Our vision: quantum sensor technology for everyone

We encounter sensors everywhere in everyday life and they have found their way into our lives in many places. Modern sensors based on quantum technologies allow measurements with unimagined precision at the physical limit and thus provide access to previously unknown areas. Although quantum technology is highly functional, it is one thing above all: expensive! One reason for this is that diamonds are used as the main storage medium for quanta. The majority of the population therefore has no direct contact with quantum sensor technology to date; it remains an abstract and complex phenomenon. We want to change that: With low-cost hardware and didactic material as Open Educational Resources (OER), we want to sensitise and inspire broad sections of the population for quantum technologies through low-threshold access.

Development of the QOOOL kit

As part of the QOOOL Sensing project, a robust magnetic field sensor is to be developed that enables low-threshold access to quantum sensor technology for different target groups. The sensor is based on specifically introduced defects in diamonds and allows highly accurate measurement of magnetic fields. The aim is to develop a compact and cost-effective NV quantum magnetometer (NV = Nitrogen-Vacancy) in the form of a sensor kit (QOOOL Kit) for educational purposes (especially in the STEM field) for the first time. An integrated NV magnetometer in the form of a miniaturised sensor cell will then be used to carry out magnetic field measurements and make these observations available as open data on the web. The individual components of the kit are designed in such a way that the sub-functions are comprehensible and their influence on the overall function of the sensor can be experienced in practice, e.g. through configuration options. The connection to the senseBox as a microcontroller for investigating environmental phenomena creates an all-round package with a wide range of possible applications.

Didactic concepts

In addition to the development of the QOOOL kit, practical and interactive teaching materials are being created to demonstrate the use of the sensor in the classroom, at university and for the general public. The (media-) didactically reduced processing of the QOOOL kit and the connection to the senseBox will be realised through an interactive web application, online teacher training and other outreach activities, such as makeathons, hackathons, workshops, etc. Project ideas, experiment instructions and didactic teaching materials for STEM subjects will be made available as OER. The aim is to create widespread use in the areas of digital education and citizen science and to build a network of a creative community through the collaborative development of further educational materials.

Simulator

The web-based application should be connected to the visual programming environment "Blockly for senseBox" and make programme codes transferable not only to the senseBox hardware, but also to a simulator. In a visual simulation as a graphical representation of the QOOOL kit and the senseBox microcontroller, the functionality and implementation of the program code can be presented in a visually appealing and comprehensible way. The interactive learning software is intended to clearly explain the above-mentioned functionality and structure of an NV magnetometer as a quantum sensor and the interaction of its individual components.