Review, 20–27 December 1974, pp. 822–824
• The bigger they are, the harder they fall Electrical Review, 14 February 1975, pp. 40–42
• 1975 – A space odyssey Electrical Review, 28 March – 4 April 1975, pp. 398–400
• Roll Isaac, roll – Part I Electrical Review, Vol. 204, No. 7, 16 February 1979, pp. 38–41
• Roll Isaac, roll – Part II Electrical Review, Vol. 204, No. 11, 16 March 1979, pp. 31–33
• Give us a sign Electrical Review, Vol. 207, No. 3, 18 July 1980, pp. 40–42
• "Gaze in wonder: an engineer looks at biology", (1988), Speculations in Science and Technology, vol.11(4), 341–345.
• The influence of Michael Faraday on power engineering. Power engineering journal, Vol.5, No. 5, September 1991, pp. 209–219

Books[link]

• Propulsion without wheels (1965)
• Induction machines for special purposes (1966)
• The engineer in wonderland (1967) — The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas lectures, 1966/67. With illustrations, including a portrait.
• The linear motor and its application to tracked hovercraft (1971)
• Linear electric motors (1971)
• Experiments with a linear induction motor (1971)
• Exciting electrical machines (1974)
• All things are possible: an engineer looks at research and development (1976)
• Transport without wheels ed. (1977)
• How to invent (1977) co-written by M.W. Thring
• Why does a glow-worm glow? (1977) illustrated by Mike Jackson
• Electric energy: its generation, transmission and use (1980) co-written by L.L. Freris
• Engineer through the looking glass (1980)— a revised and expanded version of his Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas lectures, 1974/75. With illustrations, including a portrait.

• Invitation to engineering (1984)
• Shape is important (1986)
• Force: a basic ingredient (1986)
• A history of linear electric motors (1986)
• Using materials (1987)
• Size is vital (1987)
• An inventor in the Garden of Eden (1994)

Honours[link]

• S. G. Brown Medal of the Royal Society (1966)
• Nikola Tesla Award of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Fellow of Imperial College London (1991)
• Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (1992)

Bibliography[link]

• "Eric Laithwaite defies Newton", New Scientist, November 14, 1974, p470

References[link]

External links[link]

• Obituary at Keelynet
• Obituary of Professor Eric Laithwaite in the Independent
• NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project: COMMON ERRORS: Gyroscopic Antigravity a NASA page discussing Laithwaite's demonstration.
• The Foster-Miller Maglifter project, which has a picture of their linear motor subscale system.
• The Royal Institution’s 1974-75 Christmas Lecture video
• This is the Heretic program about Eric Laithewaite towards the end of his career. It explains the battle he had trying to get the scientific community to accept or even investigate his ideas.
• Repetition of Laithwaite's experiments, with explanations
• "How Popperian positivism killed a good-but-poorly-presented theory — Insect Communication by Infrared". Ondwelle: Melbourne. (Dec.2005) — a critique of a "debate" over insects and infrared, in which Laithwaite was cited, and yet partly ignored!
• "Critique of the 1977 debate on infra-red 'olfaction' in insects — (Diesendorf v. P.S.Callahan)"; Conference of the Australian Entomological Society; at Orange, NSW, (30 September 2008).
• Imperial college 1984 video of Laithwaite's magnetic river in operation

Boards of Canada
Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin
Background information
Also known as	Hell Interface
Origin	Edinburgh, Scotland
Genres	Electronic Ambient IDM Experimental Psychedelic Downtempo
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Warp, Skam, Music70
Website	boardsofcanada.com
Members
Mike Sandison Marcus Eoin
Past members
Christopher Horne[1]

Boards of Canada (commonly abbreviated BoC) are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison (born June 1, 1970) and Marcus Eoin (born July 21, 1971). They are signed with Warp Records and have released several works on that label with little advertising and few interviews, while also having an elusive and obscure back-catalogue of releases on their self-run Music70 label. They have also recorded four tracks under the alias Hell Interface.

Musical style[link]

Boards of Canada's music is reminiscent of the warm, analogue sounds of 1970s media and contains themes of childhood, nostalgia and the natural world. Mike and Marcus have mentioned the documentary films of the National Film Board of Canada, from which the group's name is derived, as a source of inspiration.

