Tag: safety critical

  • ION GNSS+ 2022 abstract deadline is March 4

    ION GNSS+ 2022 abstract deadline is March 4

    Photo: ION
    Photo: ION

    Abstracts for the ION GNSS+ 2022 show, “GNSS + Other Sensors in Today’s Marketplace,” are due March 4.

    The ION GNSS+ conference will take place September 19-23  at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The show will also include a virtual option.

    The 2022 conference will bring together international leaders in GNSS and related positioning, navigation and timing fields to present new research, introduce new technologies, discuss current policy, demonstrate products and exchange ideas.

    The two tracks covered during the conference will be commercial and policy tracks and research tracks.

    The commercial and policy tracks will include high performance and safety critical applications, status and future trends in GNSS, and mass market and commercial applications. The research tracks will include multisensor and autonomous navigation, algorithms and methods, and advanced GNSS technologies.

    Interested parties may submit their abstracts at https://www.ion.org/gnss/call-for-abstracts.cfm.

  • Sapcorda expands GNSS augmentation service for autonomous vehicles

    Sapcorda expands GNSS augmentation service for autonomous vehicles

    Image: Sapcorda
    Image: Sapcorda

    GNSS augmentation solution targets North America and Europe with safe and precise centimeter-level accuracy performance from two geostationary satellites.

    Sapcorda Services GmbH is now testing its GNSS augmentation services for the L-band signal in North America and Europe. The testing lays the foundation for a Dec. 1 launch of what Sapcorda said will be the strongest, most reliable GNSS augmentation signal for safety-critical navigation in autonomous vehicles and machinery.

    Available in areas without GSM coverage or mobile internet signal, the new Sapcorda L-band beam solutions from two geostationary satellites provide PPP-RTK data-feed redundancy in real-time by swapping to a second data feed when internet connectivity is not available. This automated swapping significantly improves reliability for life-critical applications such as autonomous cars.

    “To use GNSS in mass-market safety-critical applications, manufacturers need GNSS augmentation services that provide correction data with safety-critical positioning,” said Botho zu Eulenburg, CEO, Sapcorda. “By expanding our SAPA services with L-band transmission, we enable a high-power correction data stream for homogeneous performance and end-to-end data security with continental coverage in the United States and Europe — thus improving accuracy, reducing convergence time, and enabling the use of lower-cost receivers and antennae.”

    The Sapcorda L-band signal will be transmitted in the open SPARTN format, a format specifically developed for IP-based and geostationary satellite distributions. It will be invaluable for safety-critical applications in automotive (such as V2X and autonomous driving, AD/ADAS) and maritime, as well as a wide variety of uses across sectors such as industrial, robotics and drones.

    The L-band satellite beam coverage will be available on December 1, 2020. Sapcorda’s safe and precise augmentation (SAPA) service will broadcast SAPA Basic and SAPA Premium correction data streams.

    These data streams feature:

    • 99.9% service availability with fast convergence and an accuracy of less than 10 cm, delivering the precision required for safety- and life-critical applications
    • Redundancy through dual data streams when internet connectivity isn’t available, ensuring uninterrupted broadcast streaming
    • Demodulation by any L-band demodulator on the market, simplifying hardware design and reducing bill of materials
    • Availability of service coverage areas in North America and Europe, allowing manufacturers to use a single GNSS augmentation services’ solution for major global regions
    • Distributed in the same open format as IP-delivery channels (SPARTN)

    Sapcorda’s SAPA services are supported by experienced engineering teams dedicated to systems integrators and enterprise business customers. The Basic and Premium SAPA services for L-band signal operation begins in both regions on Dec. 1.

  • NovAtel technology showcased at CES 2018 with Renesas Electronics

    NovAtel technology showcased at CES 2018 with Renesas Electronics

    NovAtel technology will be on display at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas with Renesas Electronics Corporation.

    Renesas will use NovAtel’s high-performance SPAN tightly coupled GNSS and inertial navigation system (INS) technologies with GNSS correction services for live autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) demonstrations throughout CES.

    SPAN GNSS+INS products provide position, orientation and time solutions that are critical for autonomous applications.

    NovAtel’s assured positioning technology not only delivers solutions based on signals from satellite constellations but also uses vehicle behavior modelling, inertial sensor integration and GNSS correction signals to improve accuracy and significantly reduce interruptions in availability.

    Image: NovAtel
    Image: NovAtel

    Renesas relies on NovAtel products to provide high integrity and accurate positioning for autonomous driving, ADAS, connected car feature demonstrations and automotive solutions that will be showcased at CES 2018.

    With the commitment to ensure autonomous vehicles have assured positioning solution, a team of engineers formed the Safety Critical Systems Group at NovAtel to meet the exceptional performance and safety requirements of autonomous vehicles at the necessary production volumes and price point required.

    Since its formation, the group has made many positive partnerships in the automotive industry.

    NovAtel and Renesas are currently collaborating on implementing NovAtel’s high-performance GNSS+INS positioning solution with the Renesas R-Car H3 system-on-chip (SoC). The R-Car H3 is compliant with the ISO 26262 functional safety standard for automotive applications, which aligns with NovAtel’s automotive strategy.

    NovAtel has a long history providing industry leading high-precision GNSS solutions that are high quality and reliable. As an ISO 9001 certified company, NovAtel is also developing an extensive product line of receivers, antennas, correction signals, positioning algorithms, sensor fusion solutions and systems that fulfill specific safety requirements of the automotive industry such as ISO 26262.

  • January workshop looks at safety-critical autonomy

    A free, full-day workshop, titled “Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA),” will be held Jan. 29, co-located with the Institute of Navigation’s International Technical Meeting (ITM) in Reston, Virginia. Workshop information will be posted at www.ion.org/cassca as it becomes available.

    Organized by Professor Zak Kassas from the University of California, Riverside, the workshop will feature presentations and panels by experts and leaders from government (National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Research Laboratory, Department of Transportation), industry (Google, Daimler, and Ford) and academia (The Ohio State University, UC San Diego, University of Southern California).

    The workshop will discuss opportunities and challenges (technical, commercial, ethical, and legal) associated with developing fully autonomous systems that are cognizant and trustworthy for safety-critical applications. Examples include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), self-driving cars and unmanned underwater and surface vehicles.

    Kassas, director of the Autonomous Systems Perception, Intelligence, & Navigation Laboratory (ASPIN), leads a team of researchers developing reliable and accurate navigation that exploits existing signals of opportunity, rather than GPS, to meet the stringent requirements of fully-autonomous systems, such as UAVs and self-driving cars.

    He co-authored two recent cover stories in GPS World,LTE Steers UAV: Signals of Opportunity Work in Challenged Environments” (April 2017) and “Opportunity for Accuracy:Terrestrial SOPs attractive supplement to GNSS” (March 2016).