Alti Aware · Flight Instruments

ZEUS

The altitude you don't have to look for.

ZEUS samples the atmosphere 32 times a second, cross-checks it against GNSS, and drives the result into your wrist. Five altitudes you set once. Five patterns you learn in one jump. No squinting through goggles at 4,500 feet.

±1.6 ftRelative resolution
32 HzFreefall sample rate
5Haptic alert altitudes
30,000 ftWorking ceiling
GROUND GNSS 11 BLE 87%
Altitude AGL
0
FEET
V/S0ft/min
Clock0:00mm:ss
Next---alert ft
Simulation · time compressed
13,500 FT JUMP RUN 01

How far out are you?

Before any of that, before the door and before the count, there's the spot. Jump run is ninety seconds of very little information. The pilot has a GPS. You have a door, a light, and a guess about what the wind did since the last load.

ZEUS puts the spot on your wrist. From the moment the aircraft rolls out onto the run it counts the distance down, holds it at overhead, and keeps counting once you're past. Knowing you're 0.3 past is worth more than knowing you missed.

1HzPosition on run
0.1miDistance resolution
2sRoll-out detection
AutoSpot from last load

Set the spot on the ground from the day's winds, drop it from the previous load's exit point, or have the DZ push it to every ZEUS on the aircraft.

CLIMB GNSS 12 13,500
To spot
1.4
MILES
GS108kt
HDG169°
WIND220/16
TURNING ONTO RUN
Simulation · 8× real time
12,000 FT FREEFALL 02

Sixty seconds, and one number that matters.

At terminal you are covering 176 feet every second. An analogue needle costs you a glance to find and another to read, and it tells you nothing about how fast that number is falling. Audible altimeters get lost under a full-face helmet in 120 mph of wind.

ZEUS solves it three ways at once: a display sized to be read in a quarter of a second, a vertical-speed figure so you know what the altitude is doing, and a linear resonant actuator against your wrist for the moments you shouldn't be looking at all.

176ft/sBelly terminal
0.25sTarget glance time
44ftFallen while you read it
0ftFallen while you feel it
9,000 FT CAPABILITY 03

What it does on the way down.

Six systems, one instrument, no menus to dig through in the door.

Haptic altitude alerts

A DRV2605L driving a linear resonant actuator, not a phone buzzer. Five altitudes, each with a distinct pattern you can tell apart through a jumpsuit.

DRV2605L · 123-effect ROM

Two independent sources

Barometric pressure is primary; GNSS altitude runs alongside as a cross-check. If the two disagree beyond tolerance, ZEUS says so on screen rather than quietly picking one.

DPS310 + multi-GNSS

Freefall auto-detect

A ±16 g IMU catches exit, tracks body position, and registers deployment shock. The instrument switches modes on its own. You never arm it in the door.

LSM6DS3TR-C · 6-DoF

A screen you can read

2.8 inches, 320×240, numerals sized for a glance at arm's length with a full-face visor on. Auto-dimming for night jumps, and a red mode that keeps your dark adaptation.

2.8" ILI9341 · 320×240

Sync without cables

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE on an ESP32-S3. Your logs are off the device and on your phone before you've finished flaking the canopy. Firmware updates arrive the same way.

ESP32-S3 · Wi-Fi + BLE 5

Every jump, logged

32 Hz to microSD: full descent profile, GNSS track, exit and deployment altitudes, freefall time, canopy time, spot and landing point. Yours as CSV, not locked in an app.

microSD · CSV export
6,000 FT FIRST ALERT 04

You will feel this one.

Task saturation is real. When a formation is coming apart, a student is turning the wrong way and a camera flyer is in your peripheral, the last thing you have spare is a glance. A linear resonant actuator gets through anyway. It is the one channel that doesn't compete with what you're already doing.

Five patterns, one ladder

Tap any altitude to feel it on the instrument above.

Every altitude, pattern and intensity is editable in the companion app. Defaults follow common UK/USPA canopy-flight practice. Set yours to match your discipline and your DZ.

PROFILE 14,000 FT JUMP AGL / TIME
Freefall Canopy Haptic alert Hard deck
4,500 FT BREAK OFF 05

Set the ladder once. It runs itself.

ZEUS knows the difference between a hop-and-pop, a 14k belly jump and a wingsuit flight, because the IMU and the descent rate tell it. Profiles carry their own alert ladders and switch automatically when the instrument recognises the jump you're on.

Ground level is re-zeroed on the ground before every load, and again from GNSS if the aircraft lands out. Pressure drift over a long hold at altitude is corrected in flight.

4Jump profiles
AutoZero on load
±1hPaDrift correction
0.9sCold-start to reading
3,500 FT DEPLOYMENT 06

What's under the glass.

Altitude isn't one measurement. ZEUS derives it from a precision barometer, checks it against a multi-constellation GNSS fix, and uses a six-axis inertial reference to know which phase of the jump you're in. All of it arbitrated on a dual-core processor that has nothing else to do. Eight stages, one number.

Altitude

Barometric core

DPS310 · vented, gasketed port

The heart of the instrument. Oversampled and temperature-compensated, read continuously through a port that stays out of the airflow.

32 Hz · ±0.5 m relative
Motion

Inertial reference

LSM6DS3TR-C · 6-DoF

Detects exit, tracks body position through freefall and registers deployment shock, so the instrument changes mode without you touching it.

±16 g · ±2000 dps
Position

GNSS receiver

Multi-constellation · patch antenna

An independent altitude source for the cross-check, plus the ground track, spot and landing point written into every jump log.

