ORIGAMI: a system design for resilient multi-UAV operations in GNSS- and RF-denied environments

Beschreibung

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems rely heavily on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for local-
ization and radio-frequency (RF) links for communication. However, during operations in contested or denied
environments, GNSS jamming and spoofing, and communication link degradation can severely limit the auton-
omy of a UAV system. This also impedes multi-UAV operations requiring coordination and resilience. The
ORIGAMI project, funded under the European Defence Fund (EDF) 2024 technological challenges, addresses
these problems by aiming to reduce the dependence of UAV systems on RF-communications and GNSS. This
paper presents the initial ORIGAMI framework and system architecture, together with the development strat-
egy of an integrated demonstrator that will mature across four successive evaluation campaigns. The focus
is on the system-level integration of heterogeneous capabilities and the main challenges involved in combining
them into a coherent and scalable multi-UAV solution. The proposed framework brings together multiple key
components, including multi-modal multi-sensor perception, robust autonomous navigation in GNSS-denied con-
ditions, low-latency communication resilient to jamming and spoofing, and fault-tolerant multi-agent swarming.
Additional considerations include low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaPC) platform constraints, as well as
interoperability with command-and-control systems through open architectures and standards. A central aspect
of the project lies in the integration of these components across vehicle, swarm, and ground station, ensuring
consistency between perception, estimation, communication, and mission-level coordination. The paper outlines
the initial architectural choices, identifies key technical risks, and defines a phased roadmap for system devel-
opment and validation. This work aims to establish a structured foundation for future experimental validation
and to contribu

Zeitraum	16 Sept. 2026
Gehalten am	The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Bekanntheitsgrad	International