ANELLO Photonics Launches Aerial INS at CES 2026

ANELLO Photonics, the creator of the Silicon Photonic Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG™) and a leader in solid-state, high-precision inertial navigation systems, announces the launch of the ANELLO Aerial INS at CES 2026, a compact, high-performance inertial navigation system built around the company’s Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope technology and integrated with multi-band GNSS receivers.

The ANELLO Aerial INS is purpose-built for demanding aerial platforms – including BVLOS UAS, maritime/shipborne VTOL UAS, ISR/special-mission aircraft, heavy-lift and cargo drones and other autonomous aerial vehicles.  The system is powered by an advanced EKF-based sensor fusion engine and ANELLO flight-profile-tuned algorithms, consistently delivering >98% navigation accuracy without the need for cameras or fiber-optic cables.

The ANELLO Aerial INS delivers <0.5 deg/hr unaided heading drift, maintaining accurate navigation and control through high-dynamics and GNSS jamming, spoofing, or occlusion. ANELLO’s navigation solutions deliver assured performance in fully GNSS-denied environments – whether operating over water or desert corridors, in night or low-light missions, or through fog and cloud cover – maintaining precise guidance without GPS and enhancing the warfighter’s effectiveness and survivability.

“Customers flying real missions need resilient navigation when GPS isn’t reliable,” said Dr. Mario Paniccia, co-founder and CEO of ANELLO Photonics. “By combining our SiPhOGs with our airborne-optimized sensor-fusion algorithms and integrated multi-band GNSS, the ANELLO Aerial INS delivers accurate navigation solutions in a cost-effective SWaP-friendly package. This allows UAVs to hold course through GPS jamming, multipath, spoofing or outages using only ANELLO without the need for cameras or fiber-optic cables and allows the warfighter to complete their mission safely and successfully.”

ANELLO’s full product portfolio has been developed in close collaboration with customers and verified through comprehensive integration and mission-platform testing.

Key features of the ANELLO Aerial INS include:

  • High-precision 3-Axis SiPhOG™ optical gyros with < 0.5º/hr unaided heading drift for reliable dead-reckoning during GNSS outages
  • Dual triple-frequency all-constellation GNSS receivers with static heading capability; ready for RTK/PPP corrections
  • ANELLO Advanced Sensor Fusion Engine with GNSS spoofing detection; resilient holdover in GPS-denied or spoofed conditions
  • Flight-stack integration: PX4 and ArduPilot drivers; standard interfaces (Ethernet, RS-232, RS-422, CAN) and timing (PPS Out/PPS Sync In)
  • NMEA-Compliant GNSS Interface outputs NMEA navigation packets for seamless integration as a drop-in replacement for conventional GNSS receivers
  • Flight-Profile Optimization; Algorithms calibrated for BVLOS, ISR, VTOL and other autonomous aerial vehicles for accurate navigation
  • Rugged, Compact and Lightweight; Small footprint, low power consumption, vibration-tolerant design for multirotor, fixed-wing, and VTOL platforms.

“The ANELLO SiPhOG™ technology is a game changer for our warfighters. The ability to navigate in GPS-denied or spoofed environments without cameras or fiber-optic cables – in small, lightweight systems – is essential for future combat missions,” said Dan Magy, CEO at Firestorm. “The ANELLO team has developed an Aerial solution that seamlessly integrates into existing avionics with minimal effort. This type of capability is essential in today’s conflict areas where our adversaries actively disrupt GPS, making ANELLO a powerful upgrade for all modern aerial platforms.”

The launch of the ANELLO Aerial INS reinforces ANELLO’s focus on assured navigationin contested environments. By introducing a purpose-built airborne solution alongside its already proven ground and maritime inertial navigation systems, ANELLO Photonics extends its lead in GPS-denied navigation across land, air, and sea.  ANELLO products have been validated through multiple U.S. DoW operational test events and have been shipping to a vast array of customers.

The ANELLO Aerial INS is available for evaluation today with production shipments beginning Q2/2026. Evaluation kits include the ANELLO Aerial INS, cabling, drivers for PX4/ArduPilot, and a quick-start integration guide

Find friends at Electric Picnic 2025 with new tech device

One of the biggest pet peeves at music festivals is losing your friends in the crowd. Large crowds, loud music, and misunderstood messages can cause that once in a lifetime moment that you want to enjoy with your bestie when your favourite artist comes out on stage to end up being a far less historic, solo experience.

That’s all about to change as some lucky Three+ loyalty programme customers attending Electric Picnic 2025 can now apply to pioneer an innovative new wearable tech, an Irish festival first, called the Three Friend Finder. ( Link to apply for the Three Friend Finder is here )

The Three Friend Finder, powered by Totem Labs, connects you to your friends who are also wearing the device using GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) by guiding you to their location using a ring of pulsing lights and without the need for any mobile phone service, WIFI, or Bluetooth. Not only that, the lucky owners of the device will also be guided to some secret gigs and experiences taking place over the weekend of the festival.

