Inertial Sensing as the Start of a New Semiconductor Platform
ABSTRACT
Robotics, autonomous systems, and other edge platforms are driving demand for more sensors and more data. Meeting that demand is not just a matter of better algorithms, but how sensor data is connected, moved, and processed.
Extending today’s electronic architectures is one path forward, but it does not fully solve how sensing systems scale. Photonics can provide a new alternative foundation.
Photonics brings clear advantages for sensing: interferometry, lower-noise readout, multiplexing, timing, and signal processing on chip. At Zero Point Motion, we are applying this to inertial sensing, where the challenge is not only noise and drift, but performance under package stress, vibration, and real mounting constraints. That matters commercially: it enables more reliable autonomy for GNSS-denied logistics and warehouse robots, better performance on vibration-heavy drones, and more robust sensing in wearables.
To make this possible, we have built a new semiconductor platform by combining standard processes in an unconventional way. What starts with better accelerometers and gyroscopes could reshape how sensing systems are built at the edge.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr Lia Li is the CEO and Founder of Zero Point Motion, developing chip-scale optical inertial sensors to transform navigation and positioning. She holds a PhD in cavity optomechanics from UCL and has experience in laser development at Imperial College and sensor innovation at BAE Systems. Lia holds four granted patents, with three more pending.
She has received major awards including the Institute of Physics Clifford Paterson Medal (2021), Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award (2022), and Sensors Converge Woman of the Year (2023). Lia is also a recognized science communicator, featured by Google Arts & Culture, New Scientist, the Institute of Physics, and Nature.