Global location satellite systems, or otherwise called GPS, have been the main method of aerospace navigation for decades. But as the interference increases as well as their falsification, the industry is pushing to upgrade these systems that will make them more reliable.

Now, Airbus’s Airbus Innovation Center based in Silicon Valley, Artificial Intelligence and Google’s Quantum Spinout Sandboxaq alternative way. It includes a small box of toaster, laser, a single GPU chip and deep knowledge of Earth’s magnetic field, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Technology, known as quantum detection, has been growing in various companies for decades and is now increasingly approaching the commercialization of aerospace.

Acubed recently put on a large -scale test the Magnav, her Sandboxaq quantum detection device, Flying with him for more than 150 hours in the continental US with an aircraft that Acubed calls its “flight laboratory”.

Magnav uses quantum physics to measure unique magnetic signatures in various parts of the Earth’s crust. An artificial intelligence algorithm corresponds to these signatures with an accurate location. During the test, Acubed found that it could be a promising alternative to GPS in its ability to identify the site of the plane throughout the flights.

“The difficult part was to prove that technology could work,” said Sandboxaq Managing Director Jack Hidari, adding that more tests and certifications will be required before technology will be passed through the test phase. Sandboxaq will first target defensive customers, but then on commercial flights, as the increase in GPS violation makes the need for a more urgent navigation system.

Airbus said that it cannot comment on future plans on the use of technology. “I am happy to have managed to invest so far in it,” said Eric Euteneuer, a main system engineer at Acubed. “I think this really shows that this technology can be a possible help,” he said. “The need for this covers all the basic business departments of Airbus.”

Systematic interference (GPS jamming), when geographical location signals are blocked, so that the location of a flight does not appear, and forgery, when a GPS shows a false location, rise to the Middle East and around Ukraine and Russia. Various armies in the area may use such techniques to prevent rockets and drones from finding their goals, but this practice can also affect political flights.

GPS versus quantum detection

GPS works by transmitting precise signals from a constellation of satellites surrounding the planet. But armies and malicious perpetrators can also send fake signals, which are transmitted from the ground, which are difficult to distinguish.

The quantum detection device is completely proportional, which makes it essentially Non -infringable and non -fracturedsaid Jack Hindari of Sandboxaq. Unlike GPS, it is not based on digital signals that are vulnerable to hacking. The information it provides is completely produced by the device on the boat and utilizing magnetic signatures from the Earth, which cannot be forged, he said.

Quantum detection will probably not replace all applications of traditional GPS, but can be a reliable backup and help pilots know when GPS is falsified, Hindari said.

How it works

Inside the Sandboxaq device, essentially in a small black box, a laser triggers a photon in an electron, forcing it to absorb this photon. When the laser turns off, the electron returns to its basic state and releases the photon. As the photon is released, it emits a unique signature based on the power of the Earth’s magnetic field at this particular position.

Every square meter of the world has a unique magnetic signature based on the specific way in which the charged iron particles in the melted core of the Earth magnetize the minerals in its bark. The Sandboxaq device monitors this signature, supplies it to an artificial intelligence algorithm performed in a single GPU, compares the signature with existing magnetic signature maps and returns an exact location.

The federal aviation administration requires, while planes are on the way, to be able to detect their exact position within 2 nautical miles. During the tests of Acubed, it was found that Magnav could locate the site within 2 nautical miles at 100% of the time, and could even locate the site within 550 meters, or just more than a quarter of nautical mile, at 64% of the year.

“It is the first innovative absolute navigation system we have known for the last 50 years,” Hidari said.

What else can quantum detection do?

Joe Depa, head of EY’s global innovation, said the applications of quantum detection exceed aerospace. In defense, they can also be used to detect hidden submarines and tunnels.

And in the field of healthcare, they can even detect dim magnetic signals from the brain or heart, theoretically allowing the best diagnosis of neurological and heart disease without invasive procedures.

While technology has been in the lab for decades, we are starting to see more examples of quantum detection entering the real world, Depa said.

Some analysts estimate that the quantum detection market could reach between $ 1 billion and $ 6 billion by 2040, he said.

“We’re not talking about something that will happen 20 years later,” Depa said. “This is happening here and now.”

Photo: Acubed