Tag: magnetic anomaly

Honeywell demos alternative nav in GPS-denied environments
Stringent testing on both fixed-wing plane and helicopter proves reliability and performance

Honeywell has successfully demonstrated several advanced alternative navigation technologies intended to help ensure seamless navigation, even when GPS signals are blocked, interrupted or unavailable.

Testing took place on both an Embraer E170 aircraft and an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter.

Alternative navigation systems use sensors such as cameras, star trackers, radars and radios to augment and or aid inertial navigation systems. These systems correct inertial navigation systems in environments where GNSS are denied.

“Our customers are seeing an increase in both intentional and unintentional navigational disruptions, including jamming for GNSS-based navigation,” said Matt Picchetti, vice president and general manager, Navigation and Sensors, Honeywell Aerospace. “There hasn’t been a single set of solutions that meet all our customers’ operational needs, so we decided to create one. Our modular and scalable alternative navigation technologies are setting a new benchmark in terms of reliability and performance in GNSS-denied environments compared with what is available in aviation today.”

Alternative navigation technologies provide vital position, velocity and heading information in GNSS-denied environments. The successfully demonstrated technologies onboard the E170 and AW139 include:
- Vision-Aided Navigation. Honeywell’s vision-aided navigation system achieved GPS-like performance on both the Embraer E170 and AW139 platforms during GPS-denied conditions. Additionally, the technology showed 67% improvement in GPS-denied performance compared with earlier testing in 2021. The system uses a live camera feed and compares it with maps to provide a passive, not jammable, and highly accurate absolute position.
- Celestial-Aided Navigation. Honeywell’s celestial-aided navigation system on the Embraer E170 achieved an accuracy of 25 meters circular error probability of 50% (CEP50). This represented a 38% improvement in GPS-denied performance compared with tests in 2021. Most importantly, this is the first time a resident space objects-based (RSOs) navigation solution was demonstrated on an airborne platform, as most competing solutions rely only on star-based navigation. The system uses a star tracker to observe stars and RSOs to provide a passive, not jammable solution with GPS-like accuracy in GPS-denied or spoofed conditions.
- Magnetic-Anomaly-Aided Navigation. Honeywell conducted real-time magnetic-anomaly-aided navigation on the Embraer E170 airborne platform. This is a historic milestone, as almost all previous magnetic tests were done in special environments to mitigate electromagnetic noise. Honeywell demonstrated this passive, not jammable, all-weather 24/7 technology on an embedded platform, which measures Earth’s magnetic strength and compares it with magnetic maps to accurately identify the position of the vehicle.
Photo: InifiDome

Additionally, Honeywell demonstrated that inertial navigation systems, when paired with the GPSDome (an anti-jamming device), showed significant improvement in position accuracy and integrity performance in the presence of GPS jamming. The ability of GPSDome to enable tracking of GPS satellites under more aggressive jamming environments reduces performance degradations that come with GNSS-denied conditions.

Alternative navigation prototype systems will be available in 2022, with initial deliveries expected to start in 2023.
April 22, 2022
Honeywell demonstrates military-grade alternative navigation tech
Image: Pulvas/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

New technologies use a variety of inputs to help ensure seamless navigation, even when GPS reception fails because of interference or jamming.

Honeywell has successfully demonstrated multiple alternate navigation technologies for military aircraft. These new products are intended to help ensure seamless navigation — even when GPS signals are blocked, interrupted or unavailable.

For military operations, GPS-jamming — intentional or not — can block vital signals from conveying critical information regarding positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). In these instances, it’s important for military vehicles and aircraft to be equipped with alternative navigation technologies, like celestial or vision navigation, to maintain operational readiness.

“For military operations, not having access to critical positioning and timing information can make or break a mission,” said Matt Picchetti, vice president and general manager, Navigation & Sensors, Honeywell Aerospace. “We’re very excited to roll out this robust lineup of alternate navigation solutions, which are specifically designed to address the needs of our military customers and give them the added layers of redundancy needed to successfully carry out their operations, even if they lose access to GPS signals.”

Illustration: Honeywell

Alternate navigation technologies provide a different means of measuring position, velocity and heading when GPS is disrupted. These technologies include:
- Vision-aided navigation. This technology uses a live optical or infrared camera feed and compares it with maps to provide a passive, not jammable, highly accurate alternative PNT solution that provides GPS-like accuracy in GPS-denied or jammed conditions.
- Celestial-aided navigation. Honeywell’s celestial-aided navigation technology observes stars and “reference objects” orbiting the earth such as satellites, which have known positions and velocities. This technology compares those reference objects to stars and can determine position and velocity, the same way a GPS receiver can.
- Magnetic anomaly-aided navigation. This navigation technology measures magnetic strength using sensors and compares this data with known geographical magnetic maps to accurately identify the position of the aircraft relative to the Earth.
Prototypes of these alternate navigation systems will be available in 2022, with initial deliveries expected to start in 2023.

Honeywell navigation systems are used by nearly every aircraft flying to guide millions of passengers to their destinations. Since 1914 when the first autopilot used Honeywell gyroscopes to hold the plane stable during flight, Honeywell has delivered more than 500,000 high-performance inertial sensors across several platforms on land, in the air and at sea.
April 15, 2021
US Air Force to explore navigating with magnetism

Two F-16 Fighting Falcons fly over Edwards AFB during a 2009 air show. (Photo: U.S. Air Force/Chad Bellay)

The U.S. Air Force in September will begin testing on F-16’s an alternative position, navigation and timing (PNT) solution that uses the Earth’s magnetic anomalies.

The navigation technique, dubbed MAGNAV, is being researched at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), reports Forbes.

Air Force Major Aaron J. Canciani, an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at AFIT, designed algorithms for MAGNAV flight testing on F-16s. Testing has already taken place using private survey aircraft.

MAGNAV sensors and software will be flown on Air Force Test Pilot School (AFTPS) F-16s over a special test range adjacent to Edwards Air Force Base in Nevada.

Magnetic anomaly navigation uses scalar magnetometer sensors that measure differences in the magnitude of magnetic fields when traveling past them. These variations can be compared with known features in magnetic field maps and be interpreted to determine position.

The four pillars of MAGNAV are magnetic maps, sensors, algorithms and calibration. The magnetic maps already exist within industry, the military and government agencies including NOAA, NASA, NGA and more.

NOAA’s EMAG2 (v3) World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map. (Image: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center)

June 16, 2020