Author: Allison Kral

Esri acquires nFrames for 3D capabilities

Esri has acquired nFrames, a technology company that develops SURE, an imagery and lidar 3D surface reconstruction software.

According to Esri, this will enable the fusion of imagery with 3D GIS, allowing nFrames and Esri users to seamlessly capture and analyze 3D data from aerial, drone and ground-based sensors in an automated end-to-end process.

SURE scales 3D data creation to large city and countrywide airborne image datasets and projects. According to nFrames, it gives professional photogrammetry workflows improved precision, speed and simplicity on premises or in the cloud. SURE can be used for a number of industries, including those in government; national mapping; insurance; and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC).

Through this acquisition, Esri gains a robust production engine that transforms imagery and lidar data into point clouds, phototextured 3D meshes and true orthos, Esri said.

SURE software editor (Screenshot: nFrames)

In addition, SURE allows its users to generate 3D maps at scales from individual construction sites to entire cities and countries. These maps are fully automated at high resolution and repetition rates, nFrames added.

“nFrames is a leading provider of 3D image reconstruction software and services, and I am excited to welcome the company to the Esri family,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. “As Esri continues down its path of innovation to create a multidimensional experience, this acquisition enhances our ability to create extremely high-quality 3D data from imagery, which is critical for our customers in the municipal, planning and AEC industries.”

SURE software will become a part of Esri’s ArcGIS platform. According to Esri, it will make SURE capabilities available in ArcGIS Drone2Map and Site Scan for ArcGIS so users can create better meshes, point clouds and true orthos from their drone imagery.

“Together with Esri, we will be able to unlock the full value of 3D surface data through GIS by connecting geometry with metainformation to provide spatial context,” said Konrad Wenzel, CEO and co-founder of nFrames. “This fully automatic chain from data capture to analytics will enable smarter decision-making.”

The nFrames headquarters will now serve as a new Esri research and development center based in Stuttgart, Germany.

September 14, 2020
The expanded role of positioning through advancements in GNSS

Auto Mining: A driverless Cat 793F CMD truck leaves an iron ore pit. (Photo: Caterpillar)

Individuals who use GNSS today may not know the significant advancements that have been accomplished over the past 30 years to obtain accurate GNSS-derived coordinates, especially GNSS-derived orthometric heights.

Thirty years ago, there were two limiting factors for estimating GNSS-derived heights — estimation of accurate ellipsoid heights in a timely manner and the availability of an accurate geoid model. The geoid model was only good to the decimeter level, between two stations relatively close together. A significant improvement of the measurement of the Earth’s gravity field (such as from the GRACE mission) and digital elevation data (from the Space Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) facilitated the creation of more accurate geoid models. Geoid models went from decimeter values to centimeter, and then sub-centimeter values between closely spaced marks.

A new national network

During the past three decades, the U.S. National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has developed a national network of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). These CORS, along with the states’ real-time networks (RTNs), have provided the ability to compute accurate GNSS-derived coordinates in an efficient and effective manner. The modeling of antenna phase patterns was a critical development for combining different types of antennas.

Today’s GNSS processing software is basically a “hands-off black-box” system. But 30 years ago, the analyst had to identify cycle slips and ensure that all unknown cycle ambiguities of the carrier-phase data (integers) were determined correctly. It was a time-consuming task, and analysts needed to understand the data. So many things can go wrong when someone relies on an answer from a black box. That said, federal agencies such as NGS and GNSS software companies have produced hands-off software that provides statistics and warning messages, as well as guidelines for ensuring results are consistent and accurate.

The advancements in estimating GNSS-derived coordinates (including orthometric heights) have changed the way many industries do business. Farmers use it to drive their tractors and combines, mining companies control driverless vehicles, construction companies use automated machine guidance to build roads, and, of course, it has improved how individuals navigate from one location to the next.

Hands-off farming and mining

Thirty years ago, few farmers thought they would be able to sit in their cab and let their combine harvester drive itself. Geodesist, surveyors, and engineers had a vision of using GNSS to automate the use of farming and construction equipment, which became a reality.

What will it be like in another 30 years? Will it be routine for individuals to program their car for a destination, and then sit back and read a book?

