Aura: The AI Copilot for Autonomous UAVs
Transform your drone operations with AI-powered reasoning and natural language control. Command complex missions in plain English—no scripting required.
Intelligent Autonomy for Your UAV
Aura adds high-level AI reasoning to any autonomous UAV. Our AI agent translates natural language into executable flight plans, understands what the drone sees semantically (not just pixels), and autonomously replans missions based on real-time discoveries. Whether operating in GPS-denied environments or with full connectivity, Aura provides the cognitive intelligence your UAV needs.
Key Features
🗣️ Natural Language Mission Planning
Command your UAV in plain English. No complex scripting or programming required. Simply describe what you want, and Aura generates the optimal flight plan.
👁️ Semantic Scene Understanding
Goes beyond object detection. Aura interprets the meaning of what it sees—identifying "a collapsed roof" instead of just "lines and textures."
🔄 Dynamic Mission Replanning
True autonomy. The UAV can modify its mission based on real-time findings without human intervention, adapting to changing conditions.
📡 Real-time Status Reporting
Receive mission-critical updates in clear, concise natural language. Get the information you need without deciphering raw telemetry.
Real-World Impact
Search and Rescue: Mountain Canyon Operation
During a mountain search and rescue operation, a team deployed a UAV equipped with Aura to locate missing hikers in a GPS-denied canyon. The operator simply commanded: "Search the north canyon for heat signatures. If you find anyone, assess their condition and mark the location."
Aura autonomously generated an optimal search pattern, navigating through the canyon using visual-inertial odometry. When the drone's thermal camera detected a heat signature, Aura's semantic understanding identified it as a person, not wildlife. It autonomously circled the location, captured detailed imagery, and reported: "Located one individual, appears injured and immobile. Coordinates marked. Recommend immediate ground team deployment."
Result: What traditionally required a trained pilot and 45 minutes of manual flight was completed autonomously in 12 minutes—critical time saved in a life-threatening situation.
Technical Specifications
| Component | Supported Hardware |
|---|---|
| Compute Platform | NVIDIA Jetson (Orin Nano, Xavier NX, AGX Orin), ModalAI VOXL 2 |
| Autonomy Stack | KumarRobotics kr_autonomous_flight, PX4, ArduPilot |
| IMU Sensors | Movella MTi-series, ICM-42688P, and standard IMU interfaces |
| Communication | 4G/5G, WiFi, Radio link, or fully autonomous (no connectivity required) |
Hybrid LLM System:
- Onboard: Phi-3-mini (3.8B parameters) for time-critical decisions and GPS-denied operations
- Edge: Llama 3.1 (8B parameters) on ground station for enhanced reasoning
- Cloud: GPT-4.1-mini or Gemini-2.5-flash for complex mission planning when connectivity available
Vision Models: LLaVA, CLIP for semantic scene understanding
Inference Speed: 30-50 tokens/second (Jetson GPU), 8-12 tokens/second (VOXL 2 CPU)
| Component | Version |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Ubuntu 18.04+ or Jetson Linux |
| ROS | ROS 1 (Noetic) or ROS 2 (Humble, Iron) |
| Python | 3.8+ |
| CUDA (for Jetson) | 11.4+ (included with JetPack) |
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Mission Planning Latency | 1-5 seconds (cloud), 2-8 seconds (onboard) |
| Scene Understanding Latency | 200-500ms (onboard) |
| Replanning Decision Time | 1-3 seconds |
| Power Consumption (Jetson) | 10-15W (typical), 7-20W (range) |
| Additional Weight | 100g (Jetson Orin Nano), 16g (VOXL 2 only) |
Who's Using Aura?
Aura is being built for organizations deploying autonomous UAVs in complex, dynamic environments:
Key Roles: UAV Operators, Robotics Engineers, Mission Planners, Autonomy Developers
Get Started with Aura
Aura AI Agent Skills System
What's Included: Aura AI software license, integration support, documentation, 90-day technical support, and software updates for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Aura is designed with a hybrid architecture that works with or without connectivity. In GPS-denied or communication-denied environments, Aura uses onboard LLMs (running on your Jetson or VOXL 2) for autonomous decision-making. When connectivity is available, it can leverage more powerful cloud models for enhanced reasoning.
Aura integrates seamlessly with popular autonomy frameworks including KumarRobotics kr_autonomous_flight, PX4, and ArduPilot. It's designed as a high-level reasoning layer that sits on top of your existing low-level control systems.
For standard configurations (Jetson + KumarRobotics or VOXL 2 + PX4), integration typically takes 1-2 weeks with our support team. Custom integrations may take 4-8 weeks depending on your specific hardware and software stack.
Yes! We offer live demos and pilot programs for qualified organizations. Contact us to schedule a demonstration or discuss a proof-of-concept deployment.
All Aura licenses include 90 days of technical support, comprehensive documentation, integration assistance, and 1 year of software updates. Extended support plans and custom development services are available.
