Our Vision
Technology with a positive impact
At miniGrav, we are developing the world's-smallest absolute gravimeter to deliver positive impact to industries and communities around the globe. From characterising and monitoring aquifers, to identifying economically-viable mineral resources, to lowering the cost of construction, we aim to provide critical subsurface intelligence to the people who need it through our promise of absolute gravity absolutely anywhere.
For a changing world
Climate change is increasing the rate and severity of droughts, leading to over-extraction of precious groundwater resources. Decarbonisation requires increasing levels of metal-ore mining to fuel the renewable energy transition at a time when near-surface mineral deposits have already been depleted and mineral discovery costs have ballooned. Growing cities need reliable and high-density infrastructure to house and support their populations.
When subsurface information is critical
If we're extracting too much groundwater from an area, how would we know? What if the consequences of a depleted aquifer are being felt somewhere else? Where should we start digging a new mine, and how do we know it's' worth the economic, environmental, and social cost? If we store CO2 underground, how do know it's staying put? How do we find buried utilities, map flood zones, or find leaky water mains?
Applications
Mining
Precision gravimeters can quickly aid in the discovery of mineral deposits, which the accuracy inherent to miniGrav reduces survey times and cost. miniGrav will be able to be deployed in exploration boreholes, allowing absolute borehole gravimetry for the first time.
Water
Changes in total water storage, mostly driven by changes in groundwater, can be detected using precise and highly-accurate gravimeters over long times. Unlike monitoring boreholes, which are expensive and highly-localised, gravimetry can be a low-cost alternative that can cover more area.
Civil
Gravimetry can detect buried objects and utilities during excavation and foundation work for civil infrastructure. Unlike ground-penetrating radar, gravimetry does not require dry soil conditions to be effective. Gravimeters can also detect sinkholes and leaks in water pipes, and they are commonly used for measuring local flood zones.
Defence
Absolute gravimetry is a key part of inertial navigation systems which use gravitational map-matching. miniGrav can both produce the necessary maps and provide a truly portable absolute gravimeter for in situ map-matching.
Space
Subsurface exploration of extra-terrestrial bodies such as the Moon, Mars, and asteroids is necessary to locate mineral resources and subterranean structures suitable for human habitation. Only a miniature absolute gravimeter, like miniGrav, will be effective at these tasks in space.
Our Technology
Absolute gravity is determined by dropping an object (the test mass) and measuring its position as a function of time with respect to the quantum standards underpinning the International System of Units. By leveraging modern laser, vacuum, and digital signal processing technology, miniGrav achieves a size, weight, and power a factor of 10-100x lower than existing state-of-the-art absolute gravimeters.
Contrary to the competing technology of using laser-cooled atoms as the test mass, we return to launching an optical retroreflector. This choice significantly reduces the complexity of the device by avoiding active vacuum pumps, high-power laser systems, and power-hungry electromagnets. Our patent-pending multi-axis sensing design allows us to measure all three-components of the gravity vector, enabling new applications in surface and borehole gravity surveying, while at the same time eliminating levelling requirements. Proprietary in situ error characterisation and mitigation techniques allow us to miniaturise miniGrav to unprecendented levels.
Development of miniGrav is ongoing. We expect to deliver a prototype device with the following specifications:
| Mark I | Mark II | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Shoebox-size | Coke can-size |
| Weight | < 10 kg | < 2 kg |
| Power | < 10 W | < 2 W |
| Precision | < 100 μGal/Hz1/2 | < 10 μGal/Hz1/2 |
| Accuracy | < 20 μGal | < 5 μGal |
The Team
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