The National Standards Authority of Ireland’s National Metrology Laboratory (NSAI NML) has launched Europe’s first verified GPS/GNSS Data Stream (VGDS) service, designed to enhance the National Timing Grid of Ireland. This initiative, developed in collaboration with Timing Solutions, seeks to provide users with secure and reliable GNSS data.
The VGDS service provides verified GNSS data via the Internet through Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) packets. This allows users to verify their own GNSS data streams to mitigate risks such as jamming and spoofing. The service is crucial for various sectors, including government organizations, public institutions, communications, energy, transportation, financial services and cloud data centers, as it provides accurate time and location data.
David Fleming, NSAI Technical Manager for Time and Frequency, emphasized the significance of this service, stating, “As Ireland’s digital economy continues to grow and more services and public safety aspects are dependent on GNSS/GPS data, the importance of verifiable GNSS/GPS data in Ireland is paramount.” The VGDS service aims to improve the resiliency of Critical Infrastructure sectors by providing safe GNSS/GPS data and signals.
Dublin City University (DCU) has partnered with Bentley Systems to create an advanced digital twin of its campus as part of its Smart DCU initiative. The partnership combines artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive digital twin technology. The campus will be used as a testing ground for innovative smart city solutions, with the aim of creating sustainable, efficient, and enjoyable urban spaces worldwide.
Bentley’s open 3D and reality modeling technology can create a campus model intricately linked with Internet of Things (IoT) data, which results in an immersive digital twin on its iTwin Platform.
The campus digital twin offers users a seamlessly interconnected and smart environment by integrating AI-powered analysis with a user-friendly interface for visualizing complex analytics. This allows for proactive problem-solving, optimization of resources, and informed decision-making intending to improve urban functionality and sustainability.
The digital twin has inspired environmental initiatives and simplified data visualization on campus, empowering agencies, and individuals to implement intelligent processes that shape the future of their cities, DCU said.
The Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, has successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Dec. 1, 2023. Hitching a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, the small satellite has made history as Ireland’s first satellite.
Over the course of six years, EIRSAT-1 was designed, built and tested by students from University College Dublin (UCD) in Dublin, Ireland, participating in the European Space Agency (ESA) Academy’s Fly Your Satellite Program. The program is a hands-on initiative that helps university student teams develop their own satellites according to professional standards. The launch opportunity itself was provided by the ESA.
Throughout the development of the satellite, ESA experts provided training and guidance to dozens of UCD students, the ESA said. The students’ learning journey included test campaigns at ESA Education’s CubeSat Support Facility in Belgium, as well as dedicated spacecraft communications sessions at both ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Centre and the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. These sessions were designed to teach the procedures for operating Ireland’s first spacecraft.
From low-Earth-orbit (LEO), EIRSAT-1 will carry out three main experiments, which were built from scratch by the students:
GMOD, a detector to study gamma ray bursts, which are the most luminous explosions in the universe and occur when a massive star dies or two stars collide.
EMOD, an experiment to see how a thermal treatment protects the surface of a satellite when in space.
WBC, an experiment to test a new method of using Earth’s magnetic field to change a satellite’s orientation in space.
Following EIRSAT-1’s deployment to orbit, the student team is now working to establish contact with the satellite and start operations from their dedicated ground control facility, also entirely operated by students and located at UCD in Dublin.
Bluesky International and SkyFi have collaborated to provide access to Earth observation assets and multi-perspective imagery to users globally. Bluesky is providing its high-resolution aerial imagery, taken by aircraft-mounted cameras, to SkyFi to make available for businesses, forestry, water and land managers across the United Kingdom.
SkyFi aims to make Earth observation data more accessible to users through its growing network of satellites and aerial platforms. The company has created a data marketplace where users can purchase existing images or task a satellite to purchase a new image.
Bluesky provides a wide range of geospatial data products and services to users across the United Kingdom. GIS and CAD-ready imagery from Bluesky captures ground terrain, cityscape rooftops, fauna and more. The company’s catalogue of aerial imagery is available in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.
Photo: spxChrome/E+/Getty Images
Citizens Clean Up Coasts
Two citizen groups are taking action with the help of Esri ArcGIS mapping tools. North Coast World Earth uses Esri Ireland’s platform on the Northern Irish coast to record litter hotspots and engage with local communities. The volunteer group has collected nearly 3 tons of litter. In California, the Surfrider Foundation employed ArcGIS Hub to streamline cleanup operations after a major oil spill off Huntington Beach in October 2021. Citizens submitted more than 1,100 reports using the ArcGIS QuickCapture photo app to share the date, time and coordinates of toxic tar balls on beaches from Oxnard to San Diego.
