GPS World

Tag: lane keeping

  • OpenARC provides positioning platform for autonomous vehicles

    OpenARC provides positioning platform for autonomous vehicles

    Aceinna and Point One Navigation launch hardware and software platform for precise positioning in agriculture, construction, mapping, surveying, robotics and trucking

    The OpenARC positioning service is now commercially available. OpenARC is a precise-positioning hardware and software platform for system integration of GNSS corrections with high-performance inertial navigation system (INS) and real-time kinematic (RTK) hardware.

    OpenARC is offered by Aceinna, a developer of inertial-based guidance and navigation systems, and powered by Point One Navigation.

    With an RTK positioning engine and GNSS corrections delivered from a ground-based network of secure base stations, OpenARC will reliably improve position accuracy for autonomous vehicles to centimeter-level accuracy. The platform combines Point One’s Polaris GNSS correction service with Aceinna’s OpenRTK330 hardware and software solution for developers of autonomous systems in trucking, precision agriculture, construction, mapping, surveying and robotics.

    OpenARC provides high-precision positioning and localization applications, enabling centimeter-level accuracy for challenging tasks such as lane keeping, precision agricultural guidance, and UAV landing maneuvers.

    OpenARC is integrated into the OpenRTK330LI navigation module to provide a secure, vertically integrated and easy-to-use positioning platform. OpenARC is very scalable, supporting single-unit installations and high-volume deployments.

    Point One’s proprietary Polaris GNSS cloud correction service delivers superior station density in areas where operators need it the most, including urban centers and suburban surrounding areas, enabling cold convergence times of under 10 seconds.

    Polaris provides continuous position monitoring and tracks all modern satellite constellations. Its base-station technology includes advanced anti-jam, interference mitigation, security and integrity monitoring. Its architecture allows for GNSS corrections in RTK or state space representation (SSR) configuration. Its open-source interfaces are compatible with multiple receivers and chipsets, and the service is compatible with any NTRIP/RTCM3 compliant receiver.

  • Expert Opinions: How can we make autonomous cars safe?

    Expert Opinions: How can we make autonomous cars safe?

    Q: How can positioning technology ensure safety for passengers of autonomous cars and for others on or near the roadway?

    Paul Perrone, Founder/CEO, Perrone Robotics


    A:     Satellite-based and local beacon-based positioning technologies offer the best opportunity for reliable and precise location determination of an autonomous vehicle. Alternate solutions like SLAM and lane keeping are decent augmentations, but suffer from the imprecision that comes from sensing in a large dynamic environment. As satellite and local beacon-based positioning technologies become increasingly more pervasive and accurate, this will continue to yield the most reliable and deterministic solution for safe localization of autonomous vehicles.

    Paul Groves, Senior Lecturer, University College London

    A: No matter how good it gets, positioning technology can never ensure the safety of autonomous car passengers and pedestrians. Knowing the position of each car is insufficient; you need to know where everything else is, including children, animals and temporary construction barriers. It is simply not practical to fit everyone and everything with a positioning device that transmits to every nearby vehicle. Collision avoidance therefore needs sensors such as radar and lidar.

    Zoltan Molnar, Functional Safety Manager, NovAtel

    A: Realization of safe autonomy requires the establishment of layers of protection using safety mechanisms without dependent faults. Absolute position provided by precise GNSS and inertial technology provides an independent reference for truth test of positioning solutions obtained with vision-based technologies. Vision-based solutions may incorporate common cause faults like sight obstruction, processing algorithms or similar. Absolute positioning can also contribute to realize near-real-time updated maps.