Latest news with #Positioning
India Gazette
a day ago
- Business
- India Gazette
QuBeats wins Defence Ministry's iDEX ADITI 2.0 grant of Rs 25 crore to build Quantum Navigation Systems for Indian Navy
New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI): Indian quantum deeptech startup QuBeats has won the prestigious ADITI 2.0 Defence Challenge to develop an indigenous Quantum Positioning System (QPS) for the Indian Navy. The award, which comes with a grant of Rs 25 crore (USD 3 million), will enable QuBeats to build next-generation high-precision quantum sensors that promise accurate navigation in GPS-denied or spoofed environments - a critical capability for modern military operations. QuBeats said in a release that it is disrupting conventional paradigms with its innovative quantum magnetometer technology in an era heavily dependent on satellite-based navigation like GPS. 'These high-precision sensors detect the Earth's unique magnetic anomaly signatures, enabling navigation that is entirely independent of GPS systems--reliable by day or night, in any condition. This groundbreaking capability offers transformative benefits across both military and civilian domains, addressing a potential market of USD 10 billion. The startup is currently raising a seed round to accelerate its product research roadmap,' the release said. 'As one of the few quantum sensing companies of its kind in India, QuBeats is redefining the country's strategic technological edge,' it said. The release said the company has been founded by a stellar team of physicists, engineers, and defence technologists and is building a suite of quantum products that include Quantum Magnetometers, Quantum Gyroscopes, Miniature Atomic Clocks, Rydberg Radars, and highly sensitive target detection sensors for critical and strategic use cases. 'Winning the ADITI 2.0 Challenge is not just a validation of our unique technology approach, but a clarion call to India's quantum aspirations. QuBeats is here to build the future--and build it from India,' said the founders in a joint statement. The release said QuBeats is uniquely positioned with a first-mover advantage in India in an age where navigation sovereignty and sensor dominance define military superiority,. With foundational IP in quantum sensing, a strong R&D pipeline, and a global outlook, QuBeats aims to productize quantum sensing solutions for defence, aerospace, energy, and critical infrastructure. The founding team includes Mallikarjun Karra - a PhD candidate at Max Planck Society, Madhu Talluri -postdoc from Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Shouvik Mukherjee - a finishing postdoc at Joint Quantum Institute at Univ of Maryland, US and Rajat Sethi - a graduate of MIT, Harvard and IIT Kharagpur. The release said China and the United States are investing billions in quantum navigation and sensing. China's PLA has integrated quantum magnetometers for stealth submarine detection, while the US is advancing chip-scale quantum clocks and gravity sensors for battlefield resilience. It said QuBeats provides India a vital response to these developments. 'By creating indigenous, battle-ready, and globally competitive quantum systems, QuBeats is India's answer to strategic parity in quantum warfare,' the release said. QuBeats said it proud to lead India's charge 'with vision, innovation, and the indomitable spirit of first principles' as quantum becomes the new high ground in defence and aerospace. (ANI)
Business Wire
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Quiver Bioscience and QurAlis Announce Research Collaboration to Advance Novel Therapeutic Approach for Fragile X Syndrome
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Quiver Bioscience ('Quiver') and QurAlis Corporation ('QurAlis'), today announced that the companies have entered into a research collaboration to advance a novel gene-targeted therapeutic approach for the treatment of Fragile X syndrome (FXS). The goal of the collaboration is to combine Quiver's unique 'Genomic Positioning System' (GPS) drug discovery platform with QurAlis' expertise in developing next-generation precision medicines for neurodegenerative and neurological diseases to build a foundational data package in support of advancing a potentially transformative therapeutic for FXS. Quiver's GPS platform integrates unique-in-world, scalable, human neuronal electrophysiology data (the 'language' of the brain) with artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to drive novel insights into disease biology and enable optimized drug discovery. Quiver has successfully applied its GPS approach to a variety of central nervous system (CNS) disorders and recently published modeling and drug discovery efforts in FXS. 'Our platform technology is uniquely suited to improving understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of neurogenetic disorders such as FXS. We are excited to embark on this partnership with QurAlis which aspires to bring about groundbreaking therapies for the FXS community,' said Graham Dempsey, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Quiver Bioscience. 