Drone landing system cut from three units to one

A Cambridgeshire firm that lets drones land precisely using radar rather than satellite positioning has cut the equipment needed on the ground from three units to one, and has rebranded under new leadership, according to skyAnchor.

The company, formerly Cambridge Sensoriis, makes the ARC system, which uses patented radar-based radio frequency technology to land and tether uncrewed aircraft, and says its technology has been adopted by partners in more than ten countries over six years of development.

The latest firmware release, ARC 1.4, allows supported applications to land on a single anchor unit rather than the three-unit configuration previously required, which cuts both the cost and the logistical burden of fielding the system. The release also adds support for PX4 moving-landing alongside ArduPilot.

That second change matters chiefly because of who has taken it up. Evolve Dynamics has recently adopted PX4 on its Wolfe platform, a sub-four-kilogram uncrewed aircraft built for rugged use, and the two companies have worked together to tune the integration.

Mike Hall, appointed chief executive earlier this year and with the business since it began, said: “We’re delivering real value to the drone industry right now, by providing a trusted platform for take-off, tethering, and landing. Our customers already have a lot to manage. With skyAnchor, they don’t need to think about this critical phase of operation, they know they can rely on us to handle it with consistency and confidence.”

Landing is where most drone accidents happen, and precision landing without satellite positioning has become a requirement rather than a refinement as jamming has spread. A system that can put an aircraft onto a moving deck or vehicle in weather, without relying on GPS, addresses a problem that affects every operator from the Royal Navy down to a utility company inspecting pylons.

skyAnchor is the trading name of Cambridge Sensoriis, based at Bourn near Cambridge, and specialises in radar antenna, transceiver and signal-processing design, developing collaborative radio frequency systems of low size, weight and power for military and commercial aircraft.

The company is at stand SB24 at Apex Europe in London on Wednesday and Thursday.