Prototype field-test paper published!

My entire 2017 was spent rapidly prototyping the whispering gallery mode accelerometer for a Dstl field test. Outdoor tests are rare for physicists, especially rough testing on a platform like the Jackal! To read the paper (open source, free for anyone to access), please click here.

I learnt so many skills during this time & a real appreciation for systems engineering. Among the many tasks were:

• miniaturising without clean room fabrication

• automation & switches/error indicators as monitors & touch screens were not permitted

• lab testing to high accelerations using an electrodynamic shaker (industry standard)

• everything running from portable batteries

• writing user manuals

The paper summarises the equipment and techniques we use. We also perform some correlation tests on the sensor output compared with a commercial one - although we don’t get perfect correlations (which is quite rare, even among identical co-located sensors), we want to set a precedent where researchers report such statistics as no one does this right now (usually a visual comparison where the waveforms look similar).