Quantum control for field-deployed, strap-down, quantum-augmented inertial navigation
Abstract
A key emerging challenge in defence is the assurance of positioning and navigational accuracy in the absence of navigational beacons, as may arise in certain underground, space, or underwater settings, or in the presence of adversarial GPS denial. Under highly-controlled laboratory conditions, quantum cold-atom acceleration sensors have demonstrated the accuracy and stability required for long duration GPS-contested positioning and navigation, making them the only currently available candidate technology for reliable dead reckoning. However, deploying cold-atom sensors in the field presents new challenges not present under laboratory conditions. This project focusses on novel solutions to the major challenges in realizing cold-atom quantum sensors for GPS-denied navigation. Through the integration of quantum control into cold-atom accelerometers, we will experimentally demonstrate how dominant platform noise sources can be suppressed, reducing the performance gap between laboratory operation and real-world field deployment. We will demonstrate and characterize quantum-augmented inertial sensors operating on platforms with high dynamics under realistic field conditions by exploiting error-robust quantum control solutions (numerically optimized laser pulses and novel pulse sequences) in the Large-Momentum-Transfer (LMT) regime. Our goal is to trade complex mechanical systems for software-enabled quantum control solutions, resulting in strap-down quantum inertial sensors that have no moving mechanical parts, low SWaP, low maintenance, and high reliability. We will validate performance experimentally using a world-leading hardware simulator platform capable of reproducing real field dynamics of vehicle motion, for example, in the laboratory. The approach of trading passive hardware shielding for active noise mitigation is endemic in conventional hardware and will be a major new contribution to quantum-enhanced navigation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502110064
Entities
People
- John Close
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Australian National University
- United States Air Force