Vatn Systems Unveils Inertial Navigation System for Maritime Autonomy
Navigating at sea is notoriously tough, and it’s even trickier when you’re dealing with underwater drones. Vatn Systems, a Rhode Island-based company, has been tackling that challenge by creating autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Yesterday, they unveiled their solution: an inertial navigation system (INS) called INStinct. This new system promises to guide drones more precisely in GPS-denied environments, while costing just a fraction of existing alternatives. Powered by leading IMU technology company ANELLO Photonics, INStinct represents a leap forward in affordable, high-performance navigation for both surface and underwater operations.
Vatn’s CEO, Nelson Mills said that expensive navigation systems have been a major hurdle to building affordable underwater vehicles. “Those off-the-shelf systems can cost over $100K, which is actually more than our drones themselves,” he explained. Vatn needed a navigation option that would balance both accuracy and affordability for different missions
To build INStinct, Vatn teamed up with ANELLO Photonics, using the latter’s IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) technology. Founded in 2023 by Nelson, his brother Freddie (the COO), and a team of maritime and military veterans, Vatn raised $13M from investors like DYNE Ventures, RTX Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and In-Q-Tel. Their product line includes the Skelmir S6 and S12, torpedo-shaped AUVs designed for defense, port security, search and rescue, or even carrying explosive payloads. All manufacturing happens in their advanced Bristol, Rhode Island facility, equipped to produce up to 2,000 vehicles annually, powered by Palantir.
Vatn’s technology anticipates future conflicts where swarms of inexpensive, expendable AUVs could play a role, scenarios possibly involving China in the Indo-Pacific. For such use, dependable navigation is essential, and that’s exactly what INStinct aims to provide.
But why did Vatn need to design its own INS? Standard satellite navigation (GPS/GNSS) doesn’t work underwater. Instead, navigation relies on inertial (using accelerometers and gyroscopes) and sometimes acoustic (like sonar) technologies. INS tracks movement by measuring changes in acceleration and rotation from a known starting point, but these systems typically estimate rather than pinpoint position, and they’re costly.
Vatn’s approach combines data from ANELLO’s IMU with their own algorithms, allowing them to integrate other sources like Doppler velocity logs for better accuracy. The modular setup means that magnetometers or sonar-mapping tools could be added later. Unlike standard black-box solutions, Vatn’s INS can be upgraded for specific missions and may one day enable collaborative navigation, letting one drone lead a swarm.
Testing has shown that INStinct can achieve GPS-level accuracy within short distances (1–2 km) at about a quarter the cost of typical systems. Vatn began developing INStinct about a year ago, and already has eight Skelmirs equipped and ready for delivery. Every future Vatn underwater drone will include the new navigation system, and next year, the company plans to sell INStinct as a standalone product. As more companies look to become suppliers, Vatn seems well-positioned to lead the way.