RSK
Company · Helsby
Engineering consultancy that led Gravity Pioneer, the project that took Birmingham's quantum gravity gradiometer into the field to find buried structures.
Completed Consortium
Gravity Pioneer: Pioneer Gravity: Gravity sensors for infrastructure productivity, situational awareness and seeing the invisible
An RSK-led consortium that built and tested a cold-atom gravity sensor for surveying what lies underground.
Project data last updated 11 October 2026
About this project
Gravity Pioneer was announced in November 2018 at the National Quantum Technologies Showcase. RSK led the work and the University of Birmingham was the academic lead. The aim was a gravity instrument twice as sensitive as an industry-standard sensor and able to measure ten times faster.
The sensor uses cold-atom interferometry to detect small changes in gravity caused by buried objects such as pipes, voids and sinkholes. The goal is to cut the need to dig or drill to find out what is below the surface.
Lead organisation
Partners (11)
Alter Technology TÜV Nord UK
Company · Livingston
Altran UK
Company · London
Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics
Research organisation · Glasgow
Geomatrix Earth Science
Company · Leighton Buzzard
Magnetic Shields
Company · Staplehurst
QinetiQ
Company · Farnborough
Silicon Microgravity
Start-up · Cambridge
Skylark Lasers
Company · Edinburgh
Teledyne UK
Company · Chelmsford
University of Birmingham
University · Birmingham
University of Southampton
University · Southampton
Funders
UK Research and Innovation
Funder · Swindon
Innovate UK
Funder · Swindon
In the news
Quantum Zeitgeist articles naming the lead organisation or partners. They may not be about this project.
OQC Says its simulator shows quantum-AI beats classical radar analysis, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
OQC’s Toshiko simulator shows their hybrid approach—combining classical AI with quantum techniques—outperforms a purely classical model in radar analysis.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Researchers Simulate Fermions with Improved Qubit Mapping, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Previously intractable simulations are now within reach thanks to a new approach which dramatically reduces computational demands. By minimising operator ‘nonlocality’, the spread of interactions across qubits, this method overcomes limitations inherent in conventional qubit encoding schemes like Jo
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
University of Birmingham’s Bhattacharya leads fusion materials project, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
The University of Birmingham & EPRI’s £2.63 million FURESHMA program will test advanced boride & carbide shielding materials, vital for durable fusion reactor components.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
QuSIT to boost UK quantum sensing and imaging projects with £774k grant, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
The UK Quantum Technology Research Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing (QuSIT) has completed the application and grant-awarding phase of the QuSIT Accelerating Capability Fund (ACF) grant, allocating a total of £774k across multiple projects. This ACF Grant, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sci
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Sources
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