New sensor tech could cut down site digging

Image: University of Birmingham

A team of scientific and engineering companies is working on a new type of sensor that will allow much better detection and monitoring of objects below ground, potentially cutting down on the investigative drilling and digging required on sites.

The Gravity Pioneer project has been awarded £6m in research funding from UK Research and Innovation to develop the quantum cold-atom sensors.

The project will be led by environmental and engineering services company RSK and consist of 12 project partners from organisations currently engaged in quantum technologies in the UK: Teledyne e2v, Fraunhofer UK, Altran, Geomatrix Earth Science, Magnetic Shields, UniKLasers, Silicon Microgravity, Optocap, QinetiQ, the University of Birmingham and the University of Southampton.

The aim is to build and test a new gravity instrument that will be twice as sensitive and can make measurements ten times faster than an industry-standard gravity sensor.

“Despite our increasing ability to detect and monitor objects that exist on land, in the sea, around buildings or in space, our ability to detect objects beneath the ground has not improved significantly,” said George Tuckwell, project lead and divisional director for geosciences and engineering at RSK.

“When it comes to attempting to locate a forgotten mineshaft, determine the extent of a sinkhole or assess the quality of infrastructure, we still often resort to digging or drilling holes. This presents huge economic and societal costs as road networks are dug up, oil wells are dry or brownfield land is left undeveloped.”

Existing techniques for ground investigation include classical microgravity, ground penetrating radar and seismic technologies, but these can be limited in sensitivity, penetration or cost.

The consortium submitted a bid in response to the £20m Quantum Technologies Pioneer Fund, which aims to develop prototypes in two years that could be used in future sensors, consumer electronics and digital services. The fund, which is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, implements the policies set out in the UK government’s white paper Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain Future for the Future, which was published in 2017.

Dr Richard Murray, business development manager at Teledyne e2v said: “A large factor in the bid’s success was the prominent role of end-users in the project structure and the full supply chain of service, instrument and component partners involved. Together, we are working to build a gravity instrument that works, that the marketplace wants and that provides value to users such as RSK and client organisations such as BP, Network Rail, HS2 and Airbus.”