Positioning with GNSS will be critical for the safety factor of driverless vehicles and the use of drones for delivery. Geodesists, surveyors and engineers, once again, need to lead the way to meet the positioning requirements of the future.

September 14, 2020
URISA to host GIS-Pro 2020 virtually

The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) will be hosting GIS-Pro 2020, the association’s 58th Annual Conference, Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 in a virtual format. The event was originally scheduled to take place in Baltimore, but URISA chose to hold it virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With the serious COVID-19 health and physical distancing concerns, hosting an in-person conference this year and putting members, presenters, and staff at risk was a non-starter,” the organization said.

Keynote speakers for the event include Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland; Chris Vaughan, geographic information officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and Juliana Blackwell, director of the National Geodetic Survey.

According to URISA, the program also will highlight a number of relevant topics, including public health, community resilience, equality and social justice, GIS leadership and ethics.

Here’s an overview of the program:

Wednesday, Sept. 23
• Best Practices for GIS Project Planning and Management
• NG911 & the GIS Workflow
• GIS in Emergency Management
• Microsoft Project Software Tutorial

Thursday, Sept. 24
• Experimental Learning Techniques to be More Effective
• Introduction to GIS for Equity and Social Justice
• Navigating a Virtual Landscape for your GIS Career

Tuesday, Oct. 6
• Building Community Using Geospatial Tools
• Unpacking the NENA NG911 GIS Data Model
• Changes Afoot After 2022: State Plane and the Death of the U.S. Survey Foot

Wednesday, Oct. 7
• Preparing for GISP Certification
• Coordinate Systems and Projections

Sessions also will be available on demand for GIS-Pro 2020 registrants after the conference, URISA said. Register for the event here.

September 3, 2020
Orolia selected for NIST workshop on PNT profile development

John Fischer. (Photo: Orolia)

John Fischer, vice president of advanced R&D at Orolia, will join three industry leaders as a panelist in a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) workshop about the federal government’s PNT Executive Order. Fischer is a member of GPS World’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Other workshop panelists include Michael Calabro, chief engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton; Michael J. Lewis, senior staff security strategist at Chevron; and Gerardo Trevino, technical leader in cyber security at the Electric Power Research Institute. The workshop will take place Sept. 15-16.

The PNT Executive Order requires the development of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) profiles to ensure that the nation’s critical infrastructure is resilient to disruptions or denial of service attacks on GPS signals and PNT data, Orolia said.

NIST, the organization hosting the workshop, is working to provide a ybersecurity framework-based profile to promote the responsible use of PNT services and help critical infrastructure owners make risk-informed decisions to protect their systems.

NIST is also seeking feedback on the Cybersecurity Profile for the Responsible User of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Services Draft Annotated Outline, which can be viewed here.

Register for the workshop here. Registration closes Sept. 11.

September 3, 2020
GSA and CLGE accepting submissions for Geomatics on the Move 2020 competition

The European GNSS Agency (GSA), in collaboration with the Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE), has launched the Geomatics on the Move 2020 competition. The event aims to foster the use of European Union (EU) satellite programs Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus among students, young professionals, entrepreneurs and small and mid-sized businesses to create innovative geomatics applications and solutions across all over Europe.

Building and expanding on the CLGE Student Contest, which has been held for the past nine years, the new Geomatics on the Move Prize Contest targets applications that integrate the use of additional technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, as well as supplementary remote sensing data sources like drones, GSA said. Solutions animated through mobile phone applications or other easy-to-use platforms are also accepted.

“This is the ninth year of partnership between the Council of European Geodetic Surveyors and the GSA; over the years we have seen some exciting and innovative solutions emerge that leverage the EU Space Programme to deliver practical solutions for the mapping and surveying community,” said GSA Acting Executive Director Pascal Claudel. “This year, as we recover from this global setback, I look forward to seeing even more novel ideas — from all over the European Union — able to respond to current and future challenges.”

The competition will be organized in two stages. The first phase is an open call for ideas, during which applicants submit posters describing their ideas. The deadline for these submissions is Oct. 16.

The proposals then will be evaluated by the GSA and CLGE, and a maximum of 10 projects will be chosen to present their pitch during the finals. The selected applicants will refine their poster and prepare their pitch, for which technical support and training will be made available.

