Quantum technologies for GNSS-denied navigation: a quantum inertial navigation sensor simulator

Underground and under water, navigation satellite signals cannot reach you; above ground, they can be interrupted and spoofed. Inertial navigation, the main alternative for vehicle guidance, is range-limited by accelerometer and gyroscope instability. Quantum sensors using atom matterwave interferometry promise much higher performance and, even though they are currently only prototypes, future users are keen to explore their integration into navigation systems.

This project will produce a stand-alone device that simulates a variety of future quantum inertial sensor platforms, so that navigation engineers can explore their navigational use and performance, and in turn steer the future development of quantum sensors themselves. Containing conventional sensors and a high-performance processor, and building upon our experimentally validated computational models, it will output real-time simulated responses to actual motions over standard navigation system interfaces, while recording data from a range of environmental sensors. Where current quantum prototypes are typically limited to single axis, discontinuous measurements, the simulator will mimic continuous 3-axis acceleration and rotation sensing and be configurable to simulate different sensor schemes.

The project will combine quantum physics simulations, hardware selection and implementation, packaging and interfacing. You will address a range of quantum sensor configurations and establish the practical requirements of a field-testable system. A major challenge will be the computational performance required for real-time optimization, so you will investigate efficient simulation techniques including analytical, Monte-Carlo and machine learning methods and parallel processing. Finally, you will test and validate the simulator in real and simulated field environments, including alongside existing quantum sensor prototypes.