Advanced Navigation will be working with NILEQ to develop a new advanced navigation system that will enable drone and airborne vehicles to navigation great distances over mining sites, without the aid of GPS.
NILEQ’s technology is similar to fingerprint scanners, which uses neuromorphic sensors to scan the changing terrain as a drone flies across it, and matches it to an existing database of the earth’s surface. Once a match is locked, it will feed updates of absolute positioning to the navigational system - removing drift errors and the need for GPS.
NILEQ says this technology will enable systems such as uncrewed air systems to secure an absolute position fix over land with a solution that is passive and resistant to interference. The technology will enhance the safety of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, as the solution overcomes many of the conventional limitations of airborne image-based navigation technologies.
Both companies have said the innovation will enable faster and easily repeatable mining surveys on low-cost drones, which is suited for large-scale projects such as site-mapping, infrastructure inspection and stockpile measurement. They also indicated it enhances the safety of BVLOS operations, allowing drones to navigate dangerous or inaccessible areas, such as unstable terrains, high walls, or underground tunnels where GPS is not available.
Advanced Navigation CEO Chris Shaw said, “In an increasingly uncertain world where interference is becoming ubiquitous, commercial sectors can no longer rely purely on GPS for flight operations. There is an urgent need for additional navigation aiding to supplement platform inertial navigation and GPS receiver systems.”
More information is posted on www.AdvancedNavigation.com.
Comments