HARLEQUIN (High Accuracy Robust deployabLE Quantum Inertial Navigation) is a pioneering quantum-classical hybrid inertial navigation demonstrator designed specifically for maritime platforms. The system has been engineered from the ground up to operate reliably in challenging maritime environments, providing high-precision, single-axis acceleration and rotation measurements.
While laboratory testing, including gimbal trials, will be carried out during the project's initial phase (an ongoing SBRI project of the same name due to end in early 2025), field testing is outside the current project scope. However, a follow-on project, HARLEQUIN-ST (Sea Trial), will take the technology to sea for real-world validation and refinement. The HARLEQUIN ST project is supported by Innovate UK with a grant of £481,000. Commencing in May 2025, the project is scheduled for completion within two years.
HARLEQUIN ST is a collaboration between some of the UK’s leading organisations in quantum technology and maritime innovation. CPI TMD Technologies Ltd leads the project, responsible for system development and eventual commercialisation. The University of Strathclyde brings world-class expertise in underpinning quantum science, while Covesion Ltd supplies ruggedised laser systems essential for atom interferometry. The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond provides vessels and maritime trial facilities, ensuring the system is tested in a real-world operational environment. NLA International further supports the project by contributing maritime platform integration expertise, ensuring the final system is aligned with end-user needs.
The HARLEQUIN-ST project will see the system deployed aboard a vessel operated by the UK’s General Lighthouse Authority. During this phase, critical data will be gathered in a representative maritime environment. The insights from this sea trial will inform a programme of system enhancements to optimise performance and resilience in shipboard operations. A second sea trial at the conclusion of HARLEQUIN-ST will validate the system improvements. In addition to the HARLEQUIN demonstrator, the final trials will integrate CPI TMD’s CIFS optical clock and the GRADUATE gravity gradiometer to showcase a comprehensive maritime PNT (position, timing and navigation) solution.
At the technical heart of the HARLEQUIN ST project is a quantum-classical hybrid inertial navigation system developed by CPI TMD. It integrates a diffraction grating-based cold atom accelerometer as the quantum sensor alongside classical subsystems such as a ring laser gyroscope and an atomic clock, providing high-accuracy inertial navigation in a single axis. The use of a grating-based Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) for atom interferometry is a world first for maritime environments. This innovative approach offers inherent stability as an atom trap, combined with low size, weight, and power requirements, making it uniquely suited for shipboard applications where space and environmental stability are critical challenges.
The project also involves the development of key ruggedised subsystems essential for the operation of the quantum sensor. Atom interferometry laser systems, developed by Covesion, and the atom interferometry physics package, developed by CPI TMD, are not only vital to HARLEQUIN but also offer strong potential as standalone commercial technologies within the UK quantum market.
HARLEQUIN directly addresses a growing strategic need for resilient navigation systems that do not rely on GNSS, which is increasingly vulnerable to spoofing and denial. By providing assured navigation and timing independent of satellite signals, the HARLEQUIN ST project will strengthen the resilience of maritime operations in contested environments.
The successful demonstration of HARLEQUIN-ST will lay the foundations for the development of a full quantum PNT holdover system, an essential capability for future naval and commercial maritime platforms. The project also cements the role of UK organisations at the forefront of quantum technology innovation, with significant opportunities for future export and commercial growth in the global navigation and timing markets.
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