'FXS is a devastating neurodevelopmental disease. It is the leading inherited form of intellectual disability and known cause of autism for which there are no disease-modifying therapies,' said Kasper Roet, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of QurAlis. 'We look forward to this research collaboration with Quiver. The combination of enabling technologies and drug development experience built through this partnership holds great promise for progressing novel therapeutics for FXS, for which there exists a significant unmet medical need.' FXS, the leading genetic form of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, is caused by loss of the FMR1 encoded protein Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein (FMRP). It currently affects approximately 87,000 individuals in the U.S. alone – occurring at an incidence of 1 in 4,000 males and 1 in 6,000 females. In addition to intellectual disability, FXS symptoms include delays in development, seizures, speech difficulties, hyperactivity and attention deficit, severe anxiety, and others. There are no disease-modifying therapies currently available for FXS. Destum Partners acted as transaction advisor to Quiver Bioscience. About Quiver Bioscience Quiver Bioscience is a technology-driven company established to create transformational medicines for the brain while simultaneously uncovering new biology and novel, effective drug targets. Using advanced single-cell imaging and multi-omics, we are building the world's most information-rich neuronal insight map via our "Genomic Positioning System." Our approach integrates cutting-edge scalable human models, state-of-the-art technology and proprietary engineering, and learning and surrogate AI/ML models to identify novel therapeutic targets and the best candidate molecules to deliver new and meaningful therapeutics to patients. For information, including additional publications describing application of Quiver's GPS to drug discovery, visit or follow us on LinkedIn. About QurAlis Corporation At QurAlis, we are neuro pioneers on a quest to cure, boldly seeking to translate scientific breakthroughs into powerful precision medicines. We work collaboratively with a relentless pursuit of knowledge, precise attention to craft, and compassion to discover and develop medicines that have the potential to transform the lives of people living with neurodegenerative and neurological diseases. QurAlis is the leader in development of precision therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In addition to ALS, QurAlis is advancing a robust precision medicine pipeline to bring effective disease-modifying therapeutics to patients suffering from severe diseases defined by genetics and clinical biomarkers. For more information, please visit or follow us on X @QurAlisCo or LinkedIn.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- BBC News
Plane GPS systems are under sustained attack - is the solution a new atomic clock?
As a Ryanair flight from London approached Vilnius, Lithuania, on 17 January, its descent was suddenly aborted. Just minutes from touching down, the aircraft's essential Global Positioning System (GPS) suffered an unexplained interference, triggering an emergency Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 had already descended to around 850ft (259m) when the disruption occurred. Instead of landing, the plane was forced to climb back into the sky and divert nearly 400km (250 miles) south to Warsaw, Poland. Lithuanian air authorities later confirmed the aircraft had been affected by "GPS signal interference".This was not an isolated incident. Over the last three months of 2024, more than 800 cases of GPS interference were recorded in Lithuanian airspace. Estonia and Finland have also raised concerns, accusing Russia of deploying technology to jam satellite navigation signals near Nato's eastern flank – though the country has denied that. Last March the then Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, was on a plane that had its GPS signal jammed while flying close to Russian threat of GPS jamming extends beyond aviation. Without GPS, our lives would grind to a halt: in 2017, a government report stated that systematic GPS jamming could bring the UK's financial, electricity and communications systems to a standstill. To pinpoint our exact location, we need to know the exact time. GPS works by users receiving signals from multiple satellites. The length of time it takes each signal to reach a device is used to determine exactly where on Earth we large atomic clocks communicate directly with the satellites, allowing them to know the time to within 100 billionths of a second, and this precision timing is key to a variety of economic activities around the world, including communication systems, electrical power grids, and financial potential cost of losing GPS has been put at £1.4bn each day – no wonder GPS jamming is on the government's national risk register as one of the UK's greatest this in mind, a group of British scientists – dubbed the "Time Lords" – has been asked to come up with a plan is simple: to develop a more secure alternative to GPS by enabling the portable use of new atomic clocks, rather than relying on signals from satellites in space that can be