Today, the world’s use of drone technology continues to grow each year. As the demand for drone use cases rises, so too does the need for new technology to support niche drone operations. One of the biggest areas for improvement is how drones can navigate in any environment. Currently, drones use global positioning systems (GPS) to navigate.

GPS provides real-time geolocational awareness to users through signals sent by satellites orbiting the Earth. For GPS to work, the user needs an unobstructed direct line of sight to at least four satellites. Although GPS is highly accurate, there are certain areas of the world where GPS signals can become unreliable.

Most people rely on GPS for directions, and if they lose a GPS signal, it usually picks back up quickly enough for it not to be a problem. But when the device using the GPS signal is an unmanned aircraft, the loss of the signal can pose serious risks. This is just one of the reasons why the Federal Aviation Administration requires drones to be flown within VLOS (Visual Line Of Sight) of the operator at all times.

However, as demand for BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) drone operations grows, along with the desire to use drones in GPS-denied environments, alternative navigational systems need to be developed. A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently revealed that they have developed a system for just this purpose.

The project was led by MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate student Maisy Lam, under the guidance of Associate Professor Fadel Adib, founder of MIT’s Signal Kinetics group. The goal of Signal Kinetics is to develop novel wireless sensor technologies. The system that Maisy and her colleagues developed is called MiFly. As she explains in her research paper, MiFly is “a self-localization system for autonomous drones that works across indoor and outdoor environments, including low-visibility, dark, and GPS-denied settings.”

Maisy goes on to explain that a drone’s autonomous navigational system, which relies on a camera and GPS data, can be interrupted when flown indoors, underground, or in dark environments. Such environments could include the interiors of warehouses, factories, or tunnels. For example, if a drone needs to navigate through a tunnel system, even one that is brightly lit, the navigation system can fail. There is no GPS signal, and the drone’s camera cannot pick up enough differentiating visual cues to guide itself.

Maisy designed a lightweight, low-cost system that attaches to a drone, replacing the need for camera or GPS navigation. She explains, “MiFly leverages millimeter waves (mmWave), which are common in 5G systems and autonomous vehicles. Architecturally, it uses two lightweight mmWave radars mounted on a drone and a custom-designed backscatter anchor deployed in the environment. MiFly achieves precise drone localization using just one mmWave anchor, reducing infrastructure setup and cost.”

The anchor is a simple sticker that reflects the mmWaves back to the radars on the drone (the team used a DJI Mavic 3). The waves travel back and forth between the drone and the anchor, providing the drone’s onboard computer with a visual map of the environment. One anchor is all that is needed within a given environment, as the mmWaves can travel through obstacles, continuously providing the drone with the navigational data it needs. Maisy does note that the mmWaves can be interrupted by certain obstacles, like metal and reinforced concrete. If this happens, the system instructs the drone to navigate back to a location free of obstacles.

There are many ways such a system could be used to advance the drone industry. It could help drones navigate complex warehouses and factories for inventory management, assist search and rescue teams, or support workers in underground mines or tunnels. An anchor could even be placed on a house, enabling a drone with the system to safely deliver packages to a front door.

As drone technology continues to evolve, systems like MiFly represent a significant leap forward in addressing the challenges of GPS-denied environments. As we move toward a future where drones play an increasingly central role in daily operations, advancements in autonomous navigation will be key to unlocking their full potential.

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