Three Ireland, a long-standing major sponsor of Electric Picnic, has big plans again for this year’s festival, while, as usual, keeping festival goers connected all weekend with Three charging stations and reliable Wi-Fi  and making sure festival goers can share every unforgettable moment with your friends.

The Three Music Stage is back at Rankin’s Wood and is the main destination for discovering incredible new music. Once again, it will feature a host of Irish and international talent, promising to be a festival highlight.  Three+ members will also get exclusive fast-track entry to the silent disco and side-of-stage access.*

The legendary Three Charge & Chill area is back in the heart of the main arena and has become a sanctuary to recharge both phones and tired festival goers without missing any of the action.

A major highlight at Charge & Chill will be full sets by three emerging Irish artists Roe Byrne, Emily Doyle and Rebecca Lane who were chosen to perform out of over 500 TikTok artist entries as part of Three Ireland’s City Stages music project.

The Charge and Chill area also will include complimentary charging to ensure your phone is powered up all weekend, unrivalled views of the main stage from its dedicated viewing platform, exclusively for Three+ customers*. Also, stay tuned to Three Ireland’s social channels as the area will also host some last-minute surprise big name secret music performances.

Not only that, the company has this year introduced the Three+ Bus, a 52-seater bus that will travel on a daily return from Dublin to the festival grounds from Friday to Monday, and which is available on a discount to Three+ customers*.

Tanya Townsend, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Three Ireland, commented, “The organisers of Electric Picnic and Three have a similar ethos; to connect people through truly memorable moments and, of course, also to showcase and support the best of emerging Irish music artists. We are excited about the Three Music Stage line-up and in particular our three chosen City Stage artists who will perform sets at Charge and Chill and also sing with some yet to be announced globally renowned artists over the weekend. 

Tanya continued, “As a company that prides itself on pushing advanced technology, we are thrilled to also trial the Three Friend Finder at the festival, a device that helps you track your friend’s exact location without the need for mobile phone service, WIFI or Bluetooth. Who knows, perhaps this will become the must-have device for the 2026 festival season.”

*Exclusive to only Three+ customers. Show your Three+ account to avail the benefits. See full terms plus.three.ie

NSAI holding Ireland’s first ever Time & Sync Forum

The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), in conjunction with their partners Data Edge, Timing Solutions and HEAnet, are hosting Ireland’s inaugural Time & Sync Forum today, 11th Feb 2025, in Santry, Dublin. The event is bringing together a number of leading authorities in timing and synchronisation from Ireland, the UK and the European Commission to discuss key topics and policies relating to critical infrastructure on the island of Ireland.

Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies play a crucial role in modern economies, and enable over 10% of Europe’s annual GDP, or more than €14 trillion*. Major industries such as communications, energy, transportation, public services and financial services are increasingly reliant on precise timing and timing distribution to deliver their services.

Commenting on the event, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD said, “Position, Navigation and Timing technologies are a core part of the work of a number of industries that are cornerstones of the Irish economy. Earlier this year, the Programme for Government committed to delivering a strong enterprise and fiscal framework to support competitiveness and the growth of a strong industrial base which has created jobs, grown exports, promoted innovation, and raised our standard of living. I warmly welcome this event, focussed on building on the launch of the National Timing Grid, and its role in advancing Ireland’s domestic capabilities to support industry.

Following on from the successful launch of Ireland’s first National Timing Grid in 2023, the NSAI is hosting the Forum to promote the continuing need for Ireland to have as much control over its timing infrastructure as possible, including the potential replacement of Greenwich Mean Time with a domestic equivalent.

Keynote speakers include Dr. Leon Lobo, Head of the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme at Britain’s National Physical Laboratory, who is delivering its national timing strategy.  Dr. Lukasz Bonenberg, Space Programmes Policy and Scientific Officer, Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission, will also provide his expertise having worked on Galileo, the EU’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Between them, Drs. Lobo and Bonenberg will provide an important overview of PNT resiliency across Europe.

Along with Data Edge, Timing Solutions and HEAnet, NSAI are currently working on enhancing Ireland’s PNT capabilities through the National Timing Grid and the distribution of verified global GNSS data to support compliance with the upcoming EU NIS2 Directive. This update to the EU’s original Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive significantly expands cybersecurity obligations for critical infrastructure sectors.

NSAI’s National Metrology Laboratory (NML), based in Glasnevin, maintains the reference measurement standards for Time & Frequency and contribute their atomic clock data to the International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BIPM) who maintain and calculate Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Whilst Legal Time in Ireland is under the remit of the Department of Justice, the internationally accepted representation of the second in Ireland is maintained by the NSAI’s NML.

David Fleming, National Standards Authority of Ireland, Technical Manager for Time, said, “We expect this important gathering to provide valuable insights which help us to inform policy development at a Governmental level and outline the requirements for investment in key timing infrastructure for the country. In a time of disruption and major technological advancements, Ireland needs to be as self-sufficient in this area as possible, while also aligning fully with our international counterparts.”

 “With this event, we are aiming to draw in and engage as many interested stakeholders as possible to determine the requirements across the diverse sectors dependent upon precise timing.”