PNT and Quantum 

Look into the future of navigation and timing with our Quantum Positioning and Navigation Technology (PNT) event coming later this year. Quantum PNT harnesses the principles of quantum mechanics such as superposition and entanglement, to attempt to offer unparalleled accuracy and resilience in positioning and timing.
• Quantum sensors can detect minute changes in the environment with unprecedented sensitivity. These sensors measure gravitational fields, accelerations, and rotations. Will these sensors enable breakthroughs in inertial navigation, providing autonomous systems with precise positioning and orientation capabilities in challenging or GNSS-denied environments? The potential performance improvements are game-changing, but so are the challenges to realise them. 
• Quantum clocks claim to pave the way for ultra-precise timekeeping essential for modern applications. Quantum clocks harness the inherent properties of quantum particles by trapping and interrogating individual atoms or ions, to create an ultra-stable reference signal. 
• So-called quantum algorithms are looking to exploit future quantum computing's potential to revolutionise navigation and timing tasks, solving complex problems at an exponentially higher speed than currently.

The RIN PNT Advisory Group plans to offer the potential to gain insights into the latest advancements, exchange ideas, and collaborate on shaping the future of Quantum PNT. Whether you're an enthusiast, researcher, or industry leader, our event will offer the chance to expand your network and foster collaborations that drive innovation forward.

More to come when available.

The Intersection of AI and PNT

Our new focus area investigates the intersection between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) to understand how AI might shape the future of performance and efficiency. As we navigate an increasingly complex and interconnected world, AI could be a powerful ally in enhancing the capabilities of PNT systems. Using advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques, AI augments traditional positioning and navigation methods, enabling smarter, more adaptive systems capable of real-time decision-making and autonomous operation. AI-driven data fusion techniques claim to integrate diverse sensor data sources dynamically to enhance positioning accuracy and performance, even in challenging environments such as urban canyons or dense foliage. 

The integration of AI and PNT unlocks a multitude of possibilities across various industries and sectors, including timing, autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, emergency response and urban mobility. There is a lot of hype around what AI can do, the RIN as always will take a balanced, evidence-led approach to try and avoid this hype. 

Together with Cambridge Wireless we will be hosting an event tackling the subject of "Navigating the AI Revolution in PNT" on 10 July. In this half-day event run by Cambridge Wireless and the Royal Institute of Navigation we will be hearing from experts across academia and industry and discussing where we think AI can have the most significant impact on Positioning Navigation and Timing.  RIN Members can join this event free of charge - keep an eye out on your e-mails for a discount code!

Join our community of innovators helping to understand and drive this evolution of AI and PNT by signing up to the special interest group of the mailing list. Watch out for further event announcements soon and let us know if you have ideas to investigate!

International Collaboration

In an increasingly interconnected world, collaboration is key. PNT Advisory Group Exec team member Professor Terry Moore is also a member of the US PNT Advisory Board, a Federal group formally advising the US Government. RIN Fellow Renato Filjar also attends this board. Through strategic partnerships with this Board and international colleagues, we can harness the collective expertise and resources of the RIN and other organisations to face head-on the common challenges and opportunities for innovation in PNT technology and policy. 

The presence of RIN members at this prestigious US event, held twice a year, means that activities in the UK and the events and discussion we have, get fed directly into the advice presented to both the US and UK Governments, plus those international partners who attend. It also facilitates collaboration with international standards organisations and regulatory bodies to ensure the reliability and accuracy of PNT services globally.

PNT is essential to space sustainability and debris removal

Space debris, ranging from defunct satellites to spent rocket stages, poses a significant risk to active spacecraft and critical infrastructure in orbit. With millions of objects orbiting the Earth at varying velocities, even small fragments have the potential to cause catastrophic collisions, generating more debris in a cascading effect known as the Kessler syndrome.

PNT technologies play a vital role in tracking and monitoring space debris, providing precise positioning data and accurate timing information essential for predicting potential collision events and avoiding hazardous encounters. These are delivered through ground-based and space-based sensors, radar systems, and optical telescopes. From collision avoidance manoeuvres to end-of-life disposal protocols, effective mitigation strategies against the impact of debris issues, rely on timely and accurate PNT solutions to ensure the safe and sustainable operation of spacecraft in orbit. 

