Author: Eric Gakstatter

Judge Knocks Down FAA on Drones, the GIS Search for Flight MH370
A judge for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) dismissed the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) attempt to punish Ralph Pirker for laundry list of infractions claimed by the FAA when he flew a Ritewing Zephyr drone around the University of Virginia Charlottesville campus to generate promotional aerial photography and video of parts of the campus. You can read the list of infractions in an article I wrote in November 2013.

NTSB Administrative Law Judge Patrick Geraghty ruled that “there was no enforceable FAA rule or FAR Regulation applicable to model aircraft or for classifying model aircraft as an UAS.”

Futhermore, Judge Geraghty ruled the following:
1. Neither Part 1, Section 1.1, or the 49 U.S.C. Section 40102(a)(6) definitions of “aircraft” are applicable to, or include a model aircraft within their respective definition
2. Model aircraft operation by the Respondent was subject only to the FAA’s requested voluntary compliance with the Safety Guidelines stated in AC 91-57”.
3. As Policy Notices 05-01 and 08-01 were issued and intended for internal guidance for FAA personnel, they are not a jurisdictional basis for asserting Part 91 FAR enforcement authority on model aircraft operations.
4. Policy Notice 07-01 does not establish a jurisdictional basis for asserting Part 91, Section 91.13(a) enforcement on Respondent’s model aircraft operation, as the Notice is either (a) as it states, a Policy Notice/Statement and hence non-binding, or (b) an invalid attempt of legislative rulemaking, which fails for non-compliance with the requirement of 5 U.S.C. Section 553, Rulemaking.
5. Specifically, that at the time of Respondent’s model aircraft operation, as alleged herein, there was no enforceable FAA rule or FAR Regulation applicable to model aircraft or classifying model aircraft as an UAS.
Where does the FAA go from here?

First of all, the order specifically states that the “NTSB Administrative Law Judge’s dispositional order is not a final Board decision in this matter. This order is appealable to the full five-member Board and is not of precedential value (see 49 C.F.R. § 821.43).”

As expected, within a day of the ruling, the FAA filed an appeal:

“The FAA is appealing the decision of the NTSB Administrative Law Judge to the full National Transportation Safety Board, which has the effect of staying the decision until the Board rules. The agency is concerned that this decision could impact the safe operation of the national airspace system and the safety of people and property on the ground.”

Notice the language above states that the decision is on hold until the full board rules. The problem for the FAA is that wannabe commercial UAS operators were already chomping at the bit like a pack of race horses waiting for the starting gate to open. Now that the gate has been cracked open a bit, horses are busting through it at full speed. If the FAA had an enforcement problem before, it’s just been compounded tenfold.

Stayed tuned as this tremendous geospatial technology drama continues to unfold before our eyes…

The Search for Flight MH370

If you’re one of the few people in the world who haven’t heard about missing Malaysian Flight MH370, it disappeared on March 8 with 239 souls on board, thirty minutes into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and has not been found. It’s resulted in a massive international search.

Because the search area is so massive, satellite imagery is being used to assist in the search effort. Satellite operator DigitalGlobe, Inc., launched a crowdsourcing campaign that will allow anyone to help look for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 by combing through satellite images for clues of its whereabouts.

DigitalGlobe MH370 crowdsourcing website
http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/mh370_indian_ocean

Anyone can begin searching the satellite images for the Boeing 777 aircraft, tagging anything that looks suspicious. Each pixel on a computer screen represents half a meter on the ocean’s surface.

The Longmont, Colorado, company said two of its commercial satellites have already collected images comprising roughly 1,988 square miles at the confluence of the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, where the Beijing-bound aircraft mysteriously went missing on Saturday. The company is continuing to update the images to reflect new information about the search area provided by the Malaysian government. Click here to visit the website and learn more about joining the effort to find MH370.

Thanks, and see you next time.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric
March 24, 2014
Do You Know OPUS Can Do This?

I recently was involved in a project outside of the United States. Part of the project involved setting up a couple of RTK base stations. Of course, I wanted the antenna surveyed with reasonable accuracy with respect to ITRF. Even though supporting OPUS outside of the U.S. is out of the scope of the NGS mission (I assume), it works the same outside of the U.S. as it does within the U.S. Ok, somewhat the same.

As you imagine, the network of GPS reference stations outside of the U.S. is not nearly as dense as within the U.S., so you can remove OPUS-RS from the discussion immediately. OPUS-RS only requires a minimum of 15 minutes of data, but there must be three GPS reference stations within 250 km that form a polygon around your occupation point. Obviously, in many parts of the world, you aren’t going to be in a location that meets those specifications. Those requirements can be difficult to meet even in the United States. I recall a project on the West Coast where I had plenty of GPS reference stations within 250 km, but because I was near the Pacific Ocean, I wasn’t within the polygon of three GPS reference stations that OPUS-RS could find.

