A Canadian company has developed a cost-effective inertial optical system that is comparable in accuracy to aircraft navigation sensors. One Silicon Chip Photonics technology promises precise aerial navigation without connecting to GPS – ten times more accurate than MEMS inertial measurement modules used in modern UAVs. The system will be useful for self-driving cars and drones.
Electronics are getting smaller and faster, but miniaturization is limited by heat dissipation in copper wires. Replacing electrons with photons, and copper with optical fiber, can solve this problem, writes IE. Previously, photonic technology required large and expensive transducers, but now microphotonic and electronic components can be integrated at the microchip level.
The technology of optical MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) allows you to get rid of the limitations of electronics and transfer data faster and more efficiently. The OSCP company develops and manufactures high-performance motion sensors using silicon photonics. They use photonic integrated circuits and MEMS to measure the acceleration and rotation of an object.
OSCP aims to fully integrate optical components into a photonic chip, reducing size, mass and power consumption. As a result, the reliability of the system is increased, optical losses are reduced, and sensitivity is increased.
As for aircraft, OSCP sees wide possibilities of applying its technology for air navigation. Modern drones are equipped with numerous sensors, cameras and lidars to withstand conditions of poor visibility. Their number is excessive for the sake of greater reliability, which increases the size, mass and cost of the device. In addition, military and rescue UAVs often operate in regions where the GPS signal is not available, and high accuracy becomes extremely demanding.
OSCP technology, according to the company, is capable of turning “dumb drones” on smart ones, providing accurate navigation even when GPS is not available.
Tests of the technology were conducted together with the French company Thales, which works on the creation of unmanned rail vehicles. According to its representatives, OSCP sensors increase the autonomy of the transport system and can increase throughput by 50%, and electricity costs – by 15%.