The PNT advisory group have held initial discussions on the need for an event or activity to explore the challenge of space debris further. No conclusions have been reached but this early discussion has already thrown up interesting topics that could be potentially critical for the future. Professor Marek Ziebart will be giving a talk on this topic at the RIN AGM and Annual review meeting, sign up now.

Inertial systems and Autonomy

The wider RIN team, together with InnovateUK, The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and Zenzic have delivered part one of a 2-part event that investigated the need and use of inertial navigation systems in platforms such as autonomous vehicles, drones, and robotics delivering new capability to navigate with accuracy and autonomy.

Inertial navigation systems (INS) serve as the backbone of autonomy, providing continuous position, velocity, and attitude information based on the integration of accelerometers and gyroscopes. The event series discusses the evolution of INS technology, from traditional strapdown systems to advanced MEMS-based sensors, and their applications across land, sea, air, and space domains.

By combining INS with complementary positioning technologies such as GNSS, LiDAR, and computer vision, autonomous systems can achieve centimetre-level accuracy even in GNSS denied environments. Our event showed that inertial navigation offers resilience against GNSS outage, signal interference, and adverse weather conditions, and that the innovation landscape in this area is alive and well. 

The next event in the series in in November 2024 and will focus on integration of inertial technology in to vehicle systems and supply chains. 

PNT Best Practices

The PNT Advisory Group and the Technical Committee chair are working with the UK National PNT Office on developing a set of PNT resilience principles and best practice guidance for our Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). 

PNT services underpin the operation of CNI, providing accurate timing, precise positioning, and reliable synchronisation essential for the functioning of sectors such as telecommunications, energy, transportation, and finance. 

Awareness of the use, vulnerabilities, and risks associated with PNT within the CNI has now been acknowledged as needing to improve, in the UK National Risk Register and the UK PNT Framework . The RIN and its membership are engaged to develop a set of principles and practices to not only continue to raise awareness of how to mitigate against the impact of loss of the primary PNT source (normally GPS), but the delivery of these to the Government will go a long way to improve, if implemented, the resilience of our CNI, public safety, and economic stability in an ever-changing threat landscape. 

Expanding the Frontiers of PNT in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

LEO satellites offer unique advantages for PNT applications, including lower latency, enhanced coverage, and greater accessibility to remote regions. LEO PNT offers fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurship in the PNT sector. Startups and emerging ventures are levering LEO-based PNT technologies to develop groundbreaking applications in precision agriculture, autonomous transportation, smart cities, disaster response, and beyond. 

Unlocking the full potential of PNT delivered by capabilities in LEO requires collaborative efforts between government agencies, industry stakeholders, academia, and international partners. 

Following a very successful LEO PNT event some time ago, discussions are under way to hold a second LEO PNT event and monitor the progress since the last event. 

The European Navigation Conference 2024

This update is finished just as ENC2024 is coming to a successful close. Reports and updates from the conference will come out in Navigation News in due course, but for me the take aways are: 

• Well over 300 people attended which resulted in lots of new connections made.
• There is more early-stage research than expected in PNT being carried out across Europe.
• The UK is firmly on the right track regarding its thoughts on PNT, and the creation of the National PNT Office is being seen as leading the way from a national standpoint. 
• Our previous work on LEO PNT has shown that the RIN is keeping track with the market as LEO PNT was a significant topic, as were the impacts on interference and spoofing – space vehicles impacted was mentioned in Prof Todd Humphrey’s keynote.
• The ESA FutureNav and Moonlight programme are really pushing the bounds of technology with UK companies well involved, even if the headlines don’t seem so.
• Well done to Terry, Ramsey, John, Clare, Louisa, Hannah and the ESA team for a fantastic event!

Conclusion

Mapping the UK's space workforce: 2024 Space Census launched on 12 March 2024

Launched yesterday, the 2024 Space Census aims to provide new data on the UK space workforce and the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

The national survey of space professionals is conducted by the Space Skills Alliance and collects information about who works in the sector, how they got here, and what their experiences have been.

The results will be used to inform national space policy and sector strategy, and to improve what it’s like to work in the sector, tackle discrimination, and make the sector more attractive to new recruits.

The Space Census first ran in 2020, and its findings have been quoted in Parliament by the Science Minister, in reports by the Science and Technology Commons Select Committee and the OECD, and by many individuals and space organisations in the UK and abroad.

