Dr Mario Paniccia, CEO, ANELLO Photonics.

What makes ANELLO Photonics' optical gyroscope or sensor technology unique compared to other inertial navigation systems on the market?

What makes ANELLO unique is based on what we have developed here: the world’s first optical gyro on a chip which we call SiPhOG^TM. The SiPhOG is based on our patented integrated silicon photonics platform. This integrated silicon photonics technology offers performance comparable to traditional fiber-optic gyroscopes (FOGs) but at a significantly reduced size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C). The SiPhOG achieves an unaided heading drift of less than 0.5°/hr, and when integrated into a system, one can enable precise navigation in GPS-denied or contested environments.

Can you explain how your technology maintains high-precision positioning in environments where GPS signals are degraded or unavailable (e.g., tunnels, urban canyons, or indoors)?

We put this high precision SiPhOG sensor into systems that contain CPU, algorithms, accelerometers, and other sensors. When the system has GPS, you use it. As you start to lose GPS our algorithms detect this and port over to the ANELLO SiPhOG for navigation. Due to the low drift of our optical gyroscopeone can then navigate with the low bias heading of the SiPhOG. With this type of integrated system, we are for example able to drive distances of 100km with less than 100 meter lateral error (i.e., over 99.9% accuracy). This performance is attributed to the SiPhOG's low drift rate and the effective integration and fusion of sensor data along with ANELLO’s algorithms.

What advantages does your silicon photonic gyroscope offer over traditional MEMS or fiber-optic gyroscopes for autonomous navigation?

Traditional MEMS-based gyros while they are low cost, they are very sensitive to vibration, temperature and electromagnetic interference. This makes them unpractical for use in applications that require high precision navigation. Traditional fiber optical gyros (FOGs) on the other hand work very well, are very precise and are not susceptible to vibration, temperature and electromagnetic interference. However, fiberoptic gyroscopes are big, bulky and expensive. With the SiPhOG we have combined the best of both worlds resulting in a small, high-precision gyroscope that is not susceptible to temperature, not susceptible to vibration or EMI and can be produced in high volume.

How does ANELLO’s sensor technology integrate with other vehicle perception and navigation systems, such as LiDAR, radar or cameras?

ANELLO's products are designed with standard interfaces and protocols. This allows customers to easily integrate with other perception and navigation technologies for seamless operation. The SiPhOG's precise orientation output data can be complemented with inputs from LiDAR, radar and cameras, improving overall precision and enhancing the reliability of positioning and navigation in autonomous systems.

Have you conducted any field tests or pilot deployments in real-world GPS-denied scenarios? If so, what performance results have stood out?

Yes, ANELLO has conducted many field tests demonstrating the effectiveness of our technology and products in real GPS-denied, jammed and spoofed environments. The system has successfully demonstrated the ability to navigate over 100 km with less than 100 meters of lateral error without relying on any GPS. At jamming events hosted by the Department of Defense, ANELLO has demonstrated the ability to detect and resist spoofing attacks in real time. In addition, our products have been tested in the Middle East where jamming and spoofing is very prevalent. We have products now that cover all applications – Land, Air and Maritime environments – and all of our products have been tested in real world environments with impeccable results.

Which industries or vehicle types are you currently focused on—passenger cars, trucking, defense, drones, or something else?

ANELLO is engaged in a wide array of applications in various industries, from agriculture and construction to robots drones and maritime applications – including both USV (Unmanned Surface Vessels) and UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vessels). We’re able to cover such a wide range of applications due to the SWaP and performance of the SiPhOG, and the resulting systems and products we produce enabling the same technology to be applied across multiple applications.

Is your solution aimed at full autonomy (SAE Level 4/5) or as an enhancement to current ADAS systems (Levels 2/3)?

The high-precision navigation capabilities of the SiPhOG are applicable to a broad spectrum of autonomous driving levels, depending on the integration needed with other systems. We have designed our products to be ASIL-D capable allowing us to ship products into the automotive market. The timing of this integration will depend on the various automakers as we engage with them more going forward.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced bringing a novel photonic sensor technology to the mobility market?

Well, the first hurdle was building and developing the SiPhOG itself. This was not a simple development effort and we had to develop many new components and devices that did not exist previously. In addition, we had to develop our own models and testing solutions. Once we had SiPhOG, it was then building a full navigation solution (hardware and software) and then of course testing the integrated product in a real use environment. Lastly, we had to iterate our algorithms based on various use cases, re-testing and adjusting the models. This had to be done numerous times and the algorithms were modified for each of the various use cases and platforms (i.e., Land, Air and Sea). Once we had all this, we then had to work with customers to try, test and validate our technology onto their platforms. This turned out to be the easy part as it seamlessly worked.

In addition, there is a big need for this type of navigation accuracy without many solutions available in the market. As I often say, the data speaks for itself as we are finding lots of customers requesting our products and integrating them into their platforms. ANELLO is and will be the solution of choice for GPS denied navigation.

Dr Mario Paniccia is a seasoned technical and business leader across broad industries including semiconductor, cloud/data center, silicon photonics, optical networking, IoT, and consumer electronics. Experience ranging from early stage start-up to running R&D organizations to starting new business units. Experienced with presenting strategy to the executive office including CEO, CTO, and Board. Strengths in driving strategy based on innovative technologies and turning them into businesses. Enjoy working with entrepreneurs and helping small startups get focused and moving forward quickly.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-paniccia/