Back to my ex-U.S. project. With OPUS-RS being out of the consideration, OPUS-S was my choice. What you may not know is that OPUS doesn’t just look at CORS inside the U.S. when post-processing GPS data. It also looks at IGS Stations, which are located all over the world. Granted, I knew the distance to the GPS reference stations would be long, perhaps many hundreds of kilometers to each one, so I planned for long occupation times. This was easy because I was setting up high-quality (choke-ring) permanent antennas on building roofs. I set the GPS receiver to log data overnight at 15-second intervals.

I apologize ahead of time for needing to hide some of the data in order to preserve the privacy of my client, but you can try this same exercise on data you collect, or grab data from an IGS station and chop it into smaller pieces to process.

I logged data for about seven hours. Of course, I had ants in my pants, so I didn’t wait for the rapid orbits (used ultra-rapid), but knew I could reprocess at a later date and use rapid and precise orbits. Here’s what I got:

SOFTWARE: page5 1209.04 master51.pl 072313      START: 2014/01/30 13:49:00

EPHEMERIS: igu17774.eph [ultra-rapid]              STOP: 2014/01/30 20:59:30

NAV FILE: brdc0300.14n                        OBS USED: 3219 / 10519   : 31%

ANT NAME: NONE            NONE             # FIXED AMB:    39 /    56   : 70%

ARP HEIGHT: 0.0001                           OVERALL RMS: 0.015(m)

REF FRAME: IGS08 (EPOCH:2014.0814)

X: xxxxxxx.203(m)   0.396(m)

Y: xxxxxxx.943(m)   0.287(m)

Z: xxxxxxx.554(m)   0.173(m)

LAT: xx xx xx.xxxxx 0.122(m)

E LON: xxx xx xx.xxxxx 0.470(m)

W LON: xx xx xx.xxxxx 0.470(m)

EL HGT:          387.047(m)   0.212(m)

BASE STATIONS USED

PID DISTANCE(m)

xxxxxx 3125832.0

xxxxxx 3743350.2

xxxxxx 3756756.5

Not bad, considering the monster baselines. Yes, that’s 3+ million meters.

I ran the same data set later with better orbits available, as well as more GPS reference data became available.

SOFTWARE: page5 1209.04 master53.pl 072313      START: 2014/01/30 13:49:00

EPHEMERIS: igr17774.eph [rapid]                    STOP: 2014/01/30 21:13:00

NAV FILE: brdc0300.14n                        OBS USED: 15218 / 16133   : 94%

ANT NAME: NONE            NONE             # FIXED AMB:    74 /    87   : 85%

ARP HEIGHT: 0.000011                         OVERALL RMS: 0.013(m)

REF FRAME: IGS08 (EPOCH:2014.0814)



X: xxxxxx3.383(m)   0.008(m)

Y: xxxxxx1.704(m)   0.026(m)

Z: xxxxxx9.425(m)   0.013(m)

LAT: xxx xx xx.xxxxx 0.006(m)

E LON: xxx xx xx.xxxxx 0.015(m)

W LON: xxx xx xx.xxxxx 0.015(m)

EL HGT:          386.851(m)   0.025(m)

BASE STATIONS USED

xxxxxx 271186.8

xxxxxx 1277894.3

xxxxxx 978536.0

Wow, the baselines sure improved, and that’s reflected in the solution. That’s because the GPS reference data isn’t immediately accessible from some IGS Stations. In the interest of privacy, I erased the Lat/Lon but kept the elevation. You can see the elevation difference between the two is about 20 cm. I assume it’s an improvement. For confirmation, I decided to run the same dataset through Australia’s AUSPOS online processing service.

X: xxxxxx3.390(m) 0.008(m)

Y: xxxxxx1.676(m) 0.006(m)

Z: xxxxxx9.405(m) 0022(m)

LAT: xxx xx xx.xxxxx

E LON: xxx xx xx.xxxxx

W LON: xxx xx xx.xxxxx

EL HGT:          386.822(m)

The results were comparable to the OPUS solution, differing by 0.7cm in X, 0.08cm in Y and 2.9cm in Z.

AUSPOS used substantially more GPS reference stations (14 total) than OPUS:

STATION, Positional uncertainties (95%) for X, Y, Z (in meters)

XXXX , 0.012, 0.008, 0.016
XXXX, 0.008, 0.005, 0.013
XXXX 0.006, 0.005, 0.013
XXXX 0.009, 0.006, 0.021
XXXX 0.007, 0.005, 0.013
XXXX 0.006, 0.005, 0.012
XXXX 0.006, 0.005, 0.013
XXXX 0.006, 0.005, 0.013
XXXX 0.009, 0.005, 0.015
XXXX 0.006, 0.005, 0.013
XXXX 0.007, 0.006, 0.013
XXXX 0.006, 0.006, 0.013
XXXX 0.006, 0.006, 0.012
XXXX 0.008, 0.005, 0.015

Baseline distances ranged from 341 km to 3,700 km.

