Survey Technology employees work on fiber-optic inertial navigation systems. (Photo/Survey Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd.)

Chongqing - What happens when GPS and BeiDou signals cannot reach you? In tunnels, underground facilities and deep-sea environments, satellite navigation can fail, making accurate positioning a major challenge. Fiber-optic inertial navigation offers an alternative by providing continuous positioning without relying on external signals.

A Chongqing-based company has developed a new generation of fiber-optic inertial navigation systems that are smaller, lighter and less costly than domestic products with the same accuracy. Announced on November 3 by Survey Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., the breakthrough addresses a long-standing reliance on foreign technology in China's deep-sea oil extraction sector. Its products are already being used in multiple applications.

The fiber-optic gyroscope is one of the core components of an inertial navigation system and is also known as a "powerful positioning tool". A reporter recently visited Survey Technology's pilot production base in the Liangjiang New Area Automotive Industrial Supporting Park and saw these "mysterious" devices: palm-sized fiber-optic gyroscopes of various specifications undergoing reliability tests such as high and low temperature, attitude, vibration and turntable tests on test equipment.

"These seemingly inconspicuous devices are the 'heart' of inertial navigation systems," said Wang Kui, deputy general manager of Survey Technology. A fiber-optic gyroscope is equipped with special optical fibers inside and relies on changes in optical signal phase to perceive equipment rotation and angle changes.

For a long time, navigation-grade fiber-optic gyroscope products were subject to foreign embargoes, while domestic products had long supply cycles, insufficient adaptability to harsh working conditions and persistently high prices. In 2021, Survey Technology settled in Chongqing and committed itself to the research and industrialization of new-generation fiber-optic gyroscopes and inertial navigation systems.

A warship conducting the comprehensive distant-sea training mission. (Photo/Xinhua)

"The fiber-optic gyroscope technology system is complex, requires high R&D investment and is difficult to mass-produce, and the cost of core components remains high. Early products of the same weight were even more expensive than gold, making it difficult to promote them in the civilian market," Wang Kui said. In the past, high-end fiber-optic gyroscopes were mainly used in special fields such as aviation, aerospace, weapons and ships, and were difficult to bring into large-scale industrial scenarios.

Targeting industry pain points, Survey Technology focuses on high-precision fiber-optic gyroscope inertial sensors for extreme working conditions such as high temperature, strong vibration and strong electromagnetic interference. Through full modularization, high integration and fully automated assembly, it has built an "inertial + intelligent perception" industrial chain, providing highly reliable intelligent perception solutions, breaking through multiple core equipment technology bottlenecks, and establishing full-chain independent and controllable capabilities from chip design to packaging and testing.

According to reports, the new-generation fiber-optic gyroscopes and inertial navigation systems have now been deployed in multiple scenarios.

In September this year, Survey Technology signed a new annual procurement agreement with CNOOC, achieving domestic substitution for high-end equipment in deep-sea oil and gas. In the low-altitude sector, Survey Technology's fiber-optic gyroscopes and inertial navigation systems have been equipped on multiple types of drones. In the metallurgical industry, inertial navigation perception is also helping transform the traditional "black box" production process into a digital, precisely controllable process.

"In the future, we will adhere to a diversified development path and build an independent and controllable inertial navigation industrial chain from underlying chips to high-end equipment," Wang Kui said.