Micro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro PN&T)
Abstract
The Micro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro PN&T) program is developing technology for self-contained chip-scale inertial navigation and precision guidance. This technology promises to effectively mitigate dependence on Global Positioning System (GPS) or any other external signals, and enable uncompromised navigation and guidance capabilities. The program will enable positioning, navigation and timing functions without the need for external information updates by employing on-chip calibration, thereby overcoming vulnerabilities which arise in environments where external updates are not available such as caves, tunnels, or dense urban locations. The technologies developed will enable small, low-power, micro-gyroscopes capable of operating in both moderate and challenging dynamic environments; chip-scale primary atomic clock standards; and on-chip calibration systems for error correction. Advanced micro-fabrication techniques allow a single package containing all the necessary devices (clocks, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and calibration mechanisms) to be incorporated into a volume the size of a sugar cube. The small size, weight and power of these technologies and their integration into a single package responds to the needs of guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and individual soldiers. The successful realization of a Micro PN&T device is dependent on developing fundamentally new batch microfabrication processes, gaining an understanding of the sources and effects of error at the micro-scale, and exploring new combinatorial physics. Innovative 3-D microfabrication techniques will allow co-fabrication of different materials and devices on a single chip. Clocks, gyroscopes, accelerometers, calibration stages, and 3D structures could be integrated into a small, low power architecture. This co-location of different inertial and timing devices opens the possibility for utilization of combinatorial physics in a single micro-system, enabling fast start-up time, increased bandwidth and long-term stability, thus effectively providing very accurate navigation devices. Advanced research for the program is budgeted in PE 0603739E, Project MT-12.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2014
- Source ID
- 024cbd90c6cbac4f8f6cd96a6ffe2025
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- Root: ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY