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GPS Denied Navigation for Drones
Theseus builds visual navigation software for GPS-denied drone operations. Using onboard cameras, inertial sensors, and satellite reference imagery, our system computes position fixes entirely passively. The system is entirely self contained, can't be jammed and has no RF signature.
Theseus provides software-only visual positioning (Cyclops) to enable GPS-denied navigation for drones. It compares live camera imagery to reference maps to estimate position and outputs via MAVLink for flight-controller integration, functioning across day/night and commodity hardware.
Cyclops is a software-first visual positioning system that operates in GPS-denied environments by comparing live camera imagery against pre-generated reference maps to estimate the drone’s position in real time. It outputs position data to the flight controller over MAVLink, supports EO daytime and LWIR nighttime footage, runs on NDAA-compliant commodity hardware (e.g., Raspberry Pi 5, Nvidia Jetson), and is designed for quick bench validation and low-SWaP deployment without requiring a new stack. The system aims to provide resilient, field-reliable GPS-denied positioning across fleets and is compatible with standard integrations such as ArduPilot/MAVLink.
Who it’s for: Defense contractors, military and government drone programs, OEMs and operators requiring GPS-denied navigation capabilities for unmanned aerial systems.
Hiring/traction mentions via testimonials from military and special operations personnel; public recognition in defense context; site mentions product readiness and deployment capabilities
Sacha Lévy is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Theseus Technology Corporation, where he develops visual navigation systems that enable drones to operate autonomously without GPS. Before founding Theseus, he was a PhD student in Computer Science at Yale University, where his research applied large language models to biological data and was published in top machine learning conferences. He holds a B.Eng. in Computer Engineering from McGill University.
Our Visual Navigation System is a replacement for GPS that works with any drone.
Theseus unveils Visual Navigation System (VNS), a low-cost, lightweight replacement for GPS that uses cameras, an inertial measurement unit, and pre-loaded satellite imagery to determine position and provide a fake GPS signal to any drone; it targets military and drone-manufacturer customers, with early deployments in special forces and LOIs from large drone makers. The post notes rapid integrations (<30 minutes) and plans for DoD funding in FY25.
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