A new series of tests will assess whether the United Kingdom satellite-based augmentation system (UKSBAS) for GNSS can develop into full operational capability to support safety-critical applications post-Brexit. Inmarsat, Goonhilly Earth Station and GMV NSL are conducting the UK Space Agency-funded tests. The signal is now stable and operational, enabling ongoing testing and validation by industry, regulators and users. If successful, UKSBAS will enable assessment of more precise, resilient and high-integrity navigation for maritime and aviation users in UK waters and airspace.
Image: ESA
Smart GNSS Monitoring
More than 11,000 people around Europe and the world have turned their smartphones into GNSS monitoring tools by downloading the CAMALIOT app, so far delivering more than 53 billion measurements of meteorology and space weather patterns to researchers, reports the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA asks CAMALIOT volunteers to leave their smartphones by a window each night with GNSS on. The phones record small variations in satellite signals, gathering data for machine-learning analysis. More than 50 smartphone models with dual-frequency receivers can use the app.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his stamp of approval to his country’s indigenous NavIC during a drone festival May 27. Despite that, the Indian Army purchased three GNSS receivers from Baidu, a Chinese company, instead of relying on home-grown companies as the contract required, reports The New Indian Express. The receivers are for survey stations of the College of Military Engineering. A few Indian manufacturers objected to the purchase, the newspaper said, but their concerns were brushed aside by the Department of Military Affairs.
Danalto was visited by Ireland’s Minister Damien English upon the announcement of an ESA contract. (From left) English, Mary Kathryn Midgett (danalto), Tom Kelly (Enterprise Ireland) and David McDonald (danalto). (Photo: danalto)
Dublin-based danalto Ltd., has won a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to demonstrate low-infrastructure indoor location technologies that complement GNSS, particularly Galileo. ESA seeks to improve this European capability in order to enable impactful, societal use cases, thus prompting its call for this investigation, assessment, and demonstration by danalto.
Danalto is a internet of things (IoT) software company specializing in positioning and spatial intelligence technologies. It has extensive experience in positioning intelligence with its FiLo, a LoRa 2.4 GHz-enabled solution known for both its low power and low infrastructure requirements.
During the 18-month contract, danalto will determine the best positioning technology, system algorithms and deployment aspects across a range of location accuracies. This will be done by critically analyzing both classic (observables-based) and disruptive (signal-based) positioning techniques, culminating in a hybrid combination technology solution.
The resulting solution will support use cases across multiple industries — including healthcare, logistics and emergency services — and will accelerate the increased adoption of location positioning solutions within the European market and beyond. The trajectory of this project aligns with danalto’s progression plan for next generation positioning solutions, which will be brought to market for commercial use in 2022.
On Oct. 27, danalto was visited by Minister Damien English and Enterprise Ireland for a briefing on FiLo’s progress to date and plans moving forward aligned with ESA and beyond.
The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) of the United Kingdom and Ireland has named Alan Grant to the top post of its research and development team. Grant assumed his new role on Nov. 1.
As part of his duties, he heads the GLA’s research and development program, considering existing and future maritime requirements and operational strategy. GLA Research and Development (GRAD) is tasked with improving maritime safety by developing innovative and cost-effective maritime aids-to-navigation (AtoN).
GRAD projects have included all aspects of AtoN including human and machine interaction, operational life and environment. The team has deep technical expertise and experience with automatic identification systems (AIS) , the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) , eLoran, e‑navigation, GNSS, SBAS and visual signaling.
The organization is well known for its expertise in electronic navigation aids and was an important contributor to the MarRINav project. The project effort was funded by the European Space Agency and examined what combination of electronic aids to navigation are needed to ensure uninterrupted UK shipping.
Grant joined the GLA in 2003 and has worked on a variety of systems during his time with GRAD. He led a series of successful GPS jamming trials and the development of the multi-system radionavigation receiver performance standards, from initial concept to international recognition at the IMO. He continues to support resilient positioning, navigation and timing in maritime navigation at both technical and strategic levels.
Grant is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, where he is a member of the council and served as vice president, 2019-2021. He is also a member of the U.S. Institute of Navigation and served on the ION Council, 2013-2017.
