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Tag: Skylark GNSS corrections service

  • Swift Navigation adds tiers, BeiDou support to Skylark service

    Swift Navigation adds tiers, BeiDou support to Skylark service

    (Image: Swift Navigation)
    (Image: Swift Navigation)

    Swift Navigation has expanded the capabilities of its Skylark precise positioning service to several product tiers. With new services providing real-time kinematic (RTK) and differential GNSS (DGNSS) options, Swift meets the broadening needs of its growing customer base.

    In addition, new BeiDou signal support and regional coverage has been added.

    Skylark is Swift’s cloud-based GNSS corrections service designed to deliver affordability, high accuracy and fast convergence, eliminating the complexity of deploying and maintaining GNSS networks. The expansion of Skylark’s capabilities makes it possible for customers across industries to benefit from seamless corrections to applications across the globe, the company said.

    Skylark RTK delivers Swift’s highest tier of performance to third-party GNSS receivers. Compatible with leading RTK receivers on the market, Skylark RTK delivers corrections for applications that require sub-2 cm accuracy, including agriculture, machine control, drones and robotics in the United States, Europe and select Asian countries.

    Skylark DGNSS is suitable for mobile applications, delivering real-time, high-reliability differential GNSS corrections to mobile handsets, positioning engine modules and mass-market applications. Skylark DGNSS enables lane-level location accuracy, in turn enabling new consumer location experiences and improving location-based services to increase efficiency on a global basis.

    With BeiDou coverage already available across the United States, Japan and Korea, Swift has now added BeiDou signal support for the European Union, supplementing existing support for Galileo and GPS by providing corrections for GPS L1/L2/L5, Galileo E1/E5b/E5a and BeiDou B1/B2a. In addition, support for BeiDou B1C has been added to all regions.

    These additions help support newer mass-market RTK-enabled receivers to achieve high-accuracy performance in difficult GNSS environments and continue to push the envelope for positioning accuracy.

    “Swift was founded on the notion of improving GNSS positioning performance for mass-market applications,” said Holger Ippach, executive vice president of product, Swift Navigation . “We are pleased to expand the functionality of Skylark to improve the positioning functionality for many more customers across the globe.”

    The suite of Skylark products was built from the ground up for scale, resilience and ease of integration. Skylark delivers seamless corrections to continents and countries across the globe including the United States, Europe, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.

  • Engaging data for scooters, cars and trains

    Engaging data for scooters, cars and trains

    Swift Navigation designs, manufactures and integrates GNSS receivers, as well as providing the Skylark wide-area GNSS corrections service. Its markets are automotive, transportation (last mile delivery, commercial trucking, rail), robotics/machine control (construction, mining, precision agriculture, landscaping), UAVs, micromobility and mobile devices and applications.

    The company’s technology is compatible and interoperable with most major GNSS receivers for multiple markets. Its Starling positioning engine and Skylark corrections “are scalable to bring precision to legacy low-cost single-frequency receivers, all the way to the most sophisticated state-of-the-art triple-frequency multi-constellation systems,” said Joel Gibson, Swift’s executive vice president of Automotive. “By working with a multitude of receiver vendors for different applications, Swift leverages all constellations and all signals and maximizes the performance required for the application.”

    The most accurate and reliable navigation system for every application would take advantage of all available GNSS signals, as well as all available corrections, dead reckoning and fused data from other sensors, such as cameras, lidar and radar. However, of course, that is not possible due to cost, size, weight and power considerations. Swift’s approach to the trade-offs required depends on each use case.

    Micromobility

    In the area of micromobility (such as scooters), the main constraints for implementing a positioning solution are cost and power, coupled with the challenge of satellite signal outages and multipath in dense urban environments where these vehicles primarily operate, Gibson explained. “Cost-effective dual-frequency GNSS receivers are now showing up in micromobility architectures. Pairing them with our Starling positioning engine, which integrates inertial sensor data and wheel ticks, and augmenting them with Skylark corrections data, makes it possible to meet such compliance requirements as geofencing and limiting sidewalk use.”

    Additionally, by achieving decimeter-level positioning, Swift’s micromobility solution makes it easier for both users and service staff to find scooters, which increases the scooter companies’ revenues.

    Photo: Swift Navigation
    Photo: Swift Navigation

    Automotive

    In the automotive industry, inertial sensors and wheel odometry are ubiquitous and pair naturally with GNSS to mitigate satellite signal outages, Gibson pointed out. Likewise, cameras and radar — cornerstones of ADAS — are very complementary to GNSS for safety applications, and lidar further complements GNSS in feature-rich environments such as dense urban areas.

