Revolutionary GPS-Free Drone Navigation System Promises Breakthrough in Challenging Environments

A groundbreaking collaboration between NILEQ, a subsidiary of British missile-maker MBDA, and Advanced Navigation of Sydney, Australia, aims to create a reliable GPS-free navigation solution for drones by combining neuromorphic sensing with inertial navigation systems, according to IEEE Spectrum.

Why GPS Alternatives Matter

Traditional GPS systems, while precise, have significant vulnerabilities. They can be disrupted by buildings, dense foliage, weather conditions, and even intentional jamming through spoofed radio signals. This limitation has pushed the industry to seek more reliable alternatives for drone navigation. Current solutions like standalone inertial navigation systems (INS) suffer from gradual positioning drift, while visual navigation systems typically require substantial computing resources beyond the capacity of smaller drones.

The Tech Behind It

The innovative system combines NILEQ’s low-power visual navigation system using neuromorphic cameras with Advanced Navigation’s fiber optic-based inertial navigation system.

“The two things together really neatly solve navigating in a challenging, GPS-denied environment,” says Advanced Navigation’s CEO Chris Shaw. “You can travel really long distances over a really long time.”

The combination addresses the limitations of each individual technology while maintaining cost-effectiveness.

How It Works

The neuromorphic camera, inspired by the human retina, tracks brightness changes across pixels instead of capturing traditional images. This breakthrough approach generates far less data and operates at much higher speeds than conventional cameras. The system creates terrain fingerprints in real-time, comparing them against a pre-loaded satellite imagery database.

According to Phil Houghton, head of future concepting at MBDA, “This means that the size of the database loaded onto the host platform is trivial and searching it in real-time requires minimal computation.”

Cost Considerations

While neuromorphic cameras cost around $1,000, they’re significantly more cost-effective when paired with cheaper INS components. Traditional high-end navigation systems can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, making this new approach particularly attractive for commercial drone applications.

“Using the neuromorphic camera alongside low-cost, inexpensive inertial sensors, there’s a big cost and size benefit,” Shaw explains.

Processing Innovation

Advanced Navigation’s AI-powered sensor fusion software plays a crucial role in combining the outputs of both technologies. The system provides a single, reliable location reading that drone navigation systems can use similarly to a GPS signal.

Shaw emphasizes the user-friendly nature of the system: “A lot of customers in this space want something they can just basically plug in and there’s no big learning curve.”

Future Developments

Current limitations include the inability to operate using infrared for nighttime operations. However, Houghton reveals that infrared neuromorphic cameras are under development and should become available within the next few years. The companies have scheduled flight trials for later this year, targeting product availability by mid-2025.

DroneXL’s Take

This technology represents a significant advancement in drone technology, particularly for operations in GPS-denied environments. The system’s ability to provide reliable navigation without GPS dependency could transform various applications, from urban infrastructure inspection to remote area operations. The promised combination of accuracy, reliability, and cost-effectiveness could make this solution a game-changer for the drone industry.

What’s your perspective on this GPS-free navigation breakthrough? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo credit: ADVANCED NAVIGATION.