Inertial Labs, a VIAVI Solutions Company, has published a white paper analyzing the GNSS-denied navigation performance of its IL-VINS (Visual Inertial Navigation System) combined with Maxar’s Raptor vision-based positioning capability.
The evaluation demonstrates how the system provides resilient positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) data across a variety of aerial platforms, including fixed-wing, multi-rotor, and VTOL aircraft.
The study involved a series of Cessna 172-S flight tests, conducted under both daytime and night-time conditions. The VINS platform uses Maxar’s Raptor software development kit (SDK), which determines absolute 3D position by comparing onboard camera imagery, visible or infrared, against Precision3D textured mesh maps with 3-meter accuracy. These updates, generated at 1 Hz, are provided to the INS extended Kalman filter, ensuring navigation continuity when GNSS signals are unavailable.
Results showed that the system maintained bounded errors throughout testing. In daytime conditions, position error was held to around 20 meters, with altitude error not exceeding 2 meters due to a combination of computer vision-based estimation and barometric aiding. Night-time testing, using a Boson+ infrared sensor, achieved improved results with position error below 15 meters RMS and altitude error within 5 meters. In both cases, velocity estimates from the INS closely matched GNSS-derived reference data.
The findings confirm the effectiveness of integrated inertial and 3D vision-based positioning for operations in GNSS-denied or spoofed environments. By fusing multiple aiding sources, the system provides reliable APNT outputs across diverse flight conditions. The full white paper provides detailed performance plots, sensor setup diagrams, and trajectory analyses.
Inertial Labs will be exhibiting at DSEI 2025, taking place September 9–12 at ExCeL London in the UK.
Visitors can meet the team at Booth S4-142 to learn more about the IL-VINS platform, explore the company’s navigation solutions, and discuss the latest performance research in GNSS-denied environments.
Read the full white paper: GNSS-Denied Performance of Vision-Based Positioning APNT Solution on the Inertial Labs website for detailed test data, system setup, and performance analysis.
