Friday, December 06, 2024

GPS-alternative Tech Swaps Satellites for Earth Fingerprints

Even though most of today's aircraft rely heavily on GPS for navigation, the technology is far from infallible. That's why an alternative system is in the works, which may soon allow planes to navigate by "reading the fingerprint" of the terrain they're flying over.

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Pokemon Go players have been unwittingly mapping the entire world to train a geospatial AI model whose most obvious use cases are for robotic navigation and possibly the military www.404media.co/pokemon-go-p ...

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-- Jason Koebler (@jasonkoebler.bsky.social) November 19, 2024 at 10:45 AM

Comments

More from the article...

... In order for GPS (and other satellite-based positioning systems) to work to its full extent, the aircraft's GPS receiver must be able to lock onto the signals of at least four satellites at once. Unfortunately this isn't always possible, due to factors such as atmospheric conditions or even intentional signal-jamming perpetrated by enemy forces.

The as-yet-unnamed new system, which is being developed by Australian firm Advanced Navigation and European missile manufacturer MBDA, swaps the GPS receiver for a downward-facing neuromorphic camera.

Also known as an event camera, a neuromorphic camera incorporates pixels that independently respond to changes in brightness as they occur. This functionality allows the camera to pick out much more detail than a traditional camera, and to perform better in low-light conditions. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-05 01:21 AM

This sounds like it introduces more problems than it solves, it would seem the best answer is a combination of the two techs.

#2 | Posted by kwrx25 at 2024-12-05 02:33 PM

Yeah lets use cameras that don't work when it's cloudy below instead of just using VOR.

#3 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2024-12-06 08:46 AM

It's for missiles to navigate by camera in GPS denied environments. Also a thing for small drones delivering everything from blood to bombs.

#4 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2024-12-06 09:00 AM

@#4 ... in GPS denied environments. ...

Yup.
There are times when GPS does not work or seems to work but is not returning valid information, but precise location data is needed.

GPS is often jammed or spoofed in (I'll called it) sensitive areas, among other reasons for GPS not to work properly.


#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-06 06:41 PM

 

@#5 ... There are times when GPS does not work or seems to work but is not returning valid information, ...

The Serious Threat Of GPS Spoofing: An Analysis (2023)
aviationweek.com

... A serious threat to the safety of air navigation has emerged in recent weeks, occurring to a wide range of civilian transport aircraft while traversing airspace in which deviations would lead to intrusions into Iranian airspace without a clearance. The culprit appears to be fake GPS signals which are causing complete navigation failure. ...

#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-06 09:23 PM

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