So, do I believe the OPUS solution or AUSPOS solution? I split the difference at the time. However, I set up the GPS reference stations in such a way that I can access them remotely and log data at any time from my laptop computer, so I’m running a series of eight-hour (or whatever in convenient) occupations and processing them through both services. So yes, OPUS is an international service (shsh, don’t let the bureaucrats and politicians know).

Thanks, and see you next month.

Follow me on Twitter.

March 7, 2014
FAA Enforcement Action Dimissed against Commercial Drone User

March 7, 2014 Update: WASHINGTON, D.C.–The Federal Aviation Administration today issued a notice appealing a decision by an NTSB Administrative Law Judge in the civil penalty case, Huerta v. Pirker. “The FAA is appealing the decision of an NTSB Administrative Law Judge to the full National Transportation Safety Board, which has the effect of staying the decision until the Board rules. The agency is concerned that this decision could impact the safe operation of the national airspace system and the safety of people and property on the ground.”

————————————

On March 6, 2014, Federal Judge Patrick Geraghty dismissed a case the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) brought against Raphael Pirker, accusing Pirker of illegally using a drone to make a video of the University of Virginia. The FAA attempted to levy a fine of $10,000 against Pirker, described in an article published in Geospatial Solutions in December 2013.

Brendan Schulman, Pirker’s attorney, told Geospatial Solutions, “The FAA’s position on this is based on a policy statement, not an enforceable regulation.”

Judge Geraghty agreed, stating the following in his finding (download the PDF):

1. Neither the Part 1, Section 1.1, or the 49 U.S.C. Section 40102(a)(6) definitions of “aircraft” are applicable to, or include a model aircraft within their respective definition.

2. Model aircraft operation by Respondent was subject only to the FAA’s requested voluntary compliance with the Safety Guidelines stated in AC 91-57.

3. As Policy Notices 05-01 and 08-01 were issued and intended for internal guidance for FAA personnel, they are not a jurisdictional basis for asserting Part 91 FAR enforcement authority on model aircraft operations.

4. Policy Notice 07-01 does not establish a jurisdictional basis for asserting Part 91, Section 91.13(a) enforcement to Respondent’s model aircraft operation, as the Notice is either (a) as it states, a Policy Notice/Statement and hence non-binding, or (b) an invalid attempt of legislative rulemaking, which fails for non-compliance with the requirement of 5 U.S.C. Section 533, Rulemaking.

5. Specifically, that at the time of Respondent’s model aircraft operation, as alleged herein, there was no enforceable FAA rule or FAR Regulation applicable to model aircraft or for classifying model aircraft as an UAS.

Upon the findings and conclusions reached, I hold that Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss must be AFFIRMED.

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

1. Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss be, and hereby is: GRANTED

2. Complainant’s Order of Assessment be, and hereby is: VACATED AND SET ASIDE

3. This proceeding be, and is: TERMINATED WITH PREJUDICE.

ENTERED this 6th day of March, 2014, at Denver, Colorado.

Patrick G. Geraghty

Judge

March 6, 2014
Esri Interactive Map Provides Geographic Look at Ukraine and Crimea

Esri has made available an interactive map of Ukraine that explores the events, locations and differences in languages in Crimea and Ukraine.

March 6, 2014
FAA Says Commercial Drone Operations Are Illegal… Public Says So What?

March 6, 2014 update: On March 6, 2014 Federal Judge Patrick Geraghty ruled against the FAA in its case against Rapheal Pirker, opening up commercial use of drones in the U.S.

March 3, 2014 update: On February 26, 2014, the FAA published “Busting Myths about the FAA and Unmanned Aircraft” in an effort to clarify its position on commercial use of drones in the U.S.

Forgive me for circling back on the the topic of drone use for commercial mapping in the U.S., but I’m drawn to it like a bee to honey. Perhaps it’s because I used to fly airplanes, or because drone technology encompasses a lot of the technology I’m involved with: GNSS, inertial navigation, GIS, imagery. Be that as it may, the most intriguing aspect of this issue in the U.S. is that seemingly law-abiding citizens are knowingly (or unknowningly) disregarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) firm stance that no commercial drone operations are allowed.

According to the FAA, it doesn’t matter if the drone flies under 400 feet. It doesn’t matter if an operator only flies the drone above his/her own property. It doesn’t matter if the drone operator doesn’t charge for the service. If its business-related (such as mapping your fields), it’s illegal, according to the FAA.

But, who cares?

Late last year, Fox News published a story about a farmer in Idaho who uses a drone he built to monitor activities on his farm. According to the report, he’s not waiting around for the FAA “to work out rules for drones.” Countless U.S. start-up companies are promoting their mapping drones by either selling drones (MarcusUAV, Honeycomb, VoltAerial Robotics, Precision Drone, etc.) or selling services to process data collected by drones (such as DroneMapper).

