Autonomous Systems R&D
ADP Cortex
Brain-inspired autonomous flight intelligence
Current autonomous drones follow waypoints. They don't think, they don't adapt, they don't understand what they're looking at. ADP Cortex is a fundamentally different approach — an autonomous flight controller modeled on biological neural architectures that reasons about its environment in real time.
The Problem
The commercial drone services market will reach $63.6 billion by 2028, but current autonomous systems are fundamentally limited. They navigate via pre-programmed GPS waypoints with minimal situational awareness. When something unexpected happens — a bird, a gust, an obstacle that wasn't on the map — they either stop or crash.
Agricultural mapping, infrastructure inspection, search and rescue, conservation monitoring — these missions demand drones that can think, not just follow a route. The industry needs autonomous systems that understand their environment, detect threats, and make intelligent decisions without constant human oversight.
The Solution
ADP Cortex v4 is a multi-layered neural architecture that maps biological brain structures to computational modules. Instead of waypoint navigation, Cortex processes visual input through a pipeline inspired by how flying organisms actually perceive and respond to their world.
Real-Time Scene Understanding
Vision-language models process live camera feeds to identify objects, assess threats, and understand context — not just detect pixels.
Tiered Threat Response
Biologically-inspired response tiers from passive monitoring to emergency avoidance, using tau-based collision timing like dragonfly neurons.
Spatial Memory
Hippocampal-inspired mapping builds a persistent understanding of the environment — objects, terrain, and hazards remembered across the entire flight.
Strategic Planning
Higher-order reasoning for mission adaptation, energy-aware routing, and multi-objective decision making during autonomous operations.
Validated, Not Theoretical
This isn't a whitepaper. Cortex v4 has been built, tested, and validated in simulation with real-time vision processing.
Live Demo Results (February 2026)
- 120-second SITL (software-in-the-loop) flight simulation
- 5 distinct threat categories: ground personnel, birds, aircraft collision vectors, vehicle clusters, and unknown objects
- Autonomous tier transitions from passive monitoring through emergency avoidance
- Real-time vision-language model inference running locally (no cloud dependency)
- Spatial memory tracked 321 objects across 4.4 km of simulated flight
Novelty Confirmation
Independent review of 148+ academic papers confirmed that no published architecture combines biological neural mapping with real-time autonomous flight control at this level of integration. The architecture has been assessed as publishable in top-tier robotics journals.
Purpose-Built Hardware
Fixed-Wing Platforms
Custom-designed airframes printed in PA6-CF and PP-CF composites. Annealed for structural integrity. Designed for long-endurance autonomous mapping missions.
Multi-Rotor Platforms
3D printed frames designed in-house, built and tuned from 5+ years of FPV racing and freestyle engineering. Every airframe is manufactured internally.
Vertical Manufacturing
6-printer Bambu Lab production farm with engineering-grade materials. Design, fabricate, assemble, and test — all under one roof.
The Vision
ADP Cortex is the foundation of a platform that makes autonomous drone operations scalable, safe, and intelligent. One operator managing multiple aircraft on complex missions — agricultural surveys, conservation monitoring, infrastructure inspection, emergency response — with each drone making real-time decisions independently.
We're not building a better autopilot. We're building the brain that makes autopilots obsolete.
Cortex running on ground-based compute with telemetry link to aircraft. Validated in simulation, transitioning to live flight testing.
NVIDIA Jetson edge compute for fully autonomous onboard decision-making. No ground station dependency, no cloud latency.
License the Cortex autonomy stack to drone manufacturers and fleet operators. SaaS fleet management for enterprise autonomous operations.
Interested in ADP Cortex?
Whether you're a potential partner, investor, or researcher — we'd like to hear from you.