About us

The global positioning system (GPS) has revolutionized various fields such as ground transportation systems and geophysical research. On the contrary, it has become clear what benefits will be brought if accurate position estimation becomes possible in the ground or in the sea where the GPS does not work. It is also clarified that the ground transportation system is threatened by GPS jamming and spoofing. The technology to estimate the self-position without the help of GPS is called non-GPS navigation. The position accuracy of the non GPS navigation is restricted by the performance of the gyroscope that measures the angular velocity, in other words, the vehicle's attitude.

We are conducting research to improve the performance of gyroscopes by utilizing the quantum technology called matter-wave interference. Specifically, we are trying to enhance the Sagnac phase due to the angular velocity by employing the de Broglie waves interferometer instead of lightwave ones. We will implement the de Broglie wave interferometer as a sensor that functions even in an actual use environment with vibration and acceleration beyond the laboratory environment. As the performance of the gyroscope improves, the effects of gravity fluctuations such as gravity anomalies and vertical deflection on self-position estimation are not being ignored. This effect can be corrected in principle by the gravity gradiometer. In this project, we are also conducting basic research on the gravity gradiometer.