Altiair: Resilient Edge Intelligence for DDIL Operations
We built the tactical intelligence layer that keeps a squad operational after their command node is destroyed."
Opening - the PAIN:
A squad in a jammed or cloud-denied battlefield has multiple sensors seeing different things. One soldier sees a drone. Another hears rotor sound. A third gets an RF ping."
And if the central command node goes down — the whole unit fails. DARPA just issued a program for this two weeks ago because this is a huge unsolved problem."
What we built:
Altiair turns disconnected soldier nodes into a resilient tactical edge mesh: it fuses sensor evidence gathered from across the field into one coherent picture, processes it using intelligence, and coordinates the team toward the mission goal, and keeping the mission operational when a node dies.
Each node is a soldier. Raspberry Pi handles sensor I/O — camera, microphone, RFID. Jetson Nano runs the AI locally. No cloud required.
Army operators told us directly: the bottleneck isn't sensors, it's fusion under fire. This is built for that exact problem.
Nodes communicate on a local encrypted mesh — fully operational in contested, jammed, or disconnected environments. When connectivity exists, it syncs directly to Palantir Foundry for commander visibility and after-action replay. When it doesn't — nothing is lost. Every node already has the full mission state."
Existing tactical systems either require cloud connectivity or put all intelligence in a single command node. We eliminated both assumptions. (note: this shows how our system is novel / creative which is 25% of the score)
Live Demo:
Dashboard opens — tactical map, 4 nodes live, all green Camera feed active — YOLO detects object, visual confidence updates live on dashboard Audio detection fires — "rotor sound detected" populates on Node 2's card RF signal appears — "2.437GHz, DJI primary band" confirms on Node 3 Fusion confidence bar rises — 3 signals → single fused assessment: "Drone, bearing 047°, confidence 88%" Coordinator LLM fires — per-node instructions appear:
- Node 1: "Maintain visual lock, bearing 047"
- Node 2: "Reposition south 100m, scan treeline"
- Node 3: "Confirm RF signal movement direction"
Narrate it like this:
"Three nodes, three signals. Individually — noise. Together, the fusion layer produces a single threat picture with 88% confidence. The coordinator LLM then issues specific orders to each soldier. Not 'something's there' — but what to do about it, tailored to each node's position."
Why this order matters: You go chaos → fusion → action. That arc is the product. Judges see it happen in real time.
The KILL moment:
Now we simulate the failure every traditional system fails on. Most systems solve this in software simulation. We built it in hardware, running live. (adresses creativity in the judging criteria)
The command node — Node 1, the current coordinator — goes down.
Physically unplug Node 1 or kill it on screen. Pause two seconds. Let judges watch. On screen, they should see:
- Node 1 card goes gray → [DARK]
- Heartbeat missed indicator
- "Coordinator re-electing..." flashes
- Node 2 assumes coordinator (< 1 second)
- Per-node instructions resume — slightly updated to reflect new picture
- Mission state preserved — same threat, same bearing, same objective
Node 2 detected the missed heartbeat. It already had the full mission state — because that state lives on every node simultaneously, not just the coordinator. New leader elected. Instructions resume. The mission doesn't know the coordinator died.
Punchline: "That is the architectural difference. Centralized systems die when the command node dies. Altiair doesn't have a command node."
Palantir - After Action
At the edge, we run CASK — Foundry's local brain — same ontology, same data contracts, no internet required. When connectivity returns, everything syncs to Palantir Foundry automatically - every sensor event, every fusion decision, every coordinator directive.
FINAL PUNCHLINE:
DARPA called this an open problem two weeks ago. And we have a working demo.
The commander can be taken out. The mission cannot.
SPECIFIC MISSION CRITICAL THING
(What 1st place does: Makes the judges feel the operational pain, then solves it live in front of them with a moment they can't forget.)