AUARI, electrical and computer engineering researchers collaborate with Army's Pathfinder Program on $670k project
Published: May 18, 2026 7:00 AM
By Joe McAdory
Backed by a $670,000 award from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory’s Pathfinder Program, Auburn Engineering researchers are developing a “position hold” capability that allows small uncrewed aircraft to remain there entirely without the aid of GPS.
When GPS functions properly, small drones can hover precisely, hold their position and quietly collect information. When it doesn’t, even advanced, uncrewed aircraft can drift unpredictably, forcing operators to actively pilot them instead of focusing on their mission.
Researchers at the Auburn University Applied Research Institute (AUARI) and the university’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are working toward a solution.
Backed by a $670,000 award from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory’s Pathfinder Program, Auburn Engineering researchers are developing a “position hold” capability that allows small uncrewed aircraft to remain there entirely without the aid of GPS. This is accomplished using passive onboard sensors such as cameras and inertial measurement devices rather than satellite signals.
This project comes on the heels of a December-announced, $863,000 DEVCOM-funded project to advance new signals intelligence capabilities for the Department of War.
“These drones often operate in GPS-denied environments,” said Justin Harrison, AUARI principal research scientist and lead project engineer. “The challenge is maintaining accurate positioning without GPS. When a drone is unable to reliably determine its location, small errors can accumulate over time, causing it to drift. Without continuous correction, the aircraft could deviate by 50, 100, or even 200 feet from its intended course, which may affect mission performance and safety.”
The project is structured as a proof-of-concept effort, with researchers first demonstrating the approach through simulations and algorithmic developments before moving to laboratory testing. If successful, Harrison said, the work could transition into follow-on efforts focused on integrating the capability into operational uncrewed systems.
Matt Kirchner, the Godbold Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, serves as project co-principal investigator.
“This is a challenge that requires not only a precision estimate of the aircraft location, but also quantifying the uncertainty,” Kirchner said. “Together with other onboard measurements, these combine to form a single location estimate and ensure the drone can act on that information in real time. It’s not just knowing where the aircraft is, it’s being able to provide positional commands so it can maintain that location using that information.”
Kirchner said this capability is especially important when operators cannot devote constant attention to piloting an aircraft.
“You might have operators who want to send a drone up, but they can’t monitor the aircraft at all times,” Kirchner said. “Without GPS, you run the risk of it wandering off. The idea is to free them up so the system can stay in place without needing constant attention.”
Principal Investigator and Project Lead, Steve Mills said “this project, and others, reflects a broader collaboration between AUARI’s applied research teams and Auburn’s campus-based faculty.”
“By bringing together the institute’s applied research teams and Auburn’s campus faculty, we’re able to accelerate progress in a meaningful way,” Mills said. “That collaboration helps move ideas quickly from concept to demonstration, test them against real requirements and refine them into capabilities that can be transitioned and used. When you’re working on problems like these, speed, reliability and practical impact all matter.”
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