    Rail

    Rail applications, such as Positive Train Control, have traditionally needed an accuracy of one or two meters, coupled with ruggedized hardware. “Swift’s precise positioning solution is deployed across continental rail systems today, and we are now engaging rail OEM and operator programs requiring sub-meter accuracy to ensure track-to-track accuracy and safety requirements in support of the transition to more autonomous rail operations,” said Gibson. “Leading rail companies are also looking for operational efficiencies by transitioning away from the high operational costs of maintaining reference base stations along track routes, instead moving to the more cost effective, reliable and seamless Skylark corrections coverage.”

  • Swift Navigation Starling GNSS engine tested with Broadcom BCM47755 chip

    Swift Navigation Starling GNSS engine tested with Broadcom BCM47755 chip

    An open-sky freeway environment on Interstate 280 in California where Starling + the BCM47755 were tested and data collected and processed in real time. (Image: Swift Navigation)
    An open-sky freeway environment on Interstate 280 in California where Starling + the BCM47755 were tested and data collected and processed in real time. (Image: Swift Navigation)

    Swift Navigation has announced that its Starling positioning engine is available with Broadcom’s dual-frequency GNSS receiver chip, the BCM47755.

    The new solution is capable of delivering centimeter accuracy with minimal power consumption and small footprint for rapidly expanding precise positioning applications, the company said.

    The Starling Positioning Engine is a modular and portable GNSS high-precision positioning engine that leverages Swift’s Skylark Cloud Corrections Service. Platform independent, Starling is an advanced GNSS processing engine that enhances the measurements from commercially available GNSS receivers to provide true precision and integrity capabilities.

    Swift’s Starling software is GNSS receiver agnostic and works with a variety of GNSS chips and inertial sensors. According to the company, Starling features multi-band, multi-constellation support to provide centimeter-level accuracy and supports the calculation of integrity outputs to provide absolute position, velocity and time (PVT).

    Broadcom's BCM47755 chip now works with Starling. (Image: Broadcom)
    Broadcom’s BCM47755 chip now works with Starling. (Image: Broadcom)

    Swift showcased the integration of Starling with the Broadcom BCM47755 chip — the latest generation of Broadcom GNSS receiver chip — during a recent test drive in California. The synergistic benefits of integrating Starling with the BCM47755 measurement engine include low system-level power consumption and a smaller PCB (printed circuit board) footprint.

    The successful integration illustrated the accuracy of the combined solution and forthcoming offerings for autonomous vehicles including unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics, asset tracking, fleet management and other applications requiring precise positioning.

    The BCM47755 simultaneously supports GPS and GLONASS in the L1 frequency band or GPS and Galileo in both the L1/E1 and L5/E5a frequency bands, the company added. Starling combines the GNSS raw observations from the BCM47755 with corrections from Swift’s Skylark Cloud Corrections Service to deliver centimeter-level positioning.

    Horizontal Position

     

    Horizontal CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function). (Chart: Swift Navigation)
    Horizontal CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function). (Chart: Swift Navigation)

    “Broadcom is delighted to work with Swift in their integration of Starling and Skylark with our BCM47755,” said Vijay Nagarajan, senior director of product marketing for the Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division at Broadcom. “This is an exciting development for Swift and Broadcom, bringing together innovative hardware and software for the precise positioning market.”

    ​​“Swift has taken its mature Starling positioning engine that has long been powering Swift’s Piksi Multi and Duro receivers and made it interoperable with other industry leading chipsets to provide customers with a broader selection of precise autonomous navigation solutions,” added Samir Kapoor, executive vice president of engineering and product at Swift Navigation. “We are excited to offer an integrated solution with the Broadcom BCM47755 GNSS receiver chip.” ​

    Evaluation Kit

    Swift has developed an out-of-the-box evaluation platform for the combined Swift/Broadcom solution, called the Starling + BCM47755 Evaluation Kit, which will be available to order in the fourth quarter of this year.

    The Evaluation Kit includes:

    • Starling Evaluation Board
    • Cortex-A7 Processor Running Starling Positioning Engine on Linux
    • Broadcom BCM47755 Chip
    • I/O – RS-232, Ethernet, USB, CAN
    • Supports SBP, NMEA and RTCM3 Protocols
    • Built in NTRIP Client
    • Built in Client for Skylark, Swift’s Cloud-Based GNSS Corrections Service
    • Dual Frequency, Multi-Constellation Antenna
    • External Cell Modem
    • Power Supply, Cabling and Accessories
    • Evaluation Kit Hardware Design Documentation, including Schematics and Layout
    • Evaluation Kit User Manual, Swift Console PC Application and Firmware Image

  • Swift Navigation presents Skylark GNSS corrections service

    Swift Navigation’s David Fischer gives GPS World an overview of the company’s Skylark GNSS corrections service at Xponential 2018. According to the company, Skylark is cloud-based and delivers affordable, fast, centimeter-level accuracy and eliminates the complexity of deploying and maintaining GNSS networks.