ANELLO Aerial INS helps exact navigation for UAVs and autonomous VTOLs. Supply: ANELLO
Dependable navigation is particularly essential in GPS-denied or contested environments comparable to battlefields. ANELLO Photonics at this time launched ANELLO Aerial INS, a compact, high-performance inertial navigation system constructed across the firm’s Silicon Photonic Optical Gyroscope, or SiPhOG expertise.
“Prospects flying actual missions want resilient navigation when GNSS isn’t dependable,” acknowledged Dr. Mario Paniccia, co-founder and CEO of ANELLO Photonics. “By combining our SiPhOGs with our airborne-optimized sensor-fusion algorithms and built-in multi-band GNSS, the ANELLO Aerial INS delivers fiber-optic gyro efficiency in a cheap SWaP [size, weight, and power]-friendly bundle.”
“This permits UAVs to carry course via jamming, multipath, spoofing or outages and full the mission safely and efficiently,” he mentioned.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based ANELLO developed SiPhOG primarily based on built-in photonic system-on-chip (SoC) expertise. The firm has greater than 40 issued patents, with 40 pending.
ANELLO Aerial INS designed to offer steerage
“Right this moment’s consumer-grade gyros are low accuracy and are all MEMS [micro-electromechanical systems]-based. They’re very delicate to vibration and EMI [electromagnetic interference],” Paniccia advised The Robotic Report. “However then you definitely get to industrial/defense-grade programs, that are excessive accuracy and dearer. These are the large, cumbersome programs in missiles, fighter jets, and submarines. SiPhOG is the world’s smallest optical gyro, with no shifting components and high-volume meeting.”
The fiber gyro splits two beams of sunshine right into a coil after which combines them to make use of the section shift to find out the rotation price, defined Gerhard Boiciuc, vp of enterprise improvement and partnerships at ANELLO Photonics. It may be placed on a 1-in. sq. chip, which is fabricated within the U.S.
The expertise might work in every little thing from farm tractors to drones, and it was examined final summer time in maritime settings, mentioned Paniccia. ANELLO received a U.S. Navy Small Enterprise Innovation Analysis (SBIR) Part II contract in September 2025.
The corporate mentioned it designed ANELLO INS with direct buyer enter for stringent efficiency necessities for air, land, and sea functions. The system is built-in with multi-band GNSS receivers and mission-ready platforms.
The ANELLO Aerial INS makes use of an EKF (Prolonged Kalman Filter)-based sensor-fusion engine and the corporate’s flight-profile-tuned algorithms, constantly delivering >98% navigation accuracy with out cameras or fiber-optic cables. ANELLO mentioned the unit can preserve correct navigation and management via high-dynamics and GNSS jamming, spoofing, or occlusion.
Key options of the ANELLO Aerial INS embody:
- Excessive-precision three-axis SiPhOG optical gyros with
- Dual triple-frequency, all-constellation GNSS receivers with static heading functionality, prepared for RTK/PPP (exact level positioning) corrections
- ANELLO Superior Sensor Fusion Engine with GNSS spoofing detection for resilient holdover in GPS-denied or spoofed situations
- Flight-stack integration: PX4 and ArduPilot drivers; normal interfaces (Ethernet, RS-232, RS-422, CAN) and timing (PPS Out/PPS Sync In)
- NMEA-compliant GNSS Interface outputs Nationwide Marine Electronics Affiliation (NMEA) navigation packets for seamless integration as a drop-in alternative for standard GNSS receivers
- Flight-profile optimization: Algorithms calibrated for past visible line-of-sight (BVLOS), intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), vertical takeoff and touchdown (VTOL), and different autonomous aerial automobiles for correct navigation
- Rugged, compact, and light-weight: 4.4 x 3.4 x 1.9 in. (11.1 x 8.6 x 4.8 cm) bundle at 1 lb. (0.4 kg); low energy consumption of
- IP68: Waterproof, immune to corrosion, salt spray, and chemical compounds
The brand new navigation system is designed for portability and accuracy. Supply: ANELLO Photonics
ANELLO provides to confirmed navigation portfolio
ANELLO mentioned its navigation options present assured GNSS-denied operation in over-water/desert corridors, city canyons, evening/low-light eventualities, and fog/cloud situations. This gives dependable, correct steerage with out GPS and improves warfighter effectiveness and survivability, claimed the corporate.
It added that it has designed its programs for demanding aerial platforms, together with BVLOS uncrewed aerial programs (UAS), maritime/shipborne VTOL UAS, ISR/special-mission plane, heavy-lift and cargo drones, and different drones.
“Our street map is to proceed shrink and combine electronics and photonics for much less weight and energy,” Paniccia mentioned. “We finally need to convey high-precision navigation to every little thing.”
As well as, ANELLO asserted that the introduction of ANELLO Aerial INS alongside its confirmed floor and maritime programs extends its lead in GPS-denied navigation throughout domains, as validated via a number of U.S. Division of Conflict operational take a look at occasions.
“The ANELLO SiPhOG expertise is a sport changer for our warfighters,” mentioned Dan Magy, CEO of Firestorm, which is creating low-cost drones for fight and ISR functions. “The power to navigate in GPS-denied or spoofed environments with out cameras or fiber-optic cables — in small, light-weight programs — is important for future fight missions.”
“The ANELLO workforce has developed an aerial answer that seamlessly integrates into present avionics with minimal effort,” he added. “This sort of functionality is important in at this time’s battle areas the place our adversaries actively disrupt GPS, making ANELLO a strong improve for all fashionable aerial platforms.”
The ANELLO Aerial INS is now obtainable for analysis, with manufacturing shipments starting within the second quarter of 2026. Analysis kits embody the ANELLO Aerial INS, cabling, drivers for PX4/ArduPilot, and a quick-start integration information.