Last week, online magazine Politico published an article appropriately titled “FAA Risks Losing the Drone War.” The article summarizes that as much as the FAA wants to tell you it’s illegal to fly drones commercially, people are doing it anyway. They aren’t sneaking around trying to hide it! High-profile people have openly used drones without regard to the FAA’s opinion. Martin Scorsese reportedly hired a drone service company to shoot one of the scenes in the 2013 movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Last year, NBC News published an article entitled “Damn the regulations! Drones plying US skies without waiting for FAA rules.” In the article, they quote an anonymous operator.

“Honestly?” said one commercial operator, who requested anonymity to protect his business. “My hope is that I’m far afield enough and small enough potatoes to the FAA that I can fly under the radar on this one.”

I think that’s the most honest statement I’ve read so far, and that’s probably the attitude of nearly every operator who is flying drones commercially in the U.S., even as they attempt to justify how they are legally (or illegally) dancing around the FAA rules.

The FAA has to take the majority of the blame for letting this happen. Perhaps it’s intentional? A “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy? There seem to have been very few enforcement actions taken by the FAA. In November 2013, I requested a list of enforcement actions from the FAA regarding UAVs. Despite giving me delivery dates, nothing has arrived and I’m told I won’t likely see anything from the agency. In an article published by BusinessWeek last week entitled “The FAA Finds Commercial Drone Flights Hard to Police,” BusinessWeek reports that the FAA informed the magazine that it took action “17 times in 13 months ending July.” Furthermore, the article quotes a former FAA employee involved with drones as saying “The reality is, there is no way to patrol it.”

March 3, 2014 Update: On February 26, 2014, the FAA published “Busting Myths about the FAA and Unmanned Aircraft”.

Thanks, and see you next time.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

February 28, 2014
Centimeter-Level RTK Accuracy More and More Available — for Less and Less

Eric Gakstatter

Last month, I started off 2014 with a bang by listing all the public RTK bases available in the United States, most of them being free. I received a lot of positive feedback and some enlightenment. For example, I didn’t know that in California, there are more than 330 RTK public base stations accessible by anyone for free via the California Real Time Network website at the University of California at San Diego! What a tremendous resource for California surveyors and GISers.

Remember that RTK will give you 1-2 cm accuracy horizontally and twice that for vertical. If you know that and also know that there are 330 free RTK bases in California, why would anyone use post-processing for high-precision (e.g., sub-foot) GIS data collection? RTK technology used to be reserved for people who could spend tens of thousands of dollars on a GNSS receiver. Not any longer. RTK receivers are available for under $7,000, and you don’t need to invest in a RTK base unit if you’re in range of a public one on my list (or a commercial one not on my list).

I’m pretty sure it was Charlie Trimble (founder of Trimble Navigation) who said “accuracy is addictive.” It sure is. Once you experience real-time centimeter-level accuracy (RTK) in the field, you won’t be satisfied with anything less, and neither will your GIS.

I’ll keep updating the List of Public RTK Base Stations in the U.S. as people continue to inform me of ones that aren’t on my list. If you know of one, please email me.

Keeping on the subject of RTK, 2014 might be the year of inexpensive RTK receivers. Whereas today you can find L1/L2 GNSS RTK receivers (in the U.S.) ranging from US$6,500 to US$25,000, there are rumors that some manufacturers are going to break through the US$6,500 price point.

This is in line with the prediction I made a few years ago, but for a different reason. In 2010, I wrote that RTK receivers would become very inexpensive due to the new L5 signal being introduced, which would increase competition among GNSS receiver designers. I speculated that with more competition, the selling prices would significantly decline. Well, we are still without a usable L5 signal (although making progress) due to the slow deployment of modernized GPS satellites and the delay in Europe’s Galileo system, but we are still seeing a steady decline in the price of RTK receivers. Why is this?

Even though there are a limited number of designers of RTK GNSS receivers, an increasing number of companies are buying RTK GNSS boards from these designers and making their own finished RTK GNSS receivers that look and perform very similar to receivers available today, for a fraction of the price. This is especially true in China, where there are several manufacturers buying RTK GNSS receiver boards from Trimble, Novatel, Hemisphere et al, making their own finished products and selling them. They were initially selling to very price-sensitive markets such as Africa, but now you see them setting up distribution in North America.

This “OEM Syndrome” has put tremendous price pressure on existing brand-name RTK GNSS receivers as the Chinese-equivalent products are priced as little as 25% of the equivalent brand-name products. Of course, this drives the leading brand-name companies crazy. They are forced to either drop their price or otherwise convince buyers that their products are worth a significant premium. During these times of tight capital budgets, it’s increasingly difficult to do the latter. When enough satellites are in orbit broadcasting the L5 signal, you’ll really see this effect gain traction because there will be a lot more RTK GNSS designs to choose from, and the result will be better quality. More competition always results in better product quality and performance.

The fact is that RTK receivers are moving towards becoming a commodity. As much as your local salesperson would like you to think they are selling a better RTK GNSS receiver, the technology gap between leading-brand designers and others is closing and probably unnoticeable to most of you. The major differences end up being the quality and reliability of the finished product (system design, battery, display, antenna integration, power supply, etc.). Having a great RTK GNSS receiver board inside is useless if the system design is unreliable.