Grant chairs the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) radionavigation services working group and is a member of several international standards bodies. He is a chartered engineer, a chartered physicist, and author of more than 120 journal papers, magazine articles, and conference papers.
Martin Bransby, the prior GRAD leader, has taken a position with Telespazio in the UK.
Longstone Lighthouse is situated on the Outer Farne Islands on the Northumberland Coast in Northern England. (Photo: ad_foto/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
For a major project, surveying with traditional GPS equipment would normally take many days, Learn how Trimble and Propeller helped speed progress.
Wills Bros, a family-run contractor based in the UK and Ireland, has begun work on the £29 million (USD $40 million) Maybole Bypass project in Scotland. The 6-km (~ 3.75-mi) project involves 900,000 cubic meters of earth removal and a further 15,000 cubes of rock that needs to be excavated and removed. In addition, Wills Bros is responsible for the construction of 10 culverts to deal with water flow in the area.
For a project this size, surveying the entire site with traditional, ground-based GPS equipment would normally take six days, estimates Jonathan Wills, who was instrumental in the company’s recent investment in Trimble and Propeller equipment. But considering the increased accuracy tolerance required for some of the structural elements involving the culverts, getting useful survey data from the ground would actually take weeks for this project.
As an alternative, Wills Bros is using Propeller PPK, a drone surveying workflow that combines DJI’s Phantom 4 RTK drone; AeroPoints’ “smart” ground-control points; offloaded data processing; and the Propeller Platform software that allows measuring of the site using 3D models generated from drone images. Wills Bros also is using Trimble Stratus for cloud-based drone survey processing, visualization and analytics with Propeller Platform.
Wills Bros was able to collect an initial earthwork takeoff of the Maybole project area in a fraction of the time.
“Savings on labor costs alone have been considerable given the fact that on so many occasions we can now obtain detailed project data within a second rather than sending a man on site to survey for information,” Wills said. “The drone comes in a backpack and is up in the air doing its thing within minutes. From the outset, the time savings are immense.”
Once the drone and ground-control data are uploaded, Propeller transforms them into a 3D terrain model that can be measured in the cloud-based Propeller Platform.
An electronic pelorus is poised to become a useful tool in any mariner’s toolbox of resilient PNT systems. Learn how it works, and the benefits it brings to position fixing at sea.
INNOVATION INSIGHTS by Richard Langley
POP QUIZ: What do a character from Greek mythology, a point on the coast of Sicily, the pilot of Hannibal’s ship, a fizzy wine from New Zealand, and a navigation instrument have in common?
They are all called Pelorus or pelorus in the case of the instrument as it’s not a proper noun (grammar lesson over). And while a discussion of each of the uses of the word could be quite educational, this month’s column, perhaps predictably, will be about the pelorus or rather a modernized version of it.
If you are a landlubber, like me, you may not have heard of the pelorus. Yet, in one form or another it has been around for hundreds of years although not always going by that name. In appearance and use, it resembles a compass with sighting vanes.
But it has no magnetic components of any sort. And while a compass is used to get a magnetic bearing of a charted feature such as a tower or lighthouse or the magnetic heading of a vessel, a pelorus is used to measure a relative bearing between a feature and a reference direction such as the heading of the vessel, commonly called the ship’s head.
If a line is drawn on a chart through the sighted feature at an angle equal to the measured bearing, the vessel must be somewhere along this so-called line of position. If a second bearing on another feature significantly displaced from the first is measured in quick succession, a second line of position can be drawn on the chart, crossing the first.
The intersection point gives the (two-dimensional or horizontal) location, or position fix, of the vessel. Since the measured bearings will have some error, generally at least three lines of position are established with their intersections forming a small triangle, sometimes called a “cocked hat.” The location of the vessel is either inside the triangle or nearby depending on the similarity of the bearing errors.
Position fixes can also be obtained from instruments that measure ranges. In this case, the lines of position are circles for terrestrial systems providing two-dimensional fixes or spheres of position in the case of three-dimensional fixes obtained from GNSS measurements.
But let’s get back to the pelorus. Most vessels of a certain size are equipped with a pelorus. Frequent use of the pelorus helps to maintain situational awareness and being a completely passive device, it is not dependent on receiving an electronic signal of any kind. Only an acceptable level of visibility is required. And it can provide a manual check on any automated ship’s systems such as a GNSS receiver.
