Hivion · Visual navigation suite

Intelligence that navigates when GPS can't

Hivion™ is a software-defined autonomy layer that lets unmanned aircraft perceive, localize, and navigate on onboard intelligence alone, with no dependence on satellites, pre-mapped environments, or external infrastructure.

Request a demo How it works

GNSS-independent localization
Map-matched positioning
Visual dead reckoning
Jam & spoof resilience
Standard flight-stack integration

How it works

The terrain is the reference

Hivion treats the world below the aircraft as its positioning infrastructure. Three stages run continuously onboard.

Stage · Perceive

See the ground

Onboard cameras stream imagery to the edge computer. The suite is architected to be sensor-agnostic, so it adapts to the electro-optical payloads already on the platform.

Stage · Localize

Match against the map

Live frames are matched against georeferenced reference imagery stored onboard, producing absolute position fixes. Between fixes, visual odometry and inertial fusion carry the estimate forward, so position never depends on a satellite signal.

Stage · Navigate

Fly the mission

The fused position estimate feeds the flight stack in place of GNSS. Waypoint navigation, return-to-launch, and mission logic behave normally; the aircraft simply no longer cares whether GPS exists.

Resilience model

Built as a fallback hierarchy

Hivion assumes degradation. Each layer catches the failure of the one above it.

GNSS available: Hivion cross-checks satellite fixes against visual localization and flags spoofing when the two disagree.
GNSS denied: Map-matched visual fixes take over as the primary source of absolute position.
Reference imagery unusable: Visual-inertial dead reckoning bounds drift until matching recovers.
Sustained degradation: Configurable mission behaviors (hold, continue, or return) execute without operator intervention.

Demonstration

Hivion in flight

Concept animation · Map-matched visual navigation

Concept: onboard frames matched against the stored reference map produce position fixes while GNSS is denied; the estimate carries through on visual navigation alone.

Assurance

A certifiable system function, not an experiment

Hivion is developed under an assurance-driven engineering framework, with validation and compliance considered from the earliest design stages.

Explicit operational envelopes. Autonomy behaviors are defined, bounded, and verified, so the system's limits are known before it flies.
Continuous confidence monitoring. Autonomy state and localization confidence are reported throughout the mission, in normal and degraded operations alike.
Deterministic fallback and recovery. Degraded-mode behaviors are predictable and repeatable, not emergent.
Compliance by design. Engineering practice aligns with military airworthiness and regulatory frameworks without compromising operational capability.
Human oversight at the mission level. Operators work with clearly defined autonomy modes and system boundaries, and trust is built on transparent, measurable, repeatable performance.

Integration

Drops into the platforms you already fly

Form factor	Companion compute module with camera interfaces, sized for small and medium unmanned aircraft.
Compute	Runs fully onboard on embedded GPU-class hardware. No datalink or ground processing required for navigation.
Flight stack	Integrates with common open and proprietary autopilots over standard MAVLink-class interfaces.
Adaptability	The autonomy layer adapts to vehicle dynamics, sensor configurations, and mission profiles, deploying without restructuring existing control or avionics architectures.
Reference data	Georeferenced satellite or aerial imagery of the operating area, prepared pre-mission and stored onboard.
Operator view	Localization confidence, fix source, and drift bounds surface in Invictron mission systems or an existing GCS.