Agilica

Agilica is the developer of an innovative local positioning system that enables UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to take off, land and navigate with precision even under dynamic and GPS-denied conditions. Originating as an R&D initiative at Belgium’s Royal Military Academy, the company utilizes deep technical expertise and proven experience within the defense, maritime and robotics sectors to create next-generation solutions that drive the future of autonomous drone operations.

Agilica Geolocation

High-precision local positioning system for mission-critical drone operations

The Agilica Geolocation (AGL) positioning system utilizes innovative ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology that outperforms visual-based and other technologies, enabling precise autonomous drone maneuvers even under highly dynamic or GNSS-denied conditions. UWB is highly resilient in the face of RF interference, multipath issues, and jamming and spoofing attacks, allowing for reliable navigation with accuracy of down to centimeter-level.

AGL utilizes multiple fixed reference points, or anchor nodes, with known positions to create a local co-ordinate system, as well as mobile tags with unknown positions. Time-of-flight of UWB radio signals is measured between tags and anchors, in order to calculate distance. This in turn can be used to calculate highly accurate relative position in real time.

All mobile tags are completely passive, receiving ranging messages from the ground-based anchors, and thus make virtually no impact upon the SWaP budget of an unmanned aircraft. They can output GPS-compatible NMEA messages to an onboard computer or drone flight controller via UART, CANbus or USB.

Anchor nodes can be powered by USB-C or PoE, and managed and configured via a web-based interface. A minimum of six anchors is required with spacing of 20-30 meters to achieve a reliable position fix, and mesh networking can be used to seamlessly scale the system up or down as required.

The AGL system offers a variety of advantages for mission-critical drone positioning:

• GPS-Independent – ensures reliable navigation when satellite signals are jammed, spoofed, degraded or otherwise compromised
• High-Accuracy – achieves unmatched accuracy down to 10cm, providing the utmost in safety and precision
• Interference-Resistant – excels in urban canyons, indoor locations, and maritime environments
• Precise Timing – all anchors and tags are synchronized within less than a nanosecond
• Highly Scalable – the system supports an unlimited number of tag-equipped drones, as well as thousands of ground-based assets
• Robust & Resilient – AGL provides an ultra-reliable 360-degree positioning system that works day or night under any weather conditions and completely independent of GPS

Applications

Takeoff & Landing
AGL provides safe precision takeoff and landing for drones operating in highly dynamic environments, regardless of weather, visibility, or GNSS availability. It is ideal for operations from moving vehicles and maritime vessels, and is capable of landing on platforms moving at up to 15 km/h on land and 10 knots at sea.

Position Holding
AGL is ideal for applications requiring high-precision position-holding, such as persistent ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance). Acting as a resilient “virtual tether”, it is capable of position accuracy of down to 10cm.

Outdoor-to-Indoor Transition
AGL enables seamless transition of drones and robotic vehicles from outdoor to indoor environments, acting as a form of indoor GPS that is highly resilient to interference and multipath and is ideal for complex industrial environments.

eVTOL & Droneports
AGL is highly suited to low-altitude urban applications such as eVTOLs, UAM and droneports, providing high-precision navigation and real-time tracking in almost any conditions.

Drone Swarming
With scalable mesh networking, AGL is ideal for supporting drone swarm applications with virtually limitless nodes, allowing safe and effective co-ordination.