UAV Navigation and Wavenet RF Engineering have collaborated to create an innovative positioning and navigation system that is designed to provide an alternative to solutions that place exclusive reliance on GNSS.
Developed under the COINCIDENTE 2022 program financed by the Spanish Ministry of Defence, Kepler Advance protects against jamming and spoofing attacks, which can threaten the robustness and accuracy of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) navigation systems.
Wavenet RF Engineering has led the development of the Kepler Advance system, while UAV Navigation has leveraged its wide experience in the UAS sector to carry out integration and fusion of the information within the system’s estimator, as well as evaluation of the solution in real-world flights on board different UAV platforms.
Kepler Advance enables precise navigation of an unmanned aircraft in the absence of GNSS, and is optimized for defense applications. It is a radio-frequency system that is capable of converting incoming aircraft interrogation signals from the GCS into outgoing response signals to the GCS. These responses are processed by the Kepler Advance system’s ground station and position is determined with an accuracy similar to the accuracy provided by satellite systems. Three sets of data are utilized:
- The distance of the aircraft from the ground station
- The angle of the aircraft relative to the ground station and to North
- The height above ground of the aircraft
The spatial position is determined in a data format similar to that provided by GNSS systems and delivered to the ground station. This position can be used as a true reference for navigation, mission execution, and representation on an interactive map, and as a reliable and robust substitute for GNSS systems.
As part of the final phases of this program, both companies have carried out successful system validation flights with a UAV using Kepler Advance as the only positioning and navigation system. A Class I UAV was utilized, equipped with the VECTOR-600 flight control system together with UAV Navigation’s Visionair ground control station control software.
On the test day, different missions were carried out, including comparisons of GPS with Kepler Advance, as well as flights under GPS-denied conditions using only Kepler Advance as the PNT system for approximately three hours. All missions were successful.
The Kepler Advance system offers a number of advantages that make it suitable for any UAV application:
- High positioning accuracy with a resolution that improves upon GNSS by 40%.
- It is difficult to inhibit, as it uses LPI (Low Probability of Interception) technology, and the working frequency is not known a priori.
- It is highly unlikely to be subject to spoofing, since details are not public and the solution does not use widely known hardware or software.
- It works in any terrain, including maritime and desert conditions, and under any weather conditions.
- It does not accumulate errors, so accuracy is constant.
The Kepler Advance project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2025, and UAV Navigation and Wavenet RF Engineering hope that it may be operational even earlier.