However, determining position fixes using a pelorus and a paper chart is laborious and time consuming and it is cumbersome to manually add lines of position to an electronic chart. What is needed is an electronic pelorus, which measures bearings electronically and automatically generates a line of position on an electronic chart.
The General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the agencies responsible for aids to navigation in the U.K. and Ireland, have developed such an instrument. Dubbed the BinoNav, it is poised to become a useful tool in any mariner’s toolbox of resilient PNT systems and in this month’s column, we learn about its genesis, how it works, and the benefits it brings to position fixing at sea.
The overreliance on GNSS is well known and widely publicized. While GNSS is generally available, concerns remain on how maritime operations, and safe navigation in particular, are affected should GNSS not be usable, or become denied for any reason.
The General Lighthouse Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland (GLA) have been working on resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for many years. This work has included a comprehensive review of different potential solutions and their availability. One option proposed is the development of a ship-based positioning system that makes use of a modernized pelorus to work with a modern bridge.
Pelorus systems work by providing bearings from fixed positions, normally on the vessel bridge wings, to specific targets visible to the mariner and identified on the navigation chart. By taking several bearings in quick succession, intersecting lines can be drawn on the navigation chart, providing a position estimation. Clearly, there are limitations to this approach — these are explored within this article, but can be summarized as:
Automation. The time taken to measure the bearings can limit the achieved accuracy.
Visibility. Performance is limited by the mariner’s ability to see unique targets.
Paperless bridges. Many vessel bridges are moving away from paper, limiting the mariner’s ability to take bearings and plot them.
e-Navigation. More bridge systems require electronic values of latitude and longitude.
In an attempt to resolve most of these limitations, the GLA has been working on the development of an enhanced pelorus, or ePelorus, with its name registered to the Research and Radionavigation Directorate (R&RNAV) as BinoNav.
Prototype BinoNav systems have been developed and installed on all GLA vessels for trial. They enable the navigator to take visual bearings to known targets, from anywhere on the bridge using a handheld device — they are no longer confined to the bridge wings and targeting port or starboard objects.
Measured bearings are automatically registered and drawn on an electronic chart. Multiple bearings can then be made with ease, each of which is displayed on the chart and the intersecting “cocked-hat” position (to be discussed later), calculated automatically. This information can then be used to feed other bridge systems and confirm the vessel’s position.
In this article, I will provide a comprehensive overview of the BinoNav system, provide the results of initial trials and explain the planned development of the proposed resilient PNT solution.
e-NAVIGATION
Much has been written about e-Navigation elsewhere, but briefly, it is the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) concept for the future of navigation, instigated by the U.K. Department for Transport in 2004. It will lead to the integration of systems and data — for the exchange of relevant geolocated information — faster and more cost effectively, and it will do this in the context of larger, faster vessels operating in ever more constricting shipping lanes and increasing offshore obstacles such as renewable energy infrastructure as well as the legacy of non-renewable energy infrastructure.
e-Navigation is designed to enhance safety of life for the mariner, improve protection of the environment, and increase energy efficiency in terms of shorter routing for fuel-efficient shipping. Moreover, it will allow more effective use of resources and integration across transport modes, including the more effective provision of integrated port operations.
Since its inception in 2004, development and delivery of e-Navigation services has been slow. Even now, some 14 years later, only a few prototype projects have delivered anything like what was anticipated in the original e-Navigation vision. This sluggishness has been caused by minimal leadership and drive from the IMO.
Despite this, some initiatives have been successfully delivered on a local or regional basis. These initiatives have come largely through projects such as Accessibility for Shipping, Efficiency Advantages and Sustainability (ACCSEAS), Efficient Safe and Sustainable Traffic at Sea (EfficienSea) 1 & 2, Motorways and Electronic Navigation by Intelligence at Sea (MonaLisa) 1 & 2, and Sea Traffic Management (a MonaLisa project), all of which have been supported by funding from the European Union.
Resiliency in PNT has been identified by the IMO as a lead area in the delivery of e-Navigation, and all these projects have used resilient PNT as the basis of what they have delivered.
REQUIREMENT FOR RESILIENT PNT
FIGURE 1. Ships’ systems affected by GPS jamming. (Data: Author)
It is now well recognized that all GNSS are vulnerable to interference, whether these interferers are from natural causes such as space weather or from synthetic sources such as jamming or spoofing devices. GNSS receiving units and satellite failures also occur. There are many examples of each of these problems affecting GNSS worldwide.