1 Hz fix · 4 constellations
Haptics

Alert stage

DRV2605L · closed-loop LRA driver

A linear resonant actuator, not a phone buzzer. Closed-loop drive keeps every pattern identical whether the strap is loose or tight.

123 effects · 5 patterns
Readout

Display & touch

2.8" TFT · ILI9341 controller

Numerals sized for a quarter-second glance at arm's length. Day, night and dark-adapted red modes, with touch for setup on the ground.

320×240 · 2.8 in
Compute

Processor

ESP32-S3 · dual-core, Wi-Fi + BLE 5

One core runs the sensor arbitration loop on a fixed schedule. The other drives the display and the radio, so a sync never delays a reading.

240 MHz · 8 MB PSRAM
Power

Cell & charging

Li-Po · USB-C

A full jump day with the display sleeping between loads. Charge state is reported in per-cent, not in bars, and logged with every jump.

1200 mAh · 3.7 V
Structure

Housing & interconnect

Anodised 6061 · flex interconnect

Machined backplate, hard-coated lens and a gasketed vent path. Wrist or mudflap mount from the same body, no adapter needed.

82 × 66 × 24 mm
Sensor arbitration · Batch 01 firmware 3 inputs → ONE ALTITUDE, 32× A SECOND

Every unit is calibrated against a reference barometer and temperature-cycled before despatch. Component selection is fixed for Batch 01 and may change in production.

2,500 FT CANOPY 07

The logbook writes itself.

ZEUS records the whole descent at 32 Hz and hands it to your phone the moment you're back in range. No cable, no import, no typing up a jump you already did. By the time you've stowed your slider, it's logged.

It syncs on its own
Walk into Bluetooth range and the jumps are already there. Big log dumps hand off to Wi-Fi automatically.
A logbook that matches your paper one
Dropzone, aircraft, exit altitude, freefall time, canopy time, gear and jump number, filled in before you ask. Add the description and sign it off.
The whole flight path, replayed
Your GNSS track over the map with altitude and vertical speed along it. Scrub the descent, find the spot, see exactly where you were when the alert fired.
Built for swooping
Turn initiation altitude, dive time, rollout distance, peak vertical and horizontal speed, and the shape of the arc. Stack runs side by side and see what actually changed.
Your jumps stay yours
Everything exports as CSV and GPX. Take it into your own analysis, or take it with you if you stop using ZEUS.
iPhone · iOS 16+ Android 10+ Bluetooth LE & Wi-Fi sync Works offline at the DZ
Jump 1,248 22 AUG
HEADCORN · CARAVAN · 14,000 FT · JVX 79
TRACKPROFILESWOOP
Entry782ft AGL
Dive4.2seconds
Peak70mph GS
Rollout118metres
270° RIGHT · CARVED · 3 RUNS THIS LOAD
2,000 FT HARD DECK 08

Specifications.

Figures marked target are design goals for Batch 01 and are not yet verified across the full temperature and altitude envelope.

ZEUS · Batch 01 · Revision A
Altitude sourceDPS310 barometric, 32 Hz in freefall / 4 Hz under canopy · multi-constellation GNSS cross-check at 1 Hz
Accuracy±0.5 m relative (±1.6 ft) · ±8 m absolute before ground zeroing
Working ceiling0 – 30,000 ft AGL · 300 – 1200 hPa
Motion sensingLSM6DS3TR-C · ±16 g accelerometer, ±2000 dps gyroscope, 6.6 kHz max ODR
HapticsDRV2605L closed-loop LRA driver · 123-effect ROM library · 5 user-assignable patterns
Display2.8" TFT, 320×240, ILI9341 controller, resistive touch · day / night / red modes
ComputeESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 @ 240 MHz · 8 MB PSRAM · Wi-Fi 4, BLE 5
LoggingmicroSD, FAT32 · 32 Hz descent profile, GNSS track, per-jump summary · CSV and GPX export
Power1200 mAh 3.7 V LiPo · ~8 h continuous display-on target · full jump day with inter-load sleep target
ChargingUSB-C, 5 V · approx. 2 h to full target
HousingAnodised 6061 backplate, PMMA lens, gasketed vent port · wrist or mudflap mount
Size & mass82 × 66 × 24 mm · 168 g including strap target
Operating range−20 °C to +50 °C target
FirmwareOver-the-air update over Wi-Fi · companion app for iOS and Android · sensor recalibration in the field

Hard deck

What ZEUS is not.

We would rather be the company that says this on the front page than in a footnote.

  • Not an AAD. ZEUS will never fire your reserve. It has no cutter, no pyrotechnic, and no authority over your rig. Jump a Cypres or Vigil regardless.
  • Not a sole altimeter. ZEUS is a pre-production instrument. Jump it alongside an analogue altimeter, exactly as you would any new digital device, and keep your eyes outside.
  • Not certified. ZEUS carries no TSO, EASA or BPA equipment approval. Check with your DZ and your national association before you jump it.
  • Not a substitute for altitude awareness. Instruments fail. The number in your head is the one that saves you.
1,000 FT PATTERN 09

Sign up for a pre-sale invite.

ZEUS is designed, built, calibrated and tested by one person, so units go out in small runs rather than all at once. Invites go to the list in order. Leave your details and you'll get first refusal when the next run opens. No deposit, no obligation, and no marketing in between.

£249 Including VAT · UK despatch · nothing is charged to join the list, and nothing is charged until you reply to the invite.

You'll be talking to the person who built it

There is no support queue and no reseller in the middle. The same person draws the board, machines the housing, writes the firmware and answers your email, before you buy and long after.

hello@altiaware.co.uk
You're on the list.
You'll get an email from a person, not a mailer, when the next run opens. Nothing is charged unless you reply and say yes.