Rhoman Aerospace
About
About Rhoman Aerospace
Rhoman Aerospace develops downloadable flight-control and navigation software for multirotor, fixed-wing VTOL and other UAV configurations. Its Synthetic GPS system combines onboard camera imagery with stored 3D maps or features learned during flight, feeding a continuous GPS-independent position estimate into the aircraft state estimator when satellite signals are blocked, jammed or spoofed.
PX4 aircraft receive the software through a firmware patch, while ArduPilot systems use a companion computer; custom stacks can integrate the controls directly. Other modules tune control gains for unusual airframes, compensate for off-centre or hanging payloads and stabilise tethered cargo delivery. Rhoman also offers cloud-linked spatial sharing and route or power optimisation across connected aircraft.
Team
- Thomas Youmans - Founder and CEO - Founded Rhoman and leads its UAV autonomy strategy.
- James Croughan - Director of Cloud and Software - Leads cloud and software work.
- Thomas Callen - Business Development and Advisor - Supports commercialization and business development.
- Efaz Muhaimen - Simulation and Robotics - Supports simulation and robotics development.
Timeline
Events
- 2024-08-28 - Award - Rhoman Aerospace receives $1.8M USAF STTR for maritime GPS-denied autonomy
The $1,799,600 STTR Phase II award began on August 28, 2024 under contract FA8649-24-P-1112. Rhoman and the Naval Postgraduate School are adapting vision-based alternative navigation for maritime, coastal and open-water environments. The program plans flight demonstrations on Firestorm Labs and Insitu UAV platforms and delivery of a modular hardware prototype.
Source - 2024-08-01 - Award - Rhoman Aerospace receives $1.9M USAF SBIR for global GPS-denied autonomy
The $1.9 million SBIR Phase II award began on August 1, 2024 under contract FA2541-24-C-B018. The project covers a modular alternative-positioning payload using star tracking, ambient signal sensing, sensor fusion and NVIDIA compute. The planned demonstrations include a supersonic sub-scale UAV, with compatibility extending to Group II-IV UAV, surface vehicles and ground vehicles.
Source - 2024-01-18 - Award - Rhoman Aerospace receives Navy SBIR for GPS-denied aerial logistics
The $173,450 Navy SBIR Phase I award began on January 18, 2024 under contract N68335-24-C-0173. The project combined Rhoman's GPS-denied navigation, precision landing and detect-and-avoid technology with a production-ready logistics UAV. Workhorse and ANRA Technologies were named as platform and fleet-management partners for the demonstration effort.
Source - 2023-05-05 - Award - Rhoman Aerospace receives USAF SBIR for night-time GPS-denied UAV autonomy
The $74,724 SBIR Phase I award began on May 5, 2023 under contract FA8649-23-P-0852. Rhoman's vision-based navigation work targeted no-emit UAV autonomy in unmapped, GPS-denied terrain. The project adapted the system for night operation on a Teal Golden Eagle UAV for USSOCOM.
Source
Relations
Relationships
- United States Navy
Sbir Phase I Awarding Agency - The U.S. Navy awarded Rhoman Aerospace $173,450 for GPS-denied autonomous aerial logistics and deconfliction.
- United States Air Force
Sbir And Sttr Awarding Agency - The U.S. Air Force awarded Rhoman Aerospace successive SBIR and STTR projects for night-time, global and maritime GPS-denied autonomy.
- Insitu
UAV Demonstration Partner - Rhoman Aerospace plans maritime GPS-denied autonomy demonstrations on an Insitu UAV.
- Naval Postgraduate School
Sttr Research Institution - Rhoman Aerospace and the Naval Postgraduate School are adapting GPS-denied UAV autonomy for maritime environments.
- ANRA Technologies
Fleet Management Partner - Rhoman Aerospace partnered with ANRA Technologies on fleet management and route deconfliction for GPS-denied aerial logistics.
- Workhorse
UAV Platform Partner - Rhoman Aerospace partnered with Workhorse on a production-ready electric UAV platform for GPS-denied aerial logistics.