More Real-time PPP Competition

For the longest time, it’s only been OmniStar (now owned by Trimble) and Starfire (owned by Deere & Co.) in the L-band high-precision correction game. Then, last year, the International GNSS Service announced its free decimeter real-time PPP service. The catch is that receiver designers must incorporate IGS firmware to make use of the signal and…it’s only an Internet-based service (no satellite communications).

In the past couple of months, Hexagon (which owns both Leica and Novatel), made a bid for Veripos. Veripos operates an L-band GNSS correction service for the oil and gas industry. Last year, TerraStar, a subsidiary of Veripos, announced its new decimeter service that is very similar to OmniStar and Starfire. It uses satellite communications for a data link. Altus Positioning Systems incorporated the TerraStar service into its receivers. Hexagon is very close to closing the deal with Veripos and just last week announced a partnership with competitor Topcon Positioning Systems. The result is that Leica and Topcon both will start offering high-precision L-band GNSS correction services with their receivers. If you’re an L-band decimeter user, this is probably good news for you. More competition = higher quality and lower price.

Thanks, and see you next month.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

February 4, 2014
Esri Publishes Interactive Map of World University Rankings 2013-2014

In association with Times Higher Education, Esri published an interactive map of world university rankings for the school year 2013-2014. Click on the image below to view the map.

January 22, 2014
Will the Next Industrial Revolution Be Bigger than the First? Will Geospatial Technology be Part of It?

The waves of innovation.

It’s truly mind-boggling when I think of how early we are in the technology adoption curve — not just for geospatial technology, but technology in general. On the one hand, it’s scary to think about how much technology might penetrate and be further integrated into our lives, on the verge of threatening our privacy if we let it. On the other hand, it’s frustrating to think about how crashes, crimes and catastrophes can be avoided or minimized if today’s technology was deployed.

Crashes. There is no reason that something like the Asiana Airlines crash at the San Francisco International Airport or the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 landing at the wrong airport in Branson, Missouri, earlier this month should have ever happened. Technology exists today that can prevent these sorts of incidents and tragedies caused by human error, and prevent some that are not caused by human error.

Simply put, if my automotive GPS receiver can steer me to the correct McDonald’s (one of many) within a city, there’s no reason a GPS receiver (with a current airport database) can’t guide a pilot to the correct airport. If I can load a CAD model into a bulldozer machine-control system and have it grade the surface material to within a few centimeters, a similar GPS system can certainly assist in landing an airliner at the San Francisco airport without hitting the sea wall.

Thinking on a broader scale, there is no reason that the vast majority of vehicle crashes should occur. That’s right, something that occurs every day and in every city in the world, causing billions of dollars of economic loss each year, should never happen. At a minimum, high-speed laser rangefinders on each side of a vehicle could monitor the distance from other vehicles/obstacles and automatically brake or warn the vehicle operator of an impending collision if preventive action is not taken. The advancement of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) will change our daily lives, and that technology revolution is just beginning.

Crimes. Stolen vehicles should become nearly extinct. Just like nearly every rental car today has a GPS tracking system in it to track its location if stolen, there’s no reason that every personal and commercial vehicle should not have the same technology. In fact, every valuable (as deemed by you) possession such as your bicycle, your pets, your lawnmower, and even your kids, can be outfitted with some sort of inexpensive location technology.

How about monitoring convicted felons? Imagine the massive cost savings if prison populations could be significantly reduced because convicted felons could be “electronically incarcerated”?

Catastrophes. We can’t control Mother Nature’s power to wreak havoc with her weather phenomena, but people can be forewarned and bettered prepared to take timely action. Television has the Emergency Alert System, which is designed to enable the president of the United States to speak on television to the American population within 10 minutes. However, with services such as Netflix, Chromecast, and DVR recording devices, television viewing habits are changing. The mobile device is the new television. A tremendous amount of work still needs to be done to catch up with the rapid adoption of mobile devices.

SARSAT U.S. Rescues – 2013. Source: NOAA

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that it helped save 253 lives in 2013 using sensors on satellites to forewarn people of severe weather. According to NOAA, its satellites detected distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed information about their locations to first responders on the ground. It’s a powerful statement of what the combination of sensors and communications can accomplish.

“Each life we save underscores the undeniable value of NOAA satellites,” said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.

The Common Denominator

The common technology denominator for eliminating or mitigating the effects of crashes, crimes, and catastrophes is sensors and communications. Those two technologies are the driving forces behind the next industrial revolution, and it’s going to be huge, perhaps a bigger economic impact on the world than the first industrial revolution, according to an article in the San Jose Mercury News.

The Mercury News article quotes a study published by General Electric (GE) concluding that sensors and communications (referred to as the Internet of Things in the article) could “add as much as $15 trillion to the global GDP, which it noted is roughly the size of today’s U.S. economy.” That’s a staggering number.