The official award of the Geomatics on the Move prize contest will take place virtually, during the European Space Week, taking place Dec. 7-11. During this event, finalists will present their solutions to the evaluation board, and winners will be announced on the official contest site.

With an overall prize of €30 000, a set of 10 prizes will be offered in two categories. The first of these categories targets EU space-based traditional geomatics solutions and the second targets integrated geomatics solutions. he first category is looking for solutions in which the main innovation is based on the use of EGNSS, employing traditional equipment such as surveying or GIS grade GNSS receivers for applications such as cadastral, marine and mining surveying or GIS mapping. The integrated geomatics category targets integrated surveying solutions that use Galileo or EGNOS and leverage cutting-edge tools and technologies such as drones, mobile mapping, laser scanners or augmented/,mixed reality, both within geomatics applications or beyond.

September 3, 2020
L3Harris clears critical design review for experimental satellite navigation program

Satellite NTS-3 above Earth. (Illustration: Lt. Jacob Lutz, AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate)

L3Harris Technologies is on track to begin building the U.S. Air Force’s first Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) after completing the program’s critical design review.

According to L3Harris, it will integrate the program’s experimental payload with an ESPAStar Platform, planned for launch in 2022. The system is designed to augment space-based position, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities for warfighters.

The NTS-3 payload features a modular design, and the experiment will demonstrate capabilities that can be accomplished through a stand-alone satellite constellation or as a hosted payload.

“Collaboration with our customers has enabled us to move rapidly through important milestones to design this experimental satellite,” said Ed Zoiss, president, space and airborne systems, L3Harris. “Our goal is to deliver new signals to support rapidly evolving warfighter missions.”

The Space Enterprise Consortium selected L3Harris for the $84 million contract in 2018 as the prime system integrator to design, develop, integrate and test NTS-3. The NTS-3 will examine ways to improve the resiliency of the military’s PNT capabilities. It will also develop key technologies relevant to the GPS constellation, with the opportunity for insertion of these technologies into the GPS IIIF program, L3Harris said.

The program is a collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space and Missile Systems Center, U.S.Space Force, and Air Force Lifecycle Management Center.

September 1, 2020
VBOX Indoor Positioning System. Speed & position — anywhere.

Racelogic, the company behind VBOX and LabSat GNSS simulators, has recently launched the VBOX Indoor Positioning System (VIPS) in response to customers’ developing demand to use GPS embedded technology in GPS-denied environments. VIPS delivers <2cm accuracy with an update rate of 100 times a second, making it ideal for dynamic applications, and this accuracy is maintained with seamless transition from GPS to VIPS with reacquisition in less than 0.2 seconds.

In line with Racelogic’s automotive heritage, VIPS was initially developed for the automotive testing market; however, this has been closely followed by expansion into virtual production motion capture in the film and gaming industry, autonomous robotics, construction, mining and logistics. In fact, this accurate and affordable indoor positioning solution is ideal for almost any application which would normally rely on GPS.

Learn more.

Sponsored content by Racelogic

September 1, 2020
Harxon introduces X-Survey Pro antenna at Intergeo 2019

Harxon CEO Jason Yao gives GPS World an overview of the company’s latest developments, including the X-Survey Pro antenna, at Intergeo 2019, which took place Sept. 17-19 in Stuttgart, Germany. According to the company, the X-Survey Pro is a 5-in-1 antenna designed with GNSS antenna, WIFI, BT, 4G and 2.4G, plus 5.8G antennas.

August 27, 2020
FAA to test unmanned aircraft detection, mitigation equipment at airports

Image: olaser/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to evaluate technologies and systems that could detect and mitigate potential safety risks posed by unmanned aircraft. The effort will be a part of the agency’s Airport Unmanned Aircraft Systems Detection and Mitigation Research Program.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 requires the agency to ensure that technologies used to detect or mitigate potential risks posed by unmanned aircraft do not interfere with safe airport operations.

The FAA plans to test and evaluate at least 10 technologies or systems. The evaluations are expected to begin later this year and will initially occur at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center, located next to the Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey.

After the initial testing and evaluation in New Jersey, the agency expects to expand the effort to four additional U.S. airports. Those selections will be made at a later date.

