Munich startup SE3 Labs unveils drones that navigate and strike without GPS
SE3 Labs left stealth on June 26 with a spatial AI platform that lets aerial and ground drone swarms keep operating when satellite signals are jammed. Onboard cameras and inertial sensors build a shared 3D map of the terrain, and one operator can command the whole swarm by voice.
GPS jamming has become a defining feature of modern warfare and is now spreading into European civilian airspace. On June 26, Munich-based SE3 Labs came out of stealth with what it calls a spatial AI platform for autonomous systems. Instead of relying on a satellite link, each drone uses onboard cameras and inertial sensors to build and continuously update its own three-dimensional map of the terrain, locating objects to within a metre. That picture is shared across an entire swarm, so every aircraft and ground robot converges on the same target, and a single operator directs the formation using spoken commands. SE3 says it is already under contract with the German Bundeswehr, has won multiple defence contracts, and takes part continuously in military exercises across Europe, where it reports cutting the time from detecting a target to firing on it by an order of magnitude. The startup was founded by researchers from the Technical University of Munich and has raised about 5.5 million euros.