Slovak technological company M2M Solutions will participate in a project focused on space exploration missions
Žilina 8.12.2022
Future missions aiming to study space will require precise and safe landings on planetary bodies and navigation over their surfaces. This will be accomplished through the use of smart algorithms and software solutions that will be developed in co-operation with a technological company from Slovakia. M2M Solutions will be part of an international team tasked with the creation of breakthrough technology and an array of instruments for vision-based navigation necessary for scientific missions. The Smart Space Exploration Navigation Project (SENAV) is funded by the European Commision under Grant Agreement No. 101082476 and is a part of the Horizon Europe program. The project is coordinated by iTUBS mbH, an innovation and research agency of Technische Universität Braunschweig focused on technology transfer and will see collaboration of M2M Solutions with DLR (German Aerospace Center) and TTTech.
First phase of the project – developing the drone
“Our company will create a team of experts with at least half of them dedicated to artificial intelligence“ says Martin Jančo, the CEO of M2M Solutions. ”To create the software, we will utilize already existing algorithms and technologies that already made their way to the Moon and Mars. Our algorithms will be trained to recognize visuals and will become part of a navigation system that will synthesize all inputs and evaluate the correct position. This means that we will build up on the existing proven technology combining multiple solutions” adds Martin Jančo. M2M Solutions’ role will be to create software for vision-based navigation in unknown terrain. “A probe will map the surface of the body and from this data it will create a preliminary map. This process must be lightning fast. After landing, the probe will see the surface from different visual angles, the same as the drone moving just above the surface. Our task will be to map the surface again, match it with pictures created during descent and navigate the drone to and back from the desired destination,” says Vladimír Pšenák, the COO of M2M Solutions. The project will consist of several phases. The final phase shall be crowned with a laboratory demonstrator, which will require a drone moving through a representative environment to fulfill given tasks, thus demonstrating its navigational capabilities. Company premises will house the laboratory containing a model of a Martian alike surface that will be used for testing.
How it came to be?
”We have been keenly interested in space for several years,“ states Martin Jančo and continues: “We have managed to take part in the development of small cubesats, where we were able to utilize our profound expertise in the development of embedded systems. After that we managed to acquire a project under a programme of and funded by ESA (European Space Agency) called PECS (Plan for European Cooperating States) to develop a virtual web of base stations for communication with satellites. We are still hard at work on the development of this project, but thanks to this we caught the attention of several European players in the field of aerospace technologies. The Austrian-founded company TTTech, known for the development of deterministic data communication networks for safety critical systems, became one of the strong partners of M2M Solutions. “The design of an autonomous drone for safe deployment in terrestrial or future space applications, utilizing innovative methods of data processing and control, is an ambitious project. We are therefore delighted to cooperate with a strong technology partner like M2M Solutions and support this Slovak company in the development of aerospace applications. The recent ratification of Slovakia’s associated membership in the European Space Agency further amplifies this happiness” says Ivan Masár, Senior Space Product Manager of TTTech.
“The support we received and our joint effort allowed us to win a prestigious European project for research and development of innovative solutions. The rest is up to us,” adds Martin Jančo.
Source:
M2M Solutions s.r.o. www.m2ms.sk is a Slovak technological company developing custom software solutions for supply chain management. It currently works on several successful aerospace projects and the new collaboration places her among the best aerospace companies in Europe. Project is founded by the European Commision under Grant Agreement No. 101082476 and is a part of the Horizon Europe program.