History[link]

Early years (1986–1994)[link]

Growing up in a musical family, brothers^[2] Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin began playing instruments at a young age. They experimented with recording techniques at around the age of 10, using tape machines to layer cut-up samples of found sounds over compositions of their own. In their teens they participated in a number of amateur bands; however, it was not until 1986 when Marcus was invited to Mike's band that Boards of Canada was born. By 1989, the band had been reduced to Sandison and Eoin.^[3] In the early 1990s, a number of collaborations took place and the band put on small shows among the "Hexagon Sun" collective.

[edit] From Twoism onwards (1995–present)

In 1995, the band made their first Hexagon Sun studio release, the EP Twoism. Like earlier Music70 releases, it was produced in a self-financed limited run and was privately distributed, primarily to friends and labels. Unlike previous releases, however, a small number of copies were also released to the public through the IDM mailing list. Though not a widespread commercial release, it was considered of sufficient quality and worth to be subsequently re-pressed in 2002. The band made another release in 1996; titled Boc Maxima, it was a semi-private release that was notable for being a full-length album, and was the precursor to Music Has the Right to Children, with which it shares many tracks.

Boards of Canada's first commercial release occurred after attracting the attention of Autechre's Sean Booth, of the English label Skam Records, one of many people sent a demo EP. Skam issued what was considered Boards of Canada's first "findable" work, Hi Scores, in 1996. Music has the Right to Children was subsequently released in 1998. John Peel featured Boards of Canada on his BBC Radio 1 program in January of that year. The session featured two remixes from Music Has the Right to Children — "Aquarius (Version 3)" and "Olson (Version 3)" — along with the tracks "Happy Cycling" and "XYZ". Excluding "XYZ", the set was released on a Warp Records CD titled Peel Session TX 21/07/1998.

Though never an actively touring band, Boards of Canada did perform a handful of shows. Early shows saw them supporting Warp labelmates Seefeel and Autechre in a handful of UK dates. They also participated in a few festivals and multi-artist bills, including two Warp parties: Warp's 10th Anniversary Party in 1999, and The Incredible Warp Lighthouse Party almost one year later. They made their most prominent showing in 2001 as one of the headliners at the Tortoise-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival. They have not performed a live show since.

The band released a four-track EP, In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country, in November 2000, their first original release in two years. The LP edition was pressed on sky blue vinyl. A full-length album, Geogaddi, was then released in 2002. It was described by Sandison as "a record for some sort of trial-by-fire, a claustrophobic, twisting journey that takes you into some pretty dark experiences before you reach the open air again."^[4]

Their third album for Warp Records, The Campfire Headphase, was released on 17 October 2005 (18 October in the United States). The album featured fifteen tracks, including "Peacock Tail", "Chromakey Dreamcoat," and "Dayvan Cowboy". Two versions of "Dayvan Cowboy" — the original and a remix by Odd Nosdam — are on the six-track EP, Trans Canada Highway, which was released on 26 May 2006.

In late 2009 the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation featured two BoC covers, one by Bibio of their song "Kaini Industries" and one by Mira Calix of "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country". Warp20 (Recreated) is part of the larger Warp20 boxed set, which also includes two previously unreleased Boards of Canada tracks, "Seven Forty Seven" and a 1.8 second sample of "Spiro".

Recently, rumors gained attention in the internet about a new album release from Boards of Canada in 2012. A fan posted a quote in the official Band's Facebook page: "Rumors of a new BOC album are rife? Any truth in this?" the band in response wrote just "yes". A representative from Warp Records said that there is no information about scheduled release but confirmed that the band is "definitely working on new material".^[5]

Sound and methods[link]

