ALFIE

In 2010 and 2011, NGC conducted the first ever real-time full-scale demonstration of a Lidar-based Hazard Detection and Avoidance system for autonomous planetary landing.

The experiment, called the Autonomous Landing Flight Experiment (ALFIE), successfully demonstrated the real-time motion compensation and safe-site determination capability of the system in the challenging dynamic environment of a helicopter platform.

The objective of the experiment was to reproduce planetary landing trajectories with a helicopter while scanning the terrain, performing motion compensation and identifying safe landing sites in real time during the descent.

This experiment successfully validated NGC’s Hazard Detection and Avoidance technologies for planetary landing applications. The experiment, sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, was conducted in partnership with MDA Space Missions and Optech Inc.

Discover a video of the project for additional details.

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When you work with us, you’ll find we are very flexible when it comes to finding ways to integrate our technology into your project. We also provide in-depth training and the support of one of the most experienced Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) systems teams in the world.