Drones given new nighttime navigation tool

The research undertaken by remote sensing engineers at the University of South Australia is described in a new paper published in Drones.

The lightweight, affordable celestial navigation system is made with commercially available components and can be integrated into standard drones. 

“Unlike traditional star-based navigation systems, which are often complex, heavy and costly, our system is simpler, lighter and does not need stabilisation hardware, making it suitable for smaller drones,” UniSA researcher Dr Samuel Teague said in a statement.

“This type of navigation is ideal for operations over oceans, or in warfare zones where GPS jamming is a risk. Apart from the defence sector, it could also be highly useful for environmental monitoring.”

According to UniSA, the system relies on an algorithm that uses visual data from stars and processes it through standard autopilot systems. Testing on a fixed-wing drone demonstrated accurate positioning to within four kilometres.

Dr Teague said that by relying on passive, non-emissive celestial navigation rather than radio frequency global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals, drones are resistant to jamming.