Precision Landing Localization Technology for Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft in GPS-denied Environments

Landing electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles in urban environments autonomously will require high-accuracy and high-integrity localization capable of operating in GNSS-denied environments.  The solutions need to operate in a wide range of conditions and have low acquisition, deployment and maintenance costs. In Phase I of this effort we evaluated multiple precision navigation technologies and completed an initial feasibility assessment of a specific vision-based navigation approach.  Simulations of the approach show meter level localization accuracy during landing phase without reliance on GNSS. For Phase II, we propose to refine the vision-based navigation concept, develop a hardware prototype system and finally conduct flight tests with the prototype system on Archer's full-scale Maker eVTOL vehicle.   Position data collected during the flight tests will be validated against truth GNSS data and evaluated against use cases.