Draft:Silicon Sensing Systems Limited

Silicon Sensing Systems Limited is a British–Japanese manufacturer of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial sensors used for navigation, motion sensing, and stabilisation. Established in 1999, the company operates as a joint venture between Collins Aerospace and Sumitomo Precision Products.

The company designs and produces MEMS gyroscopes, accelerometers, and inertial measurement units (IMUs) for applications in aerospace, defense, marine systems, industrial automation, robotics, and autonomous platforms. Its sensors are used in systems that require compact size and resistance to vibration, specifically in environments where satellite navigation may be limited or unavailable.

History

The formation of Silicon Sensing Systems Limited in 1999 brought together two organisations with established interests in inertial navigation technology: BAE Systems’ inertial systems business (later integrated into Collins Aerospace) and Sumitomo Precision Products of Japan. The joint venture was structured to develop silicon-based inertial sensors using MEMS fabrication techniques, at a time when solid-state alternatives to mechanical gyroscopes were gaining commercial traction.

The company’s technical background can be traced to earlier developments in gyroscope technology carried out by predecessor organisations, including work associated with the Sperry Gyroscope lineage and later aerospace navigation programmes in the United Kingdom. Research in the 1990s on vibrating silicon structures established the basis for what would become MEMS Coriolis vibratory gyroscopes, which replaced rotating mechanical components with microfabricated silicon elements.

In its early years, Silicon Sensing found commercial success principally as a supplier to the automotive industry. Its vibrating structure gyroscopes were adopted as yaw-rate sensors in some of the earliest electronic stability control (ESC) systems, and automotive customers accounted for the majority of the company’s shipments during roughly its first decade of operation, and for over half of all sensors supplied since its formation. Defence formed part of the company’s strategy from the outset but grew at a slower pace, later becoming one of its principal market sectors alongside aerospace, industrial and marine applications.

Beyond the automotive sector, the company also developed MEMS gyroscopes for aerospace and industrial applications. Production and fabrication activities were centred in Japan, while engineering and product development were conducted in the United Kingdom. Over time, the company expanded its portfolio to include accelerometers and integrated inertial measurement systems.

In the 2010s and 2020s, the company broadened its commercial reach beyond the traditional aerospace and defence markets, with increasing adoption in robotics, autonomous systems and precision navigation applications. In 2010 the company launched PinPoint, its first sputtered thin-film lead zirconate titanate (PZT) MEMS gyroscope, which went on to become one of its highest-volume products. In 2019, as it marked twenty years in the MEMS business, Silicon Sensing announced a two-year investment programme to move its Japanese foundry into a larger purpose-built, earthquake-resistant facility, roughly doubling wafer throughput and opening the fabrication line to external fabless customers. Industry coverage in trade publications has also noted growth efforts into North America through dedicated regional sales operations.

In October 2025, industry reporting recorded a production milestone of more than 30 million inertial sensors manufactured since the company’s founding. Around the same period the company extended its work into space applications: its DMU41 inertial measurement unit underwent single-event-effect and total-ionising-dose radiation testing with the Institute of Science Tokyo to assess its suitability for guidance and attitude control on low Earth orbit platforms. In February 2026 Silicon Sensing appointed its first distributor in the Asia-Pacific region, extending its sales network into South Korea.

Collaboration with Kongsberg Discovery

Silicon Sensing’s working relationship with Kongsberg Discovery AS, the Norwegian marine and inertial technology company, developed over several years before it was formalised. Engineering staff from the two companies had been collaborating for more than a year in advance of any public announcement, examining how Silicon Sensing’s MEMS sensor technology could be combined with Kongsberg Discovery’s inertial electronics, algorithms and system design expertise.

A formal co-operation agreement was signed on 2 June 2025 at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, in the presence of Norwegian government representatives. The declared objective was to obtain navigation-grade performance from a MEMS-based gyroscope, a level of accuracy and bias stability conventionally associated with larger and more costly fibre-optic and ring laser gyroscope systems. Under the agreement, Kongsberg Discovery would apply the results to its attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) and inertial navigation systems (INS), while Silicon Sensing would apply them across its inertial measurement units, gyroscopes and accelerometers.

The first product to emerge from the collaboration was announced on 3 March 2026, when Kongsberg Discovery unveiled a north-seeking MEMS navigation device built around Silicon Sensing’s SGH03 inductive silicon MEMS gyroscope; the same sensor used in the company’s tactical-grade DMU41 nine-degrees-of-freedom IMU and CRH03 single-axis gyroscope. North-seeking gyroscopes establish true north by sensing the Earth’s rotation rather than its magnetic field; the companies presented the device as meeting size, weight, power and cost constraints that existing north-seeking products had struggled to satisfy. The system was demonstrated publicly at Oceanology International in London from 10 to 12 March 2026, with intended applications spanning aerial and surface drones, subsea remotely operated and autonomous vehicles, defence systems, marine surveying and energy applications.

Operations

Silicon Sensing operates from two primary locations: Plymouth in the United Kingdom and Amagasaki in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The Plymouth site functions as the company’s headquarters and houses engineering, research and development, and commercial operations. Manufacturing of MEMS devices is carried out in Japan.

The company remains a 50:50 joint venture between Collins Aerospace and Sumitomo Precision Products.

Applications

Silicon Sensing’s inertial sensors are used across a range of industries where accurate motion and orientation measurement is required. In aerospace and defence, they are used in navigation systems, platform stabilisation and guidance applications.

Outside these sectors, MEMS inertial sensors are deployed in marine navigation, surveying and mapping, industrial robotics.