TORQUE: Atom Interferometric Rotation Sensor for Quantum Enhanced Navigation

M Squared Lasers and the University of Birmingham are aiming to collaborate in the area of atom interferometric rotation sensors, in order to establish a capability in the strategically important area of quantum-enhanced navigation hardware. The partners have a track record of commercialisation and project delivery in atom interferometry and related gravimeter devices. The proposed work will build upon the partners' collective expertise and close working relationship built up over the last few years in collaborations through Knowledge Transfer Studentships, the UK National Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology and Innovate UK projects in atom interferometry and gravimetry. Quantum-enhanced navigation systems aim to deliver ground-breaking performance levels for a variety of applications. The use of atom interferometry for rotation sensing is intended to enable a step change in capability for a key subsystem in future quantum inertial measurement units.

The market for quantum-enhanced rotation sensors and the inertial navigation units that they will enable, is a varied and international one, with revenue generation possibilities at each stage of commercial and technical maturity. The early potential of quantum navigation hardware is characterised by high value application scenarios, where incremental performance above the state-of-the-art in inertial measurement units has the potential to add significant value to end users. The natural initial adoption of the technology is likely to be in the military and major mobile asset sectors, where size, weight, power and cost limitations will not be a hindrance on adoption. These sectors are not very sensitive to system cost and can tolerate maturing technologies, where the value added by the performance gains can deliver a significant competitive advantage to end users. Examples of early adopters may be naval vessel navigation and our collaborators at Rolls Royce have highlighted a route to market in the maritime sector where the use of quantum-enhanced navigation capabilities could deliver their customers an edge in next generation shipping technology. For these early adopters the business opportunity for advanced navigation systems in future unmanned vessels can be evaluated in the context of the associated costs of such vehicles. The overall sector is worth US$350-400b and employs 1m people worldwide. As much as 44% of the cost of shipping is associated with the need to carry crew (Bloomberg). A scheduled launch by R-R in 2018 sees an autonomous cargo vessel being deployed at a cost roughly three times the cost of an equivalent manned vessel. The initial capital cost of such a vessel is notably higher than current options, however, the operating cost is expected to be up to 90% lower, yielding significant savings over the typical lifetime of the vessel, allowing high initial sensor costs to be tolerated. The project will engage on technical and exploitation planning with interested potential integrators, to explore the market potential in segments beyond the initial maritime target markets.

The project is expected to realise a multitude of impacts beyond the immediate project team. The overall supply chain is partly represented within the project with subsystem development and system integration participation. R-R aim to engage with the project team as a potential future OEM partner and exploitation pathway in the maritime sector. The ultimate end-users will be those reliant upon the navigation capabilities that will ultimately be enabled by the technology. The primary use case of interest to R-R is for autonomous maritime vehicles, which could feasibly be deployed for a range of civilian and defence applications. For specialist maritime vehicles, high value unmanned shipping and any sub-surface vessels, the benefits of inertial navigation systems with a long integration lifetime will justify the initial costs of the system. This area has been flagged as a priority within UK Government, with autonomous vehicles being the subject of targeted innovation funding and a recent Science and Technology Select Committee white paper. The latter identifies the UK's leading role in defining nascent regulations for autonomous maritime vehicles.
Future implementations, optimised for overall cost and form factor will have wide applicability across the spectrum of vehicle platforms, adding value to the transport sector as a whole and building in redundancy against GNSS denial. This single point of failure presents a major risk to a significant proportion of the UK's economic activity. The widespread use of autonomous vehicles in this context will reduce overall emissions by as much as 3.4% for a given level of freight transit as tonnage can be significantly reduced in future shipping technologies.