Return to Session B10 Next Abstract

Session B10: Magnetic and Gravity Anomaly-Based Navigation 2

A Ruggedized, Mass-Producible, High-Sensitivity Scalar/Vector Magnetometer Array for Magnetic Navigation
Joseph Miller, George Hsu, PNI Sensor; Adam Rutowski, AFRL Munitions Directorate
Location: Ballroom E
Date/Time: Wednesday, Jun. 3, 10:50 a.m.

Magnetic navigation and magnetic-aided guidance for flight vehicles place stringent demands on magnetometer sensitivity, robustness, and size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). While high-performance scalar magnetometers can deliver the sensitivity required for magnetic anomaly measurement, many existing solutions are impractical for most flight systems due to environmental fragility, integration complexity, and limited producibility. As a result, magnetic navigation has remained largely inaccessible to small, cost-constrained, and shock-limited platforms. This work presents CubeMag, a hardened magnetometer array designed to close this gap by delivering near-quantum-class scalar magnetic performance with vector measurement capability in a compact, low-SWaP-C form factor that can be produced at scale using commercial components.

CubeMag employs a compact cubic arrangement of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tri-axial vector magnetometers to synthesize high-resolution scalar magnetic measurements while preserving directional observability. The array architecture enables noise reduction, redundancy, and graceful degradation through spatial averaging, while remaining compatible with external platform magnetic compensation techniques commonly employed in weapon systems. Recent hardware development has produced fully assembled multi-channel CubeMag panels capable of simultaneous sampling across nodes, with mechanical packaging and electromagnetic shielding approaches refined to improve noise performance and channel-to-channel consistency across the array.

Laboratory characterization and controlled field testing demonstrate improved magnetic noise performance and measurement stability resulting from enhanced shielding, deterministic timing, and temperature compensation. Root causes of low-level noise mechanisms were identified through modeling and experimentation, informing architectural refinements and mitigation strategies. The underlying RM3100 magnetometer technology leveraged within CubeMag has prior space-radiation qualification heritage through NASA and the European Space Agency, and has demonstrated long-term survivability in other challenging environments. This heritage significantly reduces technical and qualification risk relative to bespoke or fragile sensing technologies.

These results demonstrate that magnetometer arrays based on COTS sensors can achieve sensitivity and stability previously associated only with laboratory or quantum-class sensors, while avoiding the fragility, cost, and production constraints that limit their deployment. CubeMag provides a scalable, survivable sensor-level foundation for magnetic navigation and magnetic-aided guidance, enabling new classes of magnetic navigation–capable flight systems that were previously impractical due to sensor limitations.

Return to Session B10 Next Abstract