jammed. But its execution is fiendishly difficult: to harness the power of the atom, develop a new type of clock, and even change the way we measure time itself – all within a few recent months, the UK government has set up research initiatives to tackle the threat of GPS jamming. But turning prototypes into robust devices that could one day be incorporated into our phones is an enormous undertaking – and the need for the new technology is getting ever more urgent. A new way of measuring time The challenge can be compared to the invention of a portable clock for marine navigation by John Harrison in the 18th Century, which solved the so-called longitude problem, allowing a new era of trade and a golden age of hundred years on, researchers are once again racing to perfect a new clock to solve the GPS problem – and the impact could be at least as transformative."History shows that each time we have an improvement in the ability to measure time, new applications follow to make things possible that people didn't dream of before," says Dr Helen Margolis, head scientist (time and frequency) of the UK's timing laboratories at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in south-west 1967, the world's timekeepers, an intergovernmental body called the General Conference on Weights and Measures, agreed to define time using atomic clocks, rather than by the Earth's switch transformed our world just as radically as Harrison's clock, laying the foundation for GPS and similar space-based systems. These provided precise timekeeping from atomic clocks on satellites, which allowed rapid and huge volumes of communications, computation, and transactions to be carried out everywhere in the world near instantaneously, as well as more precise navigation. The search for a new portable alternative to GPS involves a field called quantum technologies, finding ways to manipulate atoms. Much of the buzz around the subject in recent years has been about the development of powerful quantum computers which, the narrative goes, will make our fastest supercomputers seem like abacuses by a quieter revolution to improve navigation and measurement of time has flown under the radar, and it is in this field that quantum technology is set to make its earliest impact, according to Prof Douglas Paul of the UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position Navigation and Timing (QEPNT), which was set up last December by the government to develop these new devices."We are expecting to see some sort of navigation system within two to five years in the marketplace," he says. "So, some of these technologies are already quite advanced." The 'Time Lords' Prof Paul and his quantum scientists are working with Dr Margolis and her fellow researchers at NPL, who have been given the "Time Lords" nickname by other horologists. In 1955, the NPL invented the first atomic clock of the sort that is used today, based on the frequency of radiation from an atom of the element and other satellite navigation systems reset their own clocks by touching base with these more accurate clocks on the ground. For the alternative to GPS, the scientists will need a new type of atomic clock that can eventually be miniaturised and robust enough to work in everyday situations, rather than the carefully controlled conditions inside a NPL researchers are perfecting a so-called optical clock to achieve this, which is 100 times more accurate than the most accurate caesium clocks used today. It looks as if it might be part of Dr Who's Tardis and is stimulated with laser light rather than optical clocks take over from caesium ones as the timepieces that determine Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), the way the passage of time is defined will also have to change, according to Dr Margolis."The international community has drawn up a road map for the redefinition of the second," she tells BBC NPL's immediate hope is to have a national network by 2030, connecting four atomic clocks across the UK that businesses can plug into for secure accurate timekeeping and for developing new innovative applications that harness ultra-fast critical systems in the UK in finance, telecommunications, energy, utilities and national security could switch over – though that would take longer. "To convert everything is at least a decade away, and probably significantly longer," says Prof the stakes are high, and the alternative this new technology offers is significant. "The US Department of Defence might decide to stop supporting GPS, it could be taken out in a conflict or by an accident," he says. "There is no guarantee GPS … will always be available. With all the jamming and spoofing [where a criminal gives a false signal with an incorrect time and location], you cannot always guarantee you have an assured signal, so if you cannot get or trust the information then people will stop using it." While this type of research is taking place around the world, it's being led by the UK. When an aircraft with the technology on board carried out a test flight in May 2024, the then science minister Andrew Griffith described it as "further proof of the UK as one of the world leaders on quantum". According to the