Autonomous techniques specialist Superior Navigation has introduced a partnership with NILEQ to develop a resilient navigation system that, it claims, might enable uncrewed aerial automobiles (UAVs) to precisely navigate with out utilizing GPS or different International Navigation Satellite tv for pc System (GNSS) constellations — by scanning the “fingerprint” of the Earth.
“In an more and more unsure world the place interference is turning into ubiquitous, industrial and navy sectors can not rely purely on GPS for flight operations,” claims Chris Shaw, chief govt officer at Superior Navigation, of the issue the businesses are getting down to remedy. “There may be an pressing want for extra navigation aiding to complement platform inertial navigation and GPS receiver techniques.”
The system the businesses are growing relies on a expertise developed by MDBA Methods subsidiary NILEQ, which maintains a database of the Earth’s floor. Information captured by scanners on UAVs and different aerial automobiles is processed by brain-like neuromorphic processors and rapidly matched to the database — in, its creators clarify, the identical manner that the peaks and valleys of a fingerprint is matched to a person person. The system then supplies absolute-position updates to the automobile’s inertial positioning system — eliminating drift with out using GNSS constellations like GPS.
“We sit up for seeing MBDA’s innovation-driven options type the cornerstone of future airborne navigation techniques,” says MDBA’s Tom Tizard. “NILEQ seeks to handle the large demand for resilient absolute positioning info that may complement the present navigation techniques of airborne platforms. Superior Navigation are a great Australian accomplice to assist speed up the expertise in the direction of market entry. Navigation applied sciences that aren’t merely correct and exact, but in addition present the ‘resilience’ towards interference, is what propels this partnership.”
Extra info on NILEQ’s expertise is obtainable on the corporate web site; validation of the expertise in-the-field is deliberate to happen in Australia in partnership with Superior Navigation.