NorthStrive Defense Tech LLC, a subsidiary of PMGC Holdings Inc., has secured an exclusive option to license U.S. Patent No. 12,277,716 B2, covering a cooperative navigation system for unmanned aircraft operating in GPS-denied and GPS-degraded environments.
The patent covers a visual-inertial odometry approach that uses onboard cameras and inertial sensors to estimate position without GPS. When multiple drones operate together, the system shares positional data between vehicles in real time to improve individual accuracy. The architecture uses an Extended Kalman Filter for state estimation and is designed to keep flight-critical processing onboard each vehicle while minimizing inter-vehicle data exchange.
The capability addresses a persistent vulnerability in drone operations: GPS jamming and spoofing have degraded or disabled unmanned systems across multiple recent conflict zones, accelerating DoD and NATO investment in navigation solutions that do not depend on satellite signals.
The option agreement provides an evaluation period during which NorthStrive will assess the technology and engage potential partners before negotiating a definitive license.