After I read the Mercury News article, I thought about many of the geospatial consulting projects I’m working on. The biggest challenges my clients face are related to one of three technologies: lack of inexpensive sensors, lack of communications, and lack of software to deal with the increasing volumes of data (for example, Big Data).

I’ve written about the value of sensors (GNSS, RFID, analog, etc.) quite a bit. I believe they will be the foundation of the next industrial revolution because they will provide a high level of granularity — in other words, very detailed data from which better decisions can be made. A great example is the Snapshot program that insurance company Progressive uses to dial in automobile insurance rates. Part of the Snapshot program is a device that you plug into your car’s OBD (On-Board Diagnostic) port. It monitors your driving habits for 30 days. It records how often and how hard you apply your brakes, how many miles you drive and times during the day that you drive. After 30 days, Progressive statisticians evaluate your driving habits and assign an insurance premium. If you’re a safe driver (by their definition), you’ll likely save money on your insurance premium.

According to Progressive, drivers respond to real-time feedback.

The industry publication Insurance & Technology reports that the newer version of Snapshot provides real-time feedback such as a “beep” when driver brakes too hard. Progressive General Manager Dave Pratt claims, “You do see the driving score change — we have data that says people who get that kind of feedback have fewer accidents. But I see that as real-time feedback 1.0. You want to do more, but you do not want to distract people while they’re driving either. There’s a balance to be struck.”

Progressive’s Snapshot program is a great example of using an inexpensive sensor to collect highly granular data in order to make better decisions. Think about how having access to granular data like this in your job may enhance your decision-making. If a farmer precisely knew the characteristics of the soil in all of his fields and within each field, wouldn’t he make better decisions about soil treatment and planting? If a municipal engineer precisely knew the condition of a water distribution system, wouldn’t she be able to make better decisions about maintenance and upgrade requirements?

Inexpensive sensors are only one piece of the puzzle. Without a method of real-time communication and software to process it, the value of the data suffers. Therefore, inexpensive sensors will drive the demand for both communications and data processing software.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with an image of a slide presented by Dr. James Canton, CEO at the Institute for Global Futures. The slide is part of a presentation of his entitled “Global Tech Trends 2014”. It is a concise illustration of the confluence of sensors, communications, and data.

Global Tech Trends 2014. Source: Dr. James Canton

Thanks, and see you next time.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

January 21, 2014
Supergeo Releases SuperGIS Desktop 3.2

Supergeo has released SuperGIS Desktop 3.2.

According to a company announcement, SuperGIS Desktop 3.2 integrates abundant GIS tools to offer GIS users from various domains a professional platform for geoprocessing and analyzing, displaying, editing, managing, and querying spatial data faster and easier. With 3.2, SuperGIS Desktop supports Multiple Map Frames and Feature Guided Pages to print and display regional and detailed data of each feature on the map for facilitating outputting of designed map.

A Land Parcel Editor has been added into SuperGIS Desktop 3.2; hence, cadastral map administrators can easily edit and manage cadastral data in special formats.

SuperGIS Desktop 3.2 focuses on improving map analysis, editing and management functions, and supports Multiple Map Frames to help users effectively and simultaneously process and analyze spatial data in different extents.

For add-ons, Georeferencing Tool and OGC add-on, built in to SuperGIS Desktop 3.2, are also improved so that users can manipulate the functions more intuitively and easily.

For more product information and to download the newest trial, visit the Supergeo website.

January 21, 2014
Samsung Introduces Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO Series

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. unveiled the Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO line of tablets. The devices include the Galaxy NotePRO (12.2-inch) and TabPRO (12.2, 10.1, 8.4-inch).

“We created the Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO series to kick-off a year in which Samsung truly establishes its leadership in the tablet market,” said JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics. “This new line offers the best-in-class content consumption and productivity, combining a stunning viewing experience with Samsung’s design legacy. The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO truly demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with extraordinarily versatile product offerings, tailored to tablet users of every description.”

According to the announcement, the new lineup provides users with an extraordinary display and a matching feature set. The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO combine a crystal-clear, WQXGA display, powerful productivity tools, and unique features with preloaded and free downloadable content.

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO present the world’s first 12.2-inch WQXGA Widescreen (16:10) display, offering crystal clear resolution (2560×1600) with more than 4 million pixels. With a larger viewing area, the defined screen allows users to enjoy stunning full HD video play and more information at a glance.

A personalized Magazine UX, specifically optimized for a large screen, allows users to tailor their Galaxy tablet experience for their own needs. The UX enables them to organize their favorite content in an easy-to-use dashboard with automatic feed or news updates and then quickly access the most frequently used apps for a more comfortable reading experience. By utilizing a screen size comparable to traditional magazine-sized material, content is easier to view in its original format when reading digital magazines or e-books.

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO (12.2) come equipped with a variety of productivity tools to help users to manage both their personal and professional lives.

Multi Window enables users to split the screen up into four different windows. An Virtual Keyboard provides them with enough space to type comfortably, leveraging haptic feedback to produce a more realistic typing experience.

