SBIR-STTR Award

Ultrasensitive magnetometers have demonstrated their responsiveness to Navy needs ranging from basic science (ocean floor geomagnetic surveys) to military operations (detection, classification and localization of buried mines). Taking advantage of their sensitivity requires means to suppress noise caused by sensor motion in the earth's magnetic field. An additional problem with using magnetometers on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is magnetic interference generated by the AUV itself. A unique new instrument, the Room Temperature Three Sensor Gradiometer (RTG), developed by IBM, Quantum Magnetics and the Naval Coastal Systems Station, lends itself especially well to solving the AUV interference problem. It offers unprecedented potential for magnetic measurements of high sensitivity from AUV platforms for both research and military operations. In Phase I, we propose to characterize the magnetic interference field of low-cost, plastic-body AUV's and to use the information to design a generalized RTG optimized for AUV operation. In Phase II, we will fabricate, integrate and demonstrate the RTG aboard an AUV. Room Temperature Three Sensor Gradiometers (RTGs) integrated into small, inexpensive AUVs offer a new capability in sea floor geological research and military operations such as shallow-water mine reconnaissance. The generalization of RTG technology proposed here allows implementation in new application areas such as magnetic detection of corrosion and biomagnetometry.

Operating a vector-component magnetic sensor in motion with high sensitivity is challenging. Compensation of motion noise is classically achieved by configuring the sensor as a magnetic gradiometer and taking advantage of the fact that the earth's magnetic field is spatially nearly uniform. Quantum Magnetics, working with the Navy and IBM Research, has developed a unique sensor configuration, the Realtime Tracking Gradiometer (RTG) that solves the dynamic range challenges particularly well. Operating such a sensor in a low-cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) adds still more technical challenge: that of negating locally-generated magnetic interference without compromising the sensor's motion noise immunity or its responsivity to detection targets. In Phase I, we demonstrated the efficacy of two complementary approaches to mitigate local interference. One, developed by Quantum, modifies the RTG hardware, and another, developed by the Navy's Coastal System Center, adapts the noise compensation algorithm. In the Phase II Base effort, we will provide the Navy with a version of the RTG specifically designed and ready for AUV integration. We will support the Navy in sensor integration into an AUV and demonstration at sea.

Benefits:
The technology developed under this program will add to the Navy's organic MCM capability. It can also be adapted for use in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for locating underground facilities. Private-sector markets include oceanographic research, search and salvage applications, and geophysical surveys. Potential sales in each market segment can reach a few hundred units, at a cost between $5,000 and $15,000 per unit; business models structured in terms of leasing and per-use fees may generate significantly higher revenues.

Keywords:
Magnetic Gradiometer; Naval Mines; Autonomous Underwater Vehicle; Auv; Target Detection;Mine Countermeasures; Mcm; Very Shallow Water;