According to the FAA, interested manufacturers, vendors and integrators of drone detection and/or mitigation technologies/systems will have 45 days to respond to its announcement.

In addition, the FAA expects to issue another solicitation in the coming weeks for airport operators interested in hosting the additional research and testing.

August 24, 2020
MGISS partners with ESA to sponsor Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival

Image: MGISS

Mobile GIS Services (MGISS) is working with the European Space Agency (ESA) to showcase the potential of satellite positioning systems and imagery in tackling some of the environmental and societal challenges being faced by the water industry.

The two organizations joined together to develop multimedia experiences, group exercises and real-world case studies, which will be shared at the Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival, taking place Sept. 15.

The four-day festival, which has attracted more than 6,500 visitors across previous events, will take place virtually from Sept. 14-17.

“Under the theme ‘We Need Space to Innovate,’ we are aiming to explore how we can use satellite services to improve asset management for organizations such as Northumbrian Water, alongside the wider water and critical infrastructure sectors,” said Mike Darracott, MGISS managing director.

A highlight of the organizations’ participation will their Daily Dashes. The Daily Dashes will be rapid, sprint-style workshops that run through all stages of the subject and include music, video, live demonstration and hands-on workshops to explore specific topics relevant to the water industry. According to MGISS and ESA, the Daily Dashes will provide a better understanding of how satellite services can be used to improve asset insight and operational performance.

“Satellite positioning systems are extensively used for asset location, and yet do users really understand the full array of technology on offer or the additional potential that can be derived from earth observation data?” Asked Alan Cross, regional ambassador for ESA. “By working with MGISS, we will demonstrate how improved positioning and asset insight has the potential to deliver benefits for operational resilience, improved safety and higher productivity.”

GPS World’s November 2020 issue will focus on water applications, so stay tuned for that issue.

August 19, 2020
ComNav Technology debuts GNSS OEM boards at Intergeo 2019

ComNav Technology released several OEM boards at Intergeo 2019, which took place in Stuttgart, Germany. Arthur Wang, international technical sales engineer at ComNav, discusses the new products, including the K727, K703 and K705.

August 12, 2020
FAA awards $3.3M in drone grants to universities

Photo: PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $3.3 million in research, education and training grants to universities that comprise the FAA’s Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, also known as the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE).

“These grants will help develop a greater array of innovative strategies to more effectively deploy drones during emergency response situations,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

The FAA’s CEO program, authorized by Congress, is a long-term, cost-sharing partnership between academia, industry and government. The program enables the FAA to work with center members and affiliates to conduct research in airspace and airport planning and design, environment and aviation safety, FAA said.

Mississippi State University received the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through ASSURE Program Management grant for $1,290,410. This grant is for the ASSURE lead university to provide overall program management. This program management will include tracking of financial information for all core university project activities; reviewing and vetting of all project related documentation prior to submission to the FAA; hosting and facilitating all FAA-required meetings; and outreach to government, industry and academia, FAA said.

Six universities, including the University of Alabama–Huntsville ($1,101,000), New Mexico State University ($234,000), the University of Alaska, Fairbanks ($245,000), Mississippi State University ($130,000), North Carolina State University ($124,979) and Oregon State University ($165,000) received grants for Disaster Preparedness and Response (Phase I and II, as directed by Congress). According to FAA, this research will provide insight into the safe integration of UAS into the disaster preparedness and response areas. This research will look at how UAS can aid in disaster preparedness and response to different natural and human-made disasters. It will focus on procedures to coordinate with the Department of Interior, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal, local and state organizations to ensure proper coordination during those emergencies.

There are currently 1.65 million recreational and commercial drones in the active UAS fleet. That number is expected to grow to as high as 2.31 million by 2024, FAA reported. The ASSURE grants are aimed at continuing the safe and successful integration of drones into the nation’s airspace.

“Collaboration is hugely important as we work to safely integrate UAS into the aerospace system,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “These important grants fund the research which allows us to learn and implement the safety measures associated with UAS operations in the airspace.”

The COE universities received a total of $3.3 million to advance specific goals and projects. This is the second round of ASSURE grants. The grants listed above will bring the fiscal year 2020 total for this COE to $5.8 million.

August 7, 2020