BoC's sound is a product of their use of analog equipment, mix of electronic and conventional instrumentation, use of distorted samples as well as live and recorded lyrics, and their layering and blending of these elements.^[6][7] Because they avoid a purely synthetic sound, their music is often described as having a warm, emotive quality often meant to inspire nostalgia. This is helped by the use of samples from 1970s television shows and other media prevalent in the era of the brothers' shared childhood, especially the nature-inspired documentaries produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Brief interludes or vignettes feature prominently in BoC's music. Such songs are often weaving melodies or speech accompanied by atmospherics to capture a specific moment or mood. They often last less than two minutes, but, as BoC state, "we write far more of [these] than the so-called 'full-on' tracks, and, in a way, they are our own favorites".^[8] BoC have written an enormous number of such fragments as well as full-length tracks, most of which have been held back from release. It does not appear that their music is made exclusively for commercial release; rather, albums seem to be the result of selecting complementary songs from current work. For instance, Geogaddi's development allegedly involved the creation of 400 song fragments and 64 complete songs, of which 22 were selected (possibly 23, if the final track of complete silence is included).^[8] Says Marcus: "The idea of the perfect album is this amorphous thing that we're always aiming at […] the whole point of making music is at least to aim at your own idea of perfection."^[8]

Interviews with the Sandison brothers provide some insight into their creative inspiration. They have cited several acts that have influenced their work, including Joni Mitchell, The Incredible String Band ("we have all the String Band records […] our rural sensibilities are similar"),^[8] The Beatles ("[they] really became enthralling to us through their psychedelism")^[9] and My Bloody Valentine ("even if we don't sound like them, there's a connection in terms of the approach to music").^[10]

They have also expressed a strong interest in the power of subliminal messaging and their work is full of cryptic messages,^[11] including references to numerology and cult figures such as David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, amongst other vague hints.^[12] When questioned about their aims in making such references, BoC express themselves in neutral terms ("We're not religious at all [...] and if we're spiritual at all it's purely in the sense of caring about art and inspiring people with ideas.")^[8] while remaining fascinated with the ability of music to influence the minds of others ("[We] do actually believe that there are powers in music that are almost supernatural. I think you actually manipulate people with music...").^[13]

Discography[link]

Major releases[link]

• 1995: "Twoism" - (Music70)
• 1996: "Hi Scores" - (Skam)
• 1998: "Aquarius" - (Skam)
• 1998: Music Has the Right to Children – (Warp/Skam) #193 UK
• 1999: Peel Session TX 21/07/1998 (Warp)
• 2000: In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country – (Warp/Music70)
• 2002: Geogaddi – (Warp/Music70) #21 UK
• 2005: The Campfire Headphase – (Warp) #41 UK
• 2006: Trans Canada Highway (Warp)

[edit] Old Tunes and other oddities

Supposed early Boards of Canada recordings have been found online, claiming to be original tracks from Catalog 3, Acid Memories, Hooper Bay and other pre-Twoism albums. All unreleased albums are presumed to be inauthentic BoC recordings, with the exceptions of Boc Maxima and the Old Tunes tapes.^[14] While the Old Tunes tapes are believed to be authentic, mostly due to the inclusion of very similar tracks found elsewhere on official releases, there has never been any official recognition of their authenticity.

Media usage[link]

Many Boards of Canada compositions are used in the BBC's motoring show, Top Gear, such as 1969 from the album Geogaddi, and Pete Standing Alone from the predecessor album Music Has the Right to Children.

The composition "Dayvan Cowboy" from The Campfire Headphase was used in CSI: Miami and Kyle XY.

The composition "Rue The Whirl" was used in an episode of Spaced.

The composition "Amo Bishop Roden" is used in Season 3, episode 5 of Skins.

The compositions "Turquoise Hexagon Sun", "Aquarius", and "Sixtyniner" were used in the dark humour animated series Monkey Dust, which aired on BBC Three from 2003-2005.

"Roygbiv" was used in a scene of That Mitchell and Webb look in episode 2 of season 2.

The compositions "Gyroscope" and "You Could Feel the Sky" were used in the Norwegian Black Metal documentary Until The Light Takes Us.

The composition "Open the Light" is used in "Are we still evolving?" episode of BBC Horizon documentary programme.

David Firth often uses Boards of Canada compositions in his animations, notably "Beware the Friendly Stranger," a track from Geogaddi which was the backing to Firth's cartoon series Salad Fingers.

Adult Swim on Cartoon Network sometimes uses samples from "The Campfire Headphase" for its Bumps or messages to its audience.

See also[link]

• Warp Records
• Music70
• Hexagon Sun Collective

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Boards of Canada

• Official website
• Boards of Canada at Warp Records
• Boards of Canada at Allmusic
• Boards of Canada at the Internet Movie Database