The Samsung S Pen included with the Galaxy NotePRO delivers a responsive tablet experience with access to features such as Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write and S Finder. In addition, Pen Window enables users to draw a window of any size on the screen, and instantly access unique in-application features such as YouTube or a calculator.

Users can easily access and control their home or office PC directly through their Galaxy NotePRO or TabPRO with Remote PC in order to seamlessly edit and save files remotely.

The Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO come pre-loaded with Cisco WebEx Meetings platform, a web conferencing solution. Users can share anything on their screen as well as starting a WebEx meeting from contact list. Samsung e-Meeting provides collaboration capabilities by giving users the ability to share content during a meeting without having to access a central server or network.

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO line will come in various connectivity options: WiFi Only, WiFi and 3G, or WiFi and LTE. Users can choose between the 12.2-inch Galaxy NotePRO that comes with an included S Pen, and the 12.2-inch Galaxy TabPRO, Galaxy TabPRO 10.1-inch and 8.4-inch without the S Pen.

The following optional accessories are also available for purchase with the Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO: Various Book Covers, USB LAN HUB, Universal BT Keyboard and S Action Mouse (accessories may vary by product model).

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO tablet line will be offered globally and will be available starting from Q1, 2014.

Photos: Samsung

January 14, 2014
Samsung Introduces Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO Series

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. unveiled the Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO line of tablets. The devices include the Galaxy NotePRO (12.2-inch) and TabPRO (12.2, 10.1, 8.4-inch).

“We created the Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO series to kick-off a year in which Samsung truly establishes its leadership in the tablet market,” said JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics. “This new line offers the best-in-class content consumption and productivity, combining a stunning viewing experience with Samsung’s design legacy. The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO truly demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with extraordinarily versatile product offerings, tailored to tablet users of every description.”

According to the announcement, the new lineup provides users with an extraordinary display and a matching feature set. The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO combine a crystal-clear, WQXGA display, powerful productivity tools, and unique features with preloaded and free downloadable content.

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO present the world’s first 12.2-inch WQXGA Widescreen (16:10) display, offering crystal clear resolution (2560×1600) with more than 4 million pixels. With a larger viewing area, the defined screen allows users to enjoy stunning full HD video play and more information at a glance.

A personalized Magazine UX, specifically optimized for a large screen, allows users to tailor their Galaxy tablet experience for their own needs. The UX enables them to organize their favorite content in an easy-to-use dashboard with automatic feed or news updates and then quickly access the most frequently used apps for a more comfortable reading experience. By utilizing a screen size comparable to traditional magazine-sized material, content is easier to view in its original format when reading digital magazines or e-books.

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO (12.2) come equipped with a variety of productivity tools to help users to manage both their personal and professional lives.

Multi Window enables users to split the screen up into four different windows. An Virtual Keyboard provides them with enough space to type comfortably, leveraging haptic feedback to produce a more realistic typing experience.

The Samsung S Pen included with the Galaxy NotePRO delivers a responsive tablet experience with access to features such as Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write and S Finder. In addition, Pen Window enables users to draw a window of any size on the screen, and instantly access unique in-application features such as YouTube or a calculator.

Users can easily access and control their home or office PC directly through their Galaxy NotePRO or TabPRO with Remote PC in order to seamlessly edit and save files remotely.

The Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO come pre-loaded with Cisco WebEx Meetings platform, a web conferencing solution. Users can share anything on their screen as well as starting a WebEx meeting from contact list. Samsung e-Meeting provides collaboration capabilities by giving users the ability to share content during a meeting without having to access a central server or network.

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO line will come in various connectivity options: WiFi Only, WiFi and 3G, or WiFi and LTE. Users can choose between the 12.2-inch Galaxy NotePRO that comes with an included S Pen, and the 12.2-inch Galaxy TabPRO, Galaxy TabPRO 10.1-inch and 8.4-inch without the S Pen.

The following optional accessories are also available for purchase with the Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO: Various Book Covers, USB LAN HUB, Universal BT Keyboard and S Action Mouse (accessories may vary by product model).

The Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO tablet line will be offered globally and will be available starting from Q1, 2014.

Photos: Samsung

January 14, 2014
Panasonic Unveils Rugged 7-Inch Tablet
Panasonic has introduced the latest member of its Toughpad family. Panasonic said the Toughpad FZ-M1 is the thinnest and lightest rugged 7-inch fanless tablet with a fourth^–generation Intel Core i5 processor available today. Running Windows 8.1 Pro, the Toughpad FZ-M1 is designed for enterprise and government environments. With a broad range of configuration options available, it can be customized to meet the unique needs of mobile professionals in markets such as field services and sales, retail, supply chain and logistics, and government.

“Most tablets on the market today are designed to be ‘good enough’ to meet most users’ needs. But ‘good enough’ won’t cut it for a large portion of the mobile workforce, who need tools they can depend on in challenging conditions to get the job done without compromise,” said Rance Poehler, president, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America. “The Toughpad FZ-M1 is built for those workers. Its highly portable and compact size, power, connectivity and configuration options, and sheer toughness make it the ideal tablet to connect mission-critical workers of all types with the data they need to do their jobs at any time.”

