The mystic appeal of quantum tech to navigate into the future

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), 

which is being relied upon today for almost all forms of navigation, including that of smart and autonomous cars, is not without its share of flaws. For one, it depends on signals sent to and from satellites launched into outer space, which makes it a costly affair to maintain the constellation and improve capacity. Secondly, there are occasional reports from the US government agencies about GNSS-related security risks and their vulnerability to attack. Limitations of GNSSes under water are also known, making these ineffective for use with submarines. In order to overcome all this, scientists at the UK Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram is a technicallyqualified freelance writer, editor and hands-on mom based in Chennai A man in an autonomous driving test vehicle Age of The Drivables Tech Focus 30 July 2015 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) have developed a quantum compass that can achieve similar functions using the subatomic changes in Earth’s magnetic field. The technology used is totally unlike anything you have heard of before. Special lasers are used to cool atoms to temperatures much colder than outer space. At such low temperatures, the slow-moving, lowenergy atoms become extremely sensitive to changes in Earth’s magnetic and gravitational field. According to the team’s press report, “If trapped on a small device, their tiny fluctuations can then be tracked from great distances away and their locations pinpointed with a huge degree of accuracy.” What makes this technology appealing to smartphone companies and autonomous carmakers is that, it has a very high degree of security. Unlike a GNSS, no outside interference can disrupt it. Bob Cockshott of National Physics Laboratory, the UK, commented in a media report that, “There is nothing in physics that could be used—given the knowledge we have now—to disrupt one of these devices.” It is expected that usable quantum compasses will hit the market by 2019. These will be so small that these could easily be fitted into small chips, making these easy to use, not just in vehicle navigation but also in a variety of devices including smartphones.