Honeywell and InfiniDome are collaborating on a GPS signal-protection systems and showcasing a preliminary version of their joint solution at the AUVSI Xponential Show in Atlanta, Aug. 16-19. The combined hardware, software and services offering is designed to handle signal disruptions and maintain access to critical navigation and timing information.
The solutions are intended to serve a variety of purposes for both defense and commercial applications, particularly urban air mobility systems, unmanned aerial systems and surface vehicles. As more small vehicles take to the skies and roads in heavily populated areas, GPS signal availability must be maintained to provide accurate navigation, ensure safety and protect property.
The joint solution is designed to seamlessly handle loss or lack of GPS signals, reducing the likelihood of collisions and detour. The companies state this will also allow customers to increase payloads and decrease mission times with the omission of the expensive sensors currently employed to handle GPS interference.
Earlier this year, Infinidome demonstrated increased GNSS resiliency to hostile jamming in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flight trials sponsored by the Israeli government, according to the company. The drone’s GPS receiver overcame GPS jamming scenarios using infiniDome’s GPSdome protection, which locked on and maintained the GNSS signals throughout the tests. The company’s GPSdome anti-jamming solution is a small, add-on module that uses two off-the-shelf antennas and interfaces to the GNSS receiver at the RF level. A phased-array filtering algorithm combines patterns from two omni-directional antennas in real-time to create a new pattern which attenuates the strong jamming signal, precisely targeting a null in the direction of the attacking signals.
Phased array antenna diagram, courtesy Infinidome.
The technology will also support public safety for quickly evolving low-altitude applications such as cargo drones and urban air transportation vehicles. The initial solution offering is expected to be commercially available in the first half of 2022.
“We’re working to develop a first-of-its-kind holistic solution built on tightly integrated layers of protection for all uses of navigation for unmanned air and ground vehicles,” said Omer Sharar, CEO, InfiniDome.