government, it was the first test of this type of technology in the UK on an aircraft in flight, and "the first such flight worldwide that has been publicly acknowledged".By carrying a group of atoms cooled to -273C on the plane itself, rather than relying on an external signal, the technology can't be interfered with by the problem is that the equipment is still too large to be used routinely on White, part of the team from BAE Systems that worked on the test flight, told BBC News that he thought the first application could be aboard ships, "where there's a bit more space".Quantum clocks, gyroscopes and accelerometers are large, bulky and incredibly expensive, with an accurate quantum clock costing around £100,000. Yet military research is allowing the creation of smaller, better and cheaper systems. GPS jamming is causing problems for the British military in conflict zones such as Ukraine. One of the main challenges faced by scientists at the government's Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) is making the sensitive technology work not just in the real world, which in the Navy's case is often in very choppy seas, but also in the harshest of environments; the battlefield, according to a lead researcher at the DSTL, who has to remain anonymous for security reasons."We are harnessing atoms," she points out."You have vibrations, you have pressure changes, you have temperature changes, and you have environments which have all of these different variables going on while you are trying to manipulate the properties of light. So, it's precision that is needed". Atomic clocks in our pockets The ultimate aim for some of those working on this new technology is for each of us to have the equivalent of our own personal GPS system incorporated into our would comprise a miniaturised optical clock as well as a tiny gyroscope, so we know which direction we are going in, and a device called an accelerometer, which will tell us how fast we are has been set up by the government to shrink the devices on to a chip, making them robust enough for everyday life and affordable for process isn't going to happen soon, though. "This is many decades away from happening for all critical national infrastructure across the UK," says Prof clock researchers are facing exactly the same problems experienced by John Harrison when he was developing his portable marine clock in the 18th Century. Mr Harrison had to build a clock whose timekeeping was not affected by changes in temperature, pressure or humidity, and was able to function in a constantly moving ship – his greatest difficulty was to make it small. But it turned out that his difficulty was also the path to his solution. The smaller he made his clocks, the more robust he found they were at sea. "Harrison found that it was it easier to isolate them from all those external influences," says another DSTL scientist."As was the case 300 years ago, as we make these systems smaller, it will become easier to control the environment around them and isolate them from the effects of vibration, temperature, pressure, and humidity."Prominent 18th-Century scientists, including Sir Isaac Newton, thought that navigation with marine clocks was impossible. But eventually Mr Harrison, a simple clockmaker and carpenter, proved his more illustrious colleagues prototype optical clocks first into the battlefield and then eventually into everyday life is just as challenging. Will the scientists working on the problem be able to find solutions fast enough?One day we might have them in our pockets, but the more urgent aim is to get them in a state where we can safely fly, as incidents of GPS jamming on planes and critical computer systems increase. The Time Lords and quantum scientists hope to continue the humble clockmaker's legacy – transforming the measurement of time, and protecting the UK's critical systems from GPS image credit: Getty Images BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. 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Mid East Info
19-02-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
UAE Launches Next-Gen GPS-Less Navigation and Secure Flight Control to Strengthen Aviation Security - Middle East Business News and Information
VentureOne and ADASI Partner to Integrate Advanced Autonomous Flight Technologies Powered by TII – Perceptra and Saluki Unveiled at IDEX 2025. Abu Dhabi-UAE:February, 2025 – As dual-use technologies increasingly drive economies of scale worldwide, ADASI, a leader in UAV system manufacturing, has announced their adoption of two advanced autonomous flight technologies by Abu Dhabi's VentureOne: Perceptra, a new cutting-edge GPS-less navigation technology, and Saluki, a high-security flight control technology for autonomous systems. These technologies, both developed by the Technology Innovation Institute, are designed to deliver secure, resilient operations in the most challenging environments. They have been optimized for UAV manufacturers, offering enhanced resilience, precision, and security for autonomous aerial operations. The agreement between VentureOne, ADASI, and TII was formalized at IDEX 2025, the Middle East's largest defense exhibition, at which Saluki and Perceptra were unveiled. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has long been a fundamental pillar of navigation, supporting applications from everyday smartphone use to critical defense and military operations. However, this widespread reliance on GPS has exposed vulnerabilities that can be exploited through techniques like jamming and spoofing. Jamming occurs when signals on the same frequency overwhelm GPS receivers, preventing accurate location tracking, while spoofing involves transmitting counterfeit signals to deceive receivers into calculating incorrect positions or times. These vulnerabilities pose significant risks across sectors that depend on precise navigation, including autonomous drones, commercial aviation, and military aircraft. In defense and security, compromised GPS signals can impact mission success and personnel safety, while in aviation, navigation errors may cause flight path deviations and operational disruptions – reports of which have the aviation industry and international regulators such as IATA and European regulator EASA seeking urgent solutions for GPS interference, according to one Reuters report in 2024. For autonomous systems like drones and self-driving vehicles, the inability to maintain accurate positioning can create safety hazards, particularly in dynamic or high-risk environments, from aviation to defense. As the use of GPS-dependent systems continues to grow, the need for resilient, alternative navigation solutions has become increasingly critical. Perceptra and Saluki overcome many of today's numerous challenges with advanced vision-based navigation, delivering reliable, resilient performance. Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, said, 'Perceptra, with its GPS-less capabilities, and Saluki, with its sophisticated Zero Trust architecture, represent a significant leap in autonomous navigation with the potential to transform multiple sectors. From supporting safe travel in commercial flights, search-and-rescue missions with precise navigation, to enabling efficient urban drone logistics for deliveries in densely populated cities, these technologies have broad real-world applications. Their adaptability also makes them invaluable in defense, ensuring secure and resilient operations in even the most challenging environments. This collaboration reflects our commitment to developing advanced, dual-use technologies that serve both civilian and defense needs while positioning the UAE as a leader in next-generation autonomous systems.' Perceptra is a vision-based system that ensures reliable navigation without GPS, allowing aerial platforms to operate in GNSS-denied environments. It features visual relocking, low navigation errors, and easy integration across platforms for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. Saluki is a secure, high-performance flight controller and mission computer with Zero Trust architecture. With PX4 compatibility, Gen AI capabilities, and 300 TOPS compute power, it supports multi-vehicle management for mission-critical defense applications. 'At ADASI, we integrate only the most advanced, field-proven technologies to ensure our UAVs operate with unmatched precision, resilience, and security, even in the most contested environments,' said Juma Al Kaabi, the CEO of ADASI. 'Perceptra and Saluki provide exactly what next-generation UAVs require: secure, GPS-independent navigation and AI-powered mission control.' 'VentureOne is dedicated to ensuring that cutting-edge research becomes reality to make a positive impact and transform industries,' said Reda Nidhakou, the Acting CEO of VentureOne. 'Saluki and Perceptra are just two of many new innovations to come that will help ensure more resilient and safer drone operations in different sectors, starting with defense. We are working on a more comprehensive air autonomy and security portfolio that will play a central role in future drone operations.' Last week, TII announced its collaboration with the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to support regulatory efforts by developing advanced methodologies for air corridor design. These methodologies aim to optimize flight routes and reduce the risk of aerial incidents in complex urban airspaces, ensuring safe and efficient navigation for both piloted and autonomous drone taxis. These efforts, alongside Perceptra and Saluki, reinforce Abu Dhabi's vision to lead in next-generation navigation and AI-powered autonomy. Both VentureOne and TII are part of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), which oversees Abu Dhabi's research and development ecosystem to advance transformative technologies with global impact. ADASI is part of the EDGE Group, the advanced technology and defense conglomerate. About VentureOne: VentureOne, the commercialization arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), bridges the gap between pioneering research and market-ready practical applications by delivering transformative solutions to partners and clients across the public and private sectors. It merges cutting-edge research with deep technical expertise, fostering innovation that enhances lives and generates meaningful impact.
