What is it , and why does it matter ?
Quantum IMU Sensor Head Photo credit : AOSense
In August 2024 , Boeing completed a test flight using quantum navigation with a Beechcraft 1900 . It was the department ’ s first test of the quantum navigational system with partner AO- Sense of Fremont , California . Their tagline is “ Bringing atom-optic quantum science to the world ” ( www . aosense . com ). Their research team has turned innovative physics research into inertial sensor hardware while partnering on the flight test system integration .
Lowell said the Beechcraft 1900 is a good test choice because it is part of Boeing ’ s test fleet , is “ relatively inexpensive , and has good access to and control of the environment .” He said it is a convenient aircraft for the test , but “ We will likely move through different types of aircraft – we ’ ll try it out on commercial , military cargo aircraft , and eventually fighter aircraft ( which are more tightly constrained ) in later flight tests .”
Quantum Chip — Credit Fritz , Sandia National Laboratories
He added , “ Every airplane , commercial or otherwise , has an inertial navigation system . That inertial navigation system starts out okay but gets worse over time left to its own devices because it accumulates calculation errors ; every error keeps adding up .” He said errors lead to drift and pilot location confusion , and the extent of that drift gets worse with time . “ My error starts out being so many millimeters from where it is . But it gets bigger and bigger .” He said every airplane drifts about one nautical mile an hour , meaning you can be several miles from where you think you need to be by the end of a flight . He said definitively , “ Inertial systems are not good enough . This is why we use GPS on aircraft – GPS corrects inertial errors , so they do fine when GPS is available .”
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