Resilient PNT information is needed to ensure continuity of maritime operations and safe navigation — especially for e-Navigation, management of sea traffic, and autonomous vessels.
GPS jamming trials were conducted by GLA’s R&RNAV in 1994, 2008, 2009 and 2012. These trials showed the real-time vulnerability of maritime systems to jamming. They identified that many ships’ systems were affected by GPS jamming. However, some systems we did not expect to be affected actually were (see Figure 1). Devices such as the helicopter-deck stabilization system and the ship’s gyrocompass are good examples.
GLA Work on Resilient PNT. GLA, through R&RNAV, has conducted a program of work that has looked at the issues of GNSS vulnerability and what they can do about it through a series of studies. These have looked at a number of systems such as
enhanced Loran, absolute radar positioning (two different methods)
ranging mode or R-mode, which is the use of ranging signals from existing marine infrastructure (two different methods)
signals of opportunity (many methods)
hybrid systems
dead reckoning
inertial
other on-board systems.
The timeline for the introduction of some of these systems into operational use, as well as current and new GNSS, can be seen in Figure 2. This article deals with equipment that falls into the “other on-board systems” category.
FIGURE 2. Timeline for resilient PNT (GNSS and complementary systems). (Diagram: Author)
A DRIVER FOR OPTICAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS
The need for new optical navigation systems has been driven by a number of marine incidents, one of which I will discuss in detail.
MV Tricolor Incident. On Dec. 14, 2002, in early morning thick fog, on its way from Zeebrugge to Southampton, the MV Tricolor, with a load of almost 3,000 BMW, Volvo and Saab cars, collided with a Bahamian-flagged container ship named Kariba, about 20 miles north of the French coast in the Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme.
Albeit damaged above the water line, the Kariba could continue, while the MV Tricolor remained wedged on her side in 30 meters of water in a busy area of navigation. No lives were lost and the crew were rescued by the Kariba and a tugboat. Nevertheless, approximately 2,862 cars and 77 units of cargo, consisting mainly of tractors and crane parts, could not be salvaged.
The shipping lane, being the busiest in the world, was marked by buoys and guarded by the French police vessel Glaive and HMS Anglesey, thereby warning other vessels of the MV Tricolor’s presence. Despite the marking and patrolling, only two days later a cargo ship, Nicola, followed by another vessel, Vicky (carrying 70,000 tonnes of highly flammable gas oil) collided with the wreck of the Tricolor, after failing to heed several French naval warnings. In between the two further collisions, more buoyage and patrol vessels were deployed. On Jan. 22, a third accident happened when a salvage tug knocked a safety valve off the Tricolor, resulting in a massive oil spill.
Besides the heavy economic losses, including the estimated operation cost of around £25M (roughly $40M), the incident caused massive marine pollution and environmental contamination by spilling large quantities of oil. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimated more than 1,000 birds were found dead or damaged by oil spilled from Tricolor.
Why Did It Happen? The incident was blamed on declining professional standards among seafarers, which was leading to scores of near misses in the area every day. Indeed, Andrew Linnington of the National Union of Marine Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers is quoted as saying that ship owners had been cutting costs by reducing use of deep-sea pilots to guide vessels through the world’s most crowded shipping lanes. Ships were increasingly crewed by one trained officer and a few poorly paid sailors from parts of the developing world.
“We know of at least four cases in the past year of ships going the wrong way in shipping lanes against the flow of traffic,” Linnington said. “Complaints are made to the states where the ships are registered, but they are often small countries used as flags of convenience and don’t have the resources to take action.”
It is clear from the incident and the ensuing investigation that navigators were not looking out the window, despite various radio navigation warnings and other methods, not the least of which was deploying wreck-marking buoys and virtual aids to navigation.
A very good way of mitigating the failure of any navigation system is by using reversionary methods of navigation, like looking out the window! This was a big driver in the GLA development of the BinoNav.
WHAT IS BINONAV?
FIGURE 3. A pelorus. (Photo: Author)
BinoNav is an electronic pelorus. A pelorus is a device that is completely independent of any other system or electronic position fixing system (EPFS), and this is important for providing resiliency.
