Video script
A Short Explanation of the Volumetric Concept
Sphere and Cone – Establish the problem
What we are looking at here is Earth, represented through a conventional three-dimensional coordinate system.
We use reference frames and measurements to determine where an object is in space. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) does this remarkably well. Signals from multiple satellites allow a receiver to estimate its position within a global reference frame.
But there is another way to think about the problem.
I am Hamdy Samy. Inventor of 5DVNS.
Now – the way we’re used to seeing this.
For mapping and navigation, we often project the Earth’s curved surface onto a two-dimensional grid. It’s an extremely useful representation. But something important happens when we represent the world this way. The surface becomes the primary reference. The three-dimensional environment around that surface is no longer the main representation. Yet many real-world problems are not simply about a point on a map. They are about an object moving through a volume, under constraints.
5DVNS proposes we flip that completely. This is where the Volumetric Concept begins.
Instead of treating a position only as a point on a surface or grid, we represent the operational environment as a bounded volume. The volume is related to a defined mathematical reference or anchor. The surface provides a natural separation: Height above, depth below.
And the object is no longer represented only by a coordinate. It is represented by its state within that volume.
Here’s what that looks like in practice. Consider a drilling operation where signals are beyond reach or heavily impaired. One of the many applications we are currently testing.
Geological and geophysical systems provide the observations and information about the subsurface. Historical data and operational measurements add further constraints. At any moment, the system can describe the object’s current state, together with the context and constraints surrounding it. Something closer to machine or systemic proprioception. The important question becomes: Is this state still admissible? And if the object continues moving: Which states and trajectories remain admissible?
The system looks ahead from the current state and evaluates the space available for continued movement. This forward horizon can be constrained by geometry, physical limits and environmental conditions amongst other metrics.
Instead of simply asking: Where is the drill? We can ask: Where can it safely and validly go from here?
The objective is not to pretend that uncertainty does not exist. It is to represent uncertainty and constraints explicitly, and determine whether the current state remains within the permitted operational region. This creates a basis for evaluating state integrity, reachability and operational margin.
That is the shift behind 5DVNS. Not simply a better navigation system. And not a replacement for the sensors that observe the world. Rather a different way of representing and reasoning about position. FROM A POINT TO A VOLUMETRIC STATE.
From simply asking: Where am I? to asking:
“What STATE am I in, what CONSTRAINTS surround me, and what remains ADMISSIBLE from here?”
That is the volumetric concept behind 5DVNS.