SPARC AI has launched the Overwatch Positioning Network, a live service designed to provide drones with positioning when GPS is jammed, spoofed or unavailable.
The system receives sensor and telemetry data from an aircraft and returns its latitude and longitude in roughly a third of a second, according to SPARC AI. The company says no hardware or software needs to be installed on the drone, with positioning computations carried out in data centres.
The Overwatch architecture is designed to move GPS-denied positioning processing away from individual aircraft and into a networked service. SPARC AI says the network can be replicated across multiple geographic data-centre regions, with computing capacity scaling as more aircraft connect.
Ukraine is expected to be an important market for the service, with SPARC AI saying it has existing engagements with Ukrainian drone manufacturers and other stakeholders. The company expects the network to be used to validate the system at operational scale in Ukraine, where widespread electronic warfare has created significant challenges for GNSS-dependent drone operations.
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(Image: SPARC AI)