Aerointel offers visual positioning modules that let drones navigate autonomously without GPS by using onboard cameras and computer‑vision SLAM algorithms. The lightweight hardware provides centimeter‑level pose accuracy, obstacle avoidance and waypoint tracking in GPS‑denied environments such as indoor spaces, dense urban canyons, forests, and disaster zones, and integrates via standard interfaces with existing drone platforms.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Many drone operations rely on GPS for navigation, but GPS signals can be unavailable or unreliable in environments such as dense urban canyons, indoor spaces, forests, or during intentional signal denial. Without accurate positioning, drones cannot operate autonomously, limiting their usefulness for search, border monitoring, environmental surveys, and disaster response.
Solution
Aerointel provides visual positioning modules that enable drones to navigate and localize themselves using onboard cameras and computer‑vision algorithms instead of GNSS. The system processes real‑time image data to extract landmarks, estimate motion, and build a map of the surroundings, delivering centimeter‑level pose accuracy even when GPS is absent. Modules are designed to be lightweight and compatible with a wide range of commercial drone platforms, allowing plug‑and‑play integration. The technology supports fully autonomous flight plans, obstacle avoidance, and precise waypoint tracking in GPS‑denied scenarios, extending drone capabilities to challenging missions such as indoor inspections, forest monitoring, and emergency response.
Target Audience
Primary customers are operators of commercial and industrial drones in sectors such as public safety, border surveillance, environmental monitoring, and disaster management, as well as OEMs seeking to add GNSS‑denied navigation to their UAV products.
Features
- Real‑time visual odometry and SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) using high‑resolution cameras
- GNSS‑independent pose estimation with sub‑meter accuracy in GPS‑denied environments
- Modular hardware package that integrates with standard drone flight controllers via common interfaces (UART, CAN, MAVLink)
- Onboard processing optimized for low‑power embedded GPUs, enabling autonomous operation without external compute
- Fail‑safe mode that seamlessly switches back to GPS when signals become available, ensuring continuous navigation
- SDK and API for custom mission planning, waypoint definition, and integration with existing drone software stacks