Pelorus. A standard pelorus (see Figure 3) is used to take relative (to the vessel’s head) bearings to charted objects in the vicinity. The navigator then draws a line on the relevant navigation chart through the charted object. It is clear now that the vessel lies somewhere on this “line of position” from the charted object. This process is then repeated several times using different charted objects, with a minimum of three iterations.
This process then creates a “cocked hat” (a triangle in the case of three lines of position) generated from the intersection of the lines. Accounting for systematic errors, the vessel should lie somewhere within this cocked hat (see Figure 4 for an example).
This process is laborious and time consuming, but it does have the advantage of getting the navigator to look at real features outside the vessel — not just a red line on an electronic chart that they follow without question.
FIGURE 4. An example of positioning using a pelorus. (Chart: Author)
What about Electronic Chart Display? Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDISs) are excellent, when used correctly, and have driven innovation in the shipping industry. However, they do have disadvantages: If you are using a pelorus, you cannot very easily draw on a screen. You can generate an electronic bearing line (EBL) on an ECDIS, but it is a very long, convoluted way of providing a position not derived from an EPFS, such as a GNSS fix.
Any system that needs to generate an EBL on an ECDIS needs to do it electronically. Moreover, it needs to do this without having to rely on GNSS for position or time to avoid the issues of GNSS vulnerability: it should be completely independent. It should also be able to carry out optical to electronic integration to ensure that the mariner is looking out the window. Another GLA requirement was that it should be relatively low cost to make and distribute to enable take up across all users. So the idea of BinoNav was born. BinoNav fulfills all these criteria easily, intuitively and quickly, updating the electronic position of the vessel. Furthermore, with its wireless connection, bearings can be taken anywhere on the bridge of a vessel.
BINONAV FEATURES
In this section, I will describe the BinoNav and how it is used.
FIGURE 5. The BinoNav configuration. (Photo: Author)
Easy to Use. BinoNav comprises two parts: the “Bino” unit, which is a modified pair of binoculars, and a “base” unit that performs the communication link between the Bino unit and the electronic chart. Pick up the Bino unit from the base unit (see Figure 5 for overall configuration of the BinoNav).
Line up the graticule inside the Bino unit with a charted feature of use, press either of the buttons to automatically generate a line on the displayed electronic chart, which is relative to the ship’s head. As with a standard pelorus, one needs at least another two of these EBLs to generate a cocked-hat position on the electronic chart. Using either the touch screen or the mouse, “hover” over the cocked hat to generate a triangle. Now, right click to drop a marker at the center of the cocked-hat position and delete all lines. Once the vessel has moved (and dictated by the operating environment at the time), this process can be repeated. When two or more of the markers have been dropped, a line is drawn between the marks, thereby showing a track on the chart.
Features. From the use of the BinoNav unit as described above, a track is produced on an electronic chart that is not derived from an EPFS. This is important as it shows the integration of visual navigation into e-Navigation, something which e-Navigation has tried to do from the very beginning, as described by Brian Wadsworth in his earliest vision of e-Navigation (see Further Reading).
Another feature of BinoNav is “radar mode” for charted feature recognition. This feature draws a continuously moving line on the display that points at the position relative to the ship’s head. This is useful for the recognition of charted features when in unfamiliar territory.
The BinoNav is very easy to install, with only a connection for power and a connection for a suitable National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) protocol data feed for heading. Many of its electronic components are available off the shelf and are widely available commercially with bespoke printed circuit boards. Some modification to the binocular unit has been necessary, with the addition of a bespoke unit, which links to the base unit for both orientation measurement and power when the unit is docked. The binoculars are readily available for around $500. The gyros incorporated in both the base unit and the binocular unit are high-grade microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices giving an angular resolution of 0.25-0.5 degrees, similar to that of a standard pelorus.
Currently, the BinoNav is 3D-printed, which allows for the quick production of one-off units. However, this approach is clearly not a suitable solution for long production runs and would require a different method of production.
FIGURE 6. The BinoNav installation on THV Alert. (Photo: Author)
Something for the Future. R&RNAV has received a lot of interest in the BinoNav not only from our own mariners, but also from a variety of influencers in the maritime world. We have had a great deal of positive feedback on potential improvements and additional features that we plan to develop.
We will also seek to gain approvals through IMO and the International Electrotechnical Commission to integrate BinoNav with ECDIS, so there will be no need for separate displays (unless being used on non-SOLAS vessels; that is, ones to which the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea does not apply.)
