The OpenAthena™ Core software library from Theta Informatics provides UAS (drone) platforms with instant and precise geo-spatial remote sensing capabilities using just the cameras, compute, and sensor hardware that most drones already have onboard. It features a novel terrain-raycast technique for instant geolocation of any ground object observed by a drone’s camera.

OpenAthena Core removes the need for expensive laser-rangefinder hardware onboard drones, replacing them with a software-only passive ranging technique. OpenAthena’s unique terrain-raycast algorithm combines digital elevation model (DEM) terrain data with drone camera position, orientation, and optics modeling data to instantly obtain the ground coordinates for any single pixel from a single drone image frame.

OpenAthena is ideal for any time-sensitive situational awareness use case for UAS including search and rescue, law enforcement, public safety, environmental monitoring, and defense.

By removing the need for a laser rangefinder onboard drones to range and geolocate ground objects, it makes them up to $40,000-$100,000 cheaper per unit while retaining the same geo-pointing capabilities. Unlike laser-rangefinder hardware, it can instantly geolocate objects anywhere within the camera’s frame, not just its center field of view. Compared to existing photogrammetry (image-stitching) software, it provides results 20-30 minutes faster.

Video Demo:

OpenAthena Core is a portable Java software library which provides a simple http RESTful API interface for drone platforms and software to send location calculation requests and receive ground coordinate results. It can also be configured to automatically output location data to situational awareness platforms such as Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) used by many military, law enforcement, and public-safety / search and rescue end users.

Theta Informatics has significant experience performing on-site engineering support, testing, and validation services for a variety of drone manufacturers and special projects. Integration onto a new UAS platform can take as little as two days. In past engagements, Theta has successfully integrated OpenAthena Core with a variety of drone platforms and software stacks using frameworks such as Mavlink/Mavproxy, ROS2, and PX4 or ArduPilot as well as custom object detection AI models.

OpenAthena Core features:

• Instant (< 8 ms) calculation of target coordinates without needing a laser-rangefinder
• Ability to locate targets from any off-center pixel within a drone camera’s visual field
• Out-of-the-box compatibility with a wide range of off-the-shelf drone makes and models (and extensible for many more)
• Simple calibration procedure available for any camera model
• Can operate entirely offline at the edge onboard a drone or ground control station. Total system footprint of less than 1 CPU core and 300 MB of RAM
• Can automatically download terrain-data while an internet connection is present. Automatically manages and selects terrain data files when operating offline
• Bulk terrain data download feature allows large areas to be downloaded for later use offline. Terrain data files require less than 5 KB of storage per km^2 of operating area.
• Automatic conversion between multiple coordinate reference systems to combine drone telemetry with high resolution terrain data from specialized datasets
• Supports military DTED Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in addition to civilian GeoTIFF file format for terrain data
• Zero-trust encrypted Cursor on Target output for direct integration with ATAK servers

OpenAthena Core is available either as a cloud API at https://api.openathena.com or an offline-capable local software module. Both versions use the same RESTful API interface, supporting simple and rapid development and easy transition for drone OEM’s from the online API to a self-sufficient offline solution. It also features a command line interface and Java bindings for seamless integration with your existing software:

Additionally: purchasers of OpenAthena Core are provided a free copy of OpenAthena Desktop. This is Theta Informatics’ fully-featured graphical Desktop application which demonstrates the full functionality of OpenAthena Core and provides tools for its administration.

OpenAthena Desktop’s source code is provided under a source-available license, providing an example implementation of the OpenAthena Core API for your developers.

Contact us at sales@theta.limited to get started with OpenAthena. Free API keys and evaluation software licenses are available.