News Release
March 26, 2021
Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd.

Announcement of sales release on a newly developed smallest & highest accuracy*1
NorthfinderTM for downhole resource mining
Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. has developed a new MEMS-type small-diameter NorthfinderTM "GCAH-1X" thatcan be installed in measurement tools for downhole resource mining. A customer sample model will be manufactured
from April 2021 and will be on sale from September 2021.

The GCAH-1X can find the geographical north pole of earth axis in order to measure
the earth’s rotation using 3-axes gyro (angular velocity) sensor and 3-axes
accelerometer under any attitude. The strengths offered is to contribute the highaccuracy directional measurement to overcome the weakness that the magnetic
compass used in conventional tools has been faced uncontrollable measurement errors
due to surrounded magnetic fields.

NorthfinderTM「GCAH-1X」

The gyro sensor newly developed by SPP has unbeatable wide measurement

ranges, not only the resolution to measure the extremely slow angular velocity of 15 degrees per hour of the earth's rotation,
but also the fast angular velocity of 400 degrees per second of measurement tool movement.
As a result of many years of MEMS research and development at SPP, this product has achieved a diameter of desirable 30
mm with high accuracy, taking advantage of the MEMS-type "small size, light weight, and low power consumption".

It ispossible for customers to manufacture a measuring tool with a diameter of 40 mm, which is one of the diameter standards for
downhole resource mining.

This product targets to mine the precious metals and rare metals with reduced energy consumption which are essential for
spreading electric vehicles for carbon free society.

In addition, we believe that it can contribute to a safe and comfortable

life in applications such as the pipeline mapping required for maintenance of electric wire pipes and water pipes, andcontrolling the attitude of railway vehicles.
Toward the promising future, SPP will continuously develop MEMS-type gyro sensors and inertial sensor systems in order
to meet markets and customer’s needs, wants and demands.
*1 Based on our research as of March 2021
<Contacts on this product>
Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd.,MEMS Sensors and Systems Department, Business Development Group, Taku Aoki
TEL: +81-6-6489-5917

FAX: +81-6-6489-5910

It will be sold by our affiliate companies below.
<Asia and Oceania>

Silicon Sensing Systems Japan Co., Ltd. (Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan)<EU and North America>

Silicon Sensing Systems Ltd. (Plymouth, UK).
Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd.
General Administration Department / Public Relations
1-10, Fuso-cho, Amagasaki, Hyogo 660-0891, Japan
Tel 81-(0)6-6489-5829 Fax 81-(0)6-6489-5801
https://www.spp.co.jp/1

<Reference >Product NameGCAH-01(conventionalGCAH-1X※2Ratio※3model)
Size2,142cm3(8.6x7.5x34)

184cm3(Φ3x26)-91%

Weight2,000g

400g-80%Power Consumption

8.0W

1.5W

-81%

Azimuth accuracy

1°1°−

Measuring time

240 seconds

90 seconds

-62%

※2

GCAH-1X is a new product which achieves the smallest MEMS-type size with the same highest accuracy
as GCAH-01.

※3

Ratio (%): (GCAH-1X - GCAH-01) / (GCAH-01)■Silicon Sensing Systems Ltd.
Silicon Sensing Systems Ltd. was formed in 1999 for development, manufacturing and sales of MEMS gyro sensors
and accelerometers.

As a market leader in the navigation and attitude control fields of silicon MEMS (MicroElectro Mechanical Systems), Silicon Sensing Systems have supplied approximately 40 million MEMS gyrosensors and accelerometers to a large number of customers.
■Silicon Sensing Systems Japan Co., Ltd.
Silicon Sensing Systems Japan Co., Ltd. is a Japanese subsidiary of Silicon Sensing Systems, a sales company incharge of the Asia-Pacific region. Its head office is located on the premises of Sumitomo Precision ProductsAmagasaki Head Office.

Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd.
General Administration Department / Public Relations
1-10, Fuso-cho, Amagasaki, Hyogo 660-0891, Japan
Tel 81-(0)6-6489-5829 Fax 81-(0)6-6489-5801
https://www.spp.co.jp/2