CURRENT GLA INSTALLATIONS
FIGURE 7. Using the BinoNav on ILV Granuaile. (Photo: Author)
The BinoNav has been installed on all six GLA vessels: ILV (Irish Lights Vessel) Granuaile, NVL (Northern Lighthouse Vessel) Pharos, NVL Pole Star, THV (Trinity House Vessel) Alert, THV Galatea and THV Patricia. The installation on Alert is shown in Figure 6 and BinoNav use on Granuaile is shown in Figure 7.
CONCLUSIONS
The key points made in this article can be summarized as follows:
e-Navigation is based on the premise of electronic navigation from “berth to berth.”
Many accidents happen because crews do not look out the window.
There is a need for electronic positioning from non-GNSS sources.
The BinoNav integrates visual navigation and electronic navigation through an ECDIS.
The BinoNav provides an independent verification of position with or without EPFS.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
BinoNav is a registered trade mark and carries unregistered design rights. BinoNav has patents pending.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author thanks the masters, officers and crews of all the GLA vessels for their help and for the benefit of their experience throughout the whole process of the BinoNav development. Special thanks go to those who helped during the various development trials on ILV Granuaile and THV Alert prior to the mainstream installations.
This article is based on the paper “BinoNav® – A New Positioning System for Maritime” presented at ION GNSS+ 2018, the 31st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, Miami, Florida, Sept. 24–28, 2018.
MARTIN BRANSBY is the head of the Research and Radionavigation Directorate at the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland, stationed in Harwich, Essex. He is responsible for the delivery of its program portfolio in research and development in technically diverse areas such as resilient PNT, e-Navigation, GNSS, Automatic Identification System (AIS) and visual signaling. He is a fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, and holds memberships in the Institute of Engineering and Technology and The Institute of Navigation. He is also a member of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities’ AtoN (Aid to Navigation) Requirements and Management Committee.
FURTHER READING
Author’s Conference Paper
“BinoNav® – A New Positioning System for Maritime” by M. Bransby in Proceedings of ION GNSS+ 2018, the 31st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, Miami, Florida, Sept. 24–28, 2018, pp. 1728–1735.
“Marine eNavigation: An Orientation Paper” by B. Wadsworth, document WEND9-INF4, presented to the 9th meeting of the International Hydrographic Organization World-wide Electronic Navigational Chart Database (WEND) Committee, Monaco, April 7–8, 2005.
“The Impact of GPS Jamming on the Safety of Navigation” by S. Basker, A. Grant, P. Williams and N. Ward, presented at the 48th meeting of the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee, Savannah, Georgia, Sept. 15–16, 2008.
Table 1. Capability and status of complementary positioning technologies. (Chart: GLA)
The General Lighthouse Authorities of the U.K. and Ireland (GLA) reached Initial Operational Capability for eLoran on the East coast of the U.K. Although it was shown to work well technically, it has not been possible to implement the system in Europe on a regional basis.
The GLA have also been involved in the potential development of other, non-satellite based, alternative systems. These may now form the basis of positioning resiliency either individually, or as a tapestry of systems serving the maritime navigator in Europe, unless current plans for commercial operation of eLoran come to fruition.
Here we consider the technical and regulatory status of eLoran in comparison with the other options, and explore necessary steps to protect the maritime navigator in the face of increasing GNSS outages. Several alternative backup technologies could be considered complementary to GNSS for future introduction into ships’ Integrated Navigation Systems. They have varying capabilities, and different limitations and levels of maturity, summarized in Table 1. Figure 1 shows estimated timescales for development and implementation.
Figure 1. Timeline for resilient PNT. (Image: GLA)
Conclusions
■ eLoran is the only complementary backup system that can be implemented within the timescale envisaged for the introduction of e-navigation; however, there are political obstacles to implementation, at least in Europe.
■ R-mode and possibly radar positioning could be introduced by about 2030; however, both have inherent coverage limitations. Feasibility studies are needed to assess their economic viability.
■ Other options, such as inertial systems and signals of opportunity, might emerge as viable alternatives by 2030, but there are large uncertainties about technical and regulatory matters.
■ Quantum devices and options such as bathymetric and geomagnetic positioning can only be considered as longer term and uncertain possibilities.
■ A multi-system solution may offer the best approach. The IMO concept of the Integrated Navigation System aboard vessels, incorporating a multi-system receiver, provides flexibility for the inclusion of the above positioning technologies, if and when they become available, at an affordable cost.