According to the announcement, the Toughpad FZ-M1 is designed to improve productivity and efficiency in a host of professional scenarios, including customer service, inventory management and asset tracking, maintenance, eForms, route delivery, eCitations, electronic medical records, inspections, mobile point-of-sales and geographic information system (GIS). Unlike many consumer tablets and other competitive products, the Toughpad FZ-M1 is built for easy integration into existing IT infrastructures and for smooth deployments and ongoing support. The device also delivers organizations with better and longer life cycle management that means a lower total cost of ownership, saving time and resources.

The Toughpad FZ-M1 is powered by the new 4th generation Intel Core i5 vPro processor, providing enterprise-class performance on the go with unique hardware enhanced security features, remote manageability and capabilities designed to increase end user productivity and data protection. An Intel Bay Trail-M processor model will also be available for cost-sensitive applications.

Its user-replaceable battery delivers eight hours of uninterrupted work, with quick-charging technology that reaches 100% capacity in just two and a half hours. An optional high capacity battery delivers 16 hours of power, and an optional bridge battery enables users to switch out batteries without powering down the device, providing for virtually unlimited use.

At 1.2 lbs. and 0.7″ thin for the standard configuration, the Toughpad FZ-M1 is the world’s lightest* and thinnest* tablet in its class. Its fully-rugged design is tested to meet MIL-STD-810G specifications for drops (up to 5 feet), shock, vibration, altitude, humidity and extreme temperatures. The FZ-M1 is the first rugged 7-inch 4th generation Intel Core i5 tablet with a fanless design, allowing it to easily meet IP65 standards for rain and dust. The tablet has also been submitted for ANSI 12.12.1 certification (Class1, Div2) for use in incendiary environments.

Display Designed For Mobile Workers
The Toughpad FZ-M1’s 7-inch, 500 nit, daylight-readable WXGA display features an anti-reflective screen treatment, making it ideal for outdoor use. Its high-sensitivity capacitive, 10-point multi-touch screen can even be used with thick industrial-type gloves. An optional stylus is available for signature capture and similar applications.

Highly Configurable
The Toughpad FZ-M1 offers a broad range of configuration options, allowing organizations to customize the ideal tool for their workforces. Configuration options include dedicated GPS, Barcode reader, Ethernet or serial port; and a choice of near field communications (NFC), SmartCard reader, UHF radio-frequency identification (RFID) (up to 10 ft. range), or Magnetic Stripe reader. Additionally, the Toughpad FZ-M1 is the first rugged 7-inch tablet on the market offering 4G LTE multi-carrier embedded wireless broadband connectivity, enabling IT administrators to switch carriers via software to select the best 4G LTE carrier for their workers for any geographic area.

Toughpad FZ-M1: Key Features
- High-Performance Processing Power: 4th generation Intel Core i5 vPro processor, or an Intel Bay Trail-M processor (available Summer 2014)
- Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit with Windows 7 Professional downgrade option available
- Durability: MIL-STD-810G, 5′ drop, IP65 fully sealed fanless design
- Screen: 7-inch daylight-readable WXGA display (1280×800); high-sensitivity 10-point capacitive multitouch input, with an optional Stylus pen
- Storage & Memory: 128GB SSD (256GB SSD option available) with 8 GB RAM (Intel Core i5 vPro processor model)
- Connectivity & I/O: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC7260 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.0 (Class 1), USB 3.0, micro SDXC card slot, docking connector, optional 4G LTE multi-carrier embedded wireless broadband. Other options include dedicated GPS, Barcode reader, Ethernet, serial port, and choice of near field communications (NFC), SmartCard reader, UHF radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader (up to 10 ft. range), or Magnetic Stripe reader
- Lightweight Portability: 1.2 lbs., 0.7″ thin (standard configuration)
- Battery: 8 hours per MobileMark 2007 testing (user-replaceable); optional hot swap bridge battery and high capacity battery (16 hours) available
- Camera: 720P built-in front camera with mic; 5MP rear camera with auto focus and LED light
- Security: Enterprise-class security features include encryption, IPsec VPN, trusted boot and root protection
- Warranty: The Toughpad FZ-M1 is backed by the industry’s most comprehensive 3-year warranty and U.S.-based customer support
For a full list of specifications and more detailed information on the Toughpad FZ-M1, visit http://www.PanasonicToughpad.com.

As with other Toughpad models, Panasonic will offer a full set of enterprise-grade accessories to support the Toughpad FZ-M1, including cases, mounts, printers, keyboards and multi-unit storage and charging solutions.

Pricing and Availability
The Toughpad FZ-M1 Intel Core i5 vPro processor model will be available in early spring 2014 at a street price of $2,099.

All Toughpad tablets can be purchased through authorized Panasonic resellers.
January 13, 2014