New Technology Enhances UAV Performance in Ukraine and Provides a U.S.-Made Alternative for Commercial Drone Manufacturer
By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill
With the recent introduction of its Skynode S technology, Arlington, Virginia drone software developer Auterion is offering a product that has been proven to make kamikaze drones more deadly to Russian forces on the battlefields of Ukraine, as well as making commercial drones more productive, CEO Lorenz Meier said.
In an interview, Meier told DroneLife that the Skynode S drone autopilot software package has been deployed by Ukrainian forces to allow their first-person-view UAVs to lock onto and destroy their targets, despite the enemy’s best efforts to thwart their attack by jamming the drone’s radio signals.
“We’re a commercial company. But our commercial technology – just like Windows or Android – also can be used in a military context,” Meier said.
Meier, who with Kevin Sartori cofounded Auterion in 2017, created the Pixhawk autopilot and MAVLink communication protocol, and the PX4 flight control software, core technologies that are widely used in the commercial and defense drone industry.
For use on the battlefield, Auterion takes its commercially available Skynode S all-in-one computer and flight controller software package and adds on its Track and Intercept (T&I) App, which runs onboard Skynode S and enables precise tracking and terminal guidance.
“Very often in Ukraine there’s not just GPS jamming, but also radio-link jamming. And it’s somewhat local. It’s installed on every trench, every tank, every vehicle,” Meier said. “So, if you are trying to engage, let’s say a tank, you will also lose your video link, because as you close in on it, your video link gets jammed.”
However, drones equipped with Skynode S and the accompanying terminal guidance software are able to continue on course autonomously toward their target, despite the interruption of their radio signal. “So, once you have acquired the target, even jamming the video link doesn’t interrupt the operation,” he said.
While Auterion has just recently introduced Skynode S to the commercial market, Meier said its effectiveness has already been tested under battlefield conditions. Although he said he was unable to provide precise details as to the use of Skynode S in the Russia/Ukraine war, Meier said the technology “is not just combat-tested, it’s combat-proven.”
Its use on the battlefield demonstrated one of the system’s core capabilities – and one that could prove useful in civilian applications as well — the ability to guide a drone to successfully complete its mission, despite operating in conditions that may result in the severance of the link between the UAV and its pilot in command.
“You can mark a target on a video feed, switch the system into terminal-guidance mode, and from then on it will track even a moving target,” Meir said. “So, it has several benefits over manual flying with analog video links. First, it makes it a lot easier to use, so you don’t need to be a skilled FPV pilot to hit a target. You just have to tap on the screen.”
Another benefit of the Skynode S system is that it allows the drone to travel over long distances toward a target, under a variety of conditions that might cause the video link between the pilot and the drone to be severed.
“You can imagine they operate over a dozen miles. In civilian terms, these are all BVLOS operations. You actually have a problem with your video link if you get close to the ground,” Meier said. “The radio waves get blocked by trees or buildings or just literally the contour of the Earth.”
Skynode S may help drone industry offer a U.S.-made alternative to DJI
In commercial applications, Meier said Auterion’s development of the Skynode S, as well as the previous Skynode X version, is helping drone designers who don’t want to use Chinese-made components in their UAVs find an American-made alternative. In addition, because the Skynode S system offers an integrated computer and avionics solution in a smaller package than competing products, it allows drone manufacturers to build smaller drones.
This could help blunt the competitive advantage currently held by DJI, which is known for building very capable drones in relatively small configurations. “So, you can use it to build a competitor to a Mavic,” Meir said.
For Auterion’s commercial customers, Skynode S allows users to install their own apps, to enable their drones to fulfill whatever mission is assigned to them, such as mapping or infrastructure inspection. The company’s customers include a number of non-military federal and state agencies that use its products in firefighting and agricultural applications.
Meier said that although the Skynode S product has not yet been approved for use by the U.S. military under the Defense Department’s Blue UAS program, it is compliant with the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for use by government agencies. He added that he is confident the product will receive its Blue UAS status soon.
With its capability of being adapted for both commercial and civilian use, Skynode S represents Auterion’s dual vision of developing commercial products that help advance the ability of the U.S. to manufacture high-quality, dependable drones, and to use its technology to advance the cause of democracy in America and across the world, Meier said.
“We are a commercial company that is very, very proud of the commercial use cases we have, but also of the support that we’re offering to our armed forces,” he said. “I believe that it is a moral imperative, a moral obligation for tech companies to support liberal democracies, to support the forces that protect our freedoms and to not withhold technology.”
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Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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