Development of the novel underwater navigation system with the wireless Muometric Positioning System (muPS)
Abstract
The "Development of novel underwater navigation system with the wireless Muometric Positioning System (muPS)" project aims at becomi ng the first step in the development of a wireless, low-power, and economical underwater navigation system called muPS. This muPS te chnique was introduced for the first time in 2020 in a Nature Research Journal (H.K.M. Tanaka, Scientific Reports 10, 18896 2020) an d the wired system has already been proven at the laboratory scale. The goal of this 9-month project is to expand this proof of conc ept (POC) system to a more realistic spatial scale to demonstrate how these initial results of muPS can be adapted to future wireles s underwater navigation systems by conducting (A) developments of wireless muPS, (B) lab-based underwater testing, and (C) Arctic un derwater testing at an icy lake, Lapland, Finland located in latitudes higher than 66o33 towards the next 9-month project to comple te the muPS underwater navigation system that works at extremely low temperatures below -55oC. Cosmic-ray muon particles are employe d in muPS since they more predictably propagate through media than sound. They travel at the speed of light in a vacuum; thus, they are faster than light in water, and consequently muPS is in principle not affected by the fluctuations of the aquatic environment, e .g., variations in salinity, temperature, or internal density waves in the upper ocean that provide a considerably less predictable propagation medium for sound. The role for muPS would therefore be to provide navigation without being influenced by these fluctuati ons, and thus muPS would potentially have wide-ranging benefits comparable to conventional acoustic navigation techniques, but it is clear that the full range of these benefits will never be fully available without the removal of the necessity of maintaining a wir ed connection between the reference stations and the receiver; therefore, developing a wireless system for muPS is a goal of this pr oposal. Also, cosmic-ray muons are ubiquitous and universally available anywhere on our planet, from the poles to the equator. Unlik e the acoustic technique, which requires extra power to generate probes on site, muPS measurements are passive, and thus can in prin ciple operate with high power efficiency and in latitudes above 60o. In this proposal, a detailed plan to develop first wireless muP S is presented for consideration.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Source ID
- N629092112066
Entities
People
- Chris Steer
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy