The certified autonomy stack for unmanned systems, defense platforms, and OT-critical infrastructure.
Perception, planning, mission management, and failsafe in a single STK/SOSPA-compliant software framework. MIL-STD-882E and DO-178C Level B deployment pedigree, fielded on 1,180+ platforms across 19 allied nations.
Four modules, one deterministic runtime.
Athena Autonomy SDK ships as four independently versioned modules with a shared type system, a single publish/subscribe bus, and a POSIX-hardened process supervisor. Each module is qualified to the deployment envelope noted in its metadata strip; mixing versions across modules is permitted within the compatibility matrix published with every minor release.
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01 — Perception
Multi-sensor fusion across EO/IR, radar, AIS, and LiDAR with calibrated time-sync to the platform's timing bus. Includes the Athena Sensor Abstraction Layer (ASAL) for pluggable drivers, a feature tracker with adaptive gating, and a maritime-domain classifier trained on 1.2M labeled frames from the Chesapeake test corridor.
- LATENCY< 38 ms p99
- SENSOR I/OEO/IR // LiDAR // Radar // AIS
- SYNCPTP / NTP / GPS-disciplined
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02 — Planning
Behavior-tree planner with a deterministic re-planner and a configurable COLREGS-aware maritime kernel. Supports multi-objective optimization over mission cost, time, and risk; replanning cycle is bounded at 110 ms on the reference i7 edge node. Replans are auditable and replayable for post-mission forensics.
- CYCLE110 ms bounded
- BEHAVIORS1,400+ indexed
- REPLAYDeterministic // signed logs
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03 — Mission Manager
Mission orchestration, contingency handling, and operator-in-the-loop arbitration on a single FSM. Implements OMS-compatible service interfaces and ships with reference adapters for TAK, MAVLink, and the STK/SOSPA common data model. Mode transitions are bound to a formal state table for verification under DO-330.
- INTERFACESOMS // STK/SOSPA // MAVLink
- CONTINGENCIES312 enumerated
- VERIFICATIONDO-330 toolkit included
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04 — Failsafe
Independent watchdog, geo-fence arbitration, and degrade-to-safe state machine running on a separated core. Reports to a dedicated telemetry downlink and is the only module permitted to command a hard actuator cut during nominal operations. Failure modes are exhaustive-listed in the published FMEA, updated quarterly.
- WATCHDOGIndependent core // 50 ms
- FENCEGeo + dynamic + comm-loss
- FMEA2,140 modes tracked
Runtime characteristics, reported from the field.
Aggregate telemetry from the 9,300+ Athena edge nodes currently in service across defense, rail, and port operators. Numbers are computed quarterly from signed audit logs and reconciled with operator-supplied availability reports.
The middleware layer is where defense programs slip. We removed the slip.
Most autonomy integrations do not fail at perception or planning. They fail at the bus — the heterogeneous mix of message-passing interfaces, time synchronization schemes, and security boundaries that sits between an autonomy stack and the platform's mission system. Athena ships the middleware already qualified.
Our STK/SOSPA-compliant middleware carries a verified reference implementation against MIL-STD-882E and DO-178C Level B targets, with a published certification evidence package that program offices can hand to their DCMA or DER. The 47 defense programs that adopted Athena between 2019 and 2024 reported an average 67% reduction in integration time — measured from SDK install to first successful live-platform autonomy demonstration.
For naval, ground, and maritime C2 integrators, that evidence package is the difference between an 18-month integration risk and a 6-month stand-up. We have run the audits; we have signed the data; we have done it on twelve sole-source program awards since 2021.
Request the middleware evidence packageThird-party audits, sole-source awards, and consortium standing.
Procurement verification is not a marketing claim; it is a stack of documents. The following credentials are publicly releasable, current as of Q4 2024, and available for review under NDA on request.
Compliance & Audit Posture
- CMMI Level 3 — cleared 2024, zero major non-conformities.
- ISO 27001:2022 — cleared 2024, zero major non-conformities.
- MIL-STD-882E — System Safety Program, reference evidence for Failsafe module.
- DO-178C Level B — software considerations in airborne systems, certified for the Perception module's airborne variant.
- STK/SOSPA-compliant middleware — verified against the standard's common data model.
Program Record (Sole-Source Awards)
- U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) — $48.7M IDIQ, Unmanned Surface Vessel family, March 2023.
- Class I rail operator — PTC overlay, in production since 2022.
- Twelve programs of record awarded sole-source contracts since 2021.
- NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) — Trusted Autonomy Partner, 2022.
Consortium & Standards Standing
- Open Mission Systems (OMS) consortium — founding member.
- NDIA Autonomy Stack Working Group — contributing author.
- Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) — winner, Autonomy Track CSO (2023), 214 competing vendors.
- Inc. 5000 — fastest-growing private companies, 2021–2024 (four consecutive years).
Request a Capabilities Briefing.
A 60-minute scoped session with a Cyberdyne solutions engineer. Walk through the four Athena modules against your platform class, your certification envelope, and your integration timeline. We will bring the middleware evidence package and an FMEA excerpt from the Failsafe module; you bring the program office.