Four reports provided the first comprehensive statistics on demographics, pay, the experiences of women, and how and why people join the sector. Key findings included:

- Foreign nationals make up just under a fifth of the space workforce
- Space pay is competitive with other engineering sectors but not with the tech sector
- 41% of women in the space sector have experienced discrimination
- Most people join the space sector at the start of their career, three quarters have joined by age 35

The 2024 Space Census is supported by more than 30 space organisations including the UK Space Agency, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and UKspace. It will build on the 2020 edition to give a more detailed picture of trends within the sector. New questions will collect information on professional development, career breaks, and retention. The first results for 2024 are expected to be released later in the year.

If you work in the UK space sector, take part in the 2024 Space Census at census.spaceskills.org. The Census closes Friday 3rd May 2024.

RIN PNT Advisory Group – White Paper Release Ahead of Leadership in PNT Seminar

By Andy Proctor and Guy Buesnel

The RIN PNT Advisory group Executive group met recently and a significant topic of discussion was the initial release of the RIN white paper “Recommendations to promote the adoption of Resilient Position, Navigation and Timing in the UK”. This is an important milestone for the RIN PNT Advisory Group.  

The report makes some significant recommendations on the best ways forward to drive a greater understanding and adoption of the principles of Resilient PNT in the UK.

In his foreword to the report, Professor Terry Moore, former RIN president and Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham, details how society has become increasingly dependent on the services provided by PNT and that the increasing vulnerability of these services has become a critical issue to resolve.

The authors of the white paper, Ramsey Faragher and Mitch Narins (both FRIN’s), with support from the RIN PNT Advisory Group, believe that Resilient PNT is an area in which the UK could provide leadership to improve PNT performance given the high level of expert knowledge and track record in innovation and excellence that the UK possesses.  

A RIN- led approach is advocated by the authors who go on to make several key findings and recommendations as a result of their research – which they believe could be transformational to the future of Resilient PNT.

The paper was produced to help understand the values of developing standards, guidelines, and/or legislation for Resilient PNT in an already complex eco-system.  The importance of protecting Critical National Infrastructure from the consequences of increased vulnerability of PNT services to disruptions, was a strong driver in developing the findings and recommendations.

The paper considers the UK’s key strengths in PNT, making the point that the UK has historically been a global leader in PNT from the establishment of the longitude act (and prize) in 1714 following pressure from seafarers, the origins of the Greenwich meridian first established by Sir George Airy in 1851, and the “battle of the beams” in  World War II,  where the UK pioneered many radio navigation aids, counter-measures to defend against German radio based navigation technologies and early terrain-mapping radar navigation systems.  The UK carried this expertise forward into the 21st century and has taken leading roles in notable areas such as signals and control for GNSS systems, PNT satellites, receiver development smartphone navigation, precise timing transfer and control, system integration, PNT-enabled applications, and test measurement and verification.
The report goes on to examine the challenges facing PNT today and discusses existing PNT standards and guidance to propose a way forward to develop UK Resilient PNT best practice and guidelines. 

It is a wide-ranging white paper and contains a wealth of information along with its measured recommendations and conclusions.
With the “2nd Leadership in PNT” event being planned to take place at the Royal Society on 07 November 2023 the white paper will obviously be a major discussion point on the day.  A panel session at the event is being planned along with a video introduction from the two principal authors.   Event delegates will have the opportunity to read the white paper in advance of the seminar and to provide their input – and additionally they will be able to register their interest in being directly involved in the follow up activities proposed by the white paper. This will be an excellent opportunity for attendees to play a significant part in contributing to the development and excellence of a strong UK approach to Resilient PNT, and to the development of the RIN programme over the next year.

Andy Proctor, Chair of the UK PNT Advisory Group, and the part of organising committee for the Leadership in PNT event, hailed the release of the RIN white paper, “Standards, best practices, and legislation play an important role in the resilience and preparedness, to disruption, of infrastructure that uses PNT now and into the future. This new initiative and proposed working group could bring together UK expertise in the field to address the challenges it identifies.”

The RIN PNT Advisory group is also working on matters relating to Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Sensing, PNT in Defence, and PNT Innovation. It also taking learning from across the RIN from its other groups, such as the newly formed Maritime Navigation Group and the Cognitive Navigation groups, some of this learning will also be discussed at the Leadership event in November. Register here.