The United States Air Force Research Lab has awarded Planck Aerosystems Inc. (Planck Aero) a contract to develop guidance, navigation, and control solutions for small UAS operating in challenging environments.

The result of the most recent solicitation from the Air Force’s Open Innovation topics of the competitive awards-based Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR), the contract will result in Planck Aero developing a visual compass for small UAS in environments where existing commercial offerings may suffer degraded performance.

To help the small UAS operate safely and reliably without having to rely just on GPS or other expensive and heavy installed hardware, Planck Aero is leveraging existing products, as well as its expertise in vision-based navigation.

“Planck has always focused on developing and deploying technologies necessary for unmanned systems to operate in areas that have previously been inaccessible,” says Josh Wells, Planck Aero’s CEO.

“Our technology enables drones to operate from moving vehicles and vessels on land or at sea for commercial and defense customers. This project is a natural extension of that technology.”