GPS World

Author: GPS World Staff

  • PNT Roundup: Inertial market outlook, 3D grows lidar, RoboParachute drops

    Intertial

    Inertial effort underway for MGUE

    The U.S. Air Force’s Joint Service Systems Management Office (JSSMO) has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation an order to support embedded GPS/inertial navigation system (INS) pre-Phase 1 modernization efforts.

    Integration of inertial technology with GPS systems across all military platforms — some, such as munitions, are already so equipped — could have far-reaching effects. The move reflects the military’s concern over GPS vulnerabilities in challenged environments.

    The Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) program is developing M-code-capable GPS receivers, which are mandated by Congress after fiscal year 2017 and will help to ensure the secure transmission of accurate military signals.

    Under the $4.8 million order, Northrop Grumman will perform trade studies, assess the state of development of MGUE for upcoming applications, and contribute to architecture development for next-generation GPS/inertial navigation systems.

    The JSSMO is responsible, among other things, for a GPS lab in the Department of Defense that helps develop and test software for GPS systems used throughout the military.

    One of the systems it maintains is the Blue Force Tracker (BFT), which is used by all military branches and can track friendly units regardless of their location. Not only can the system see where the unit is located, it can also determine whether or not a unit is moving and what form of transportation it is using.

    Aviation Use. The updated GPS/inertial navigation system will also comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen air traffic control requirements that aircraft flying at higher altitudes be equipped with Automatic Dependence Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out by January 2020. ADS-B Out transmits information about an aircraft’s altitude, speed and location to ground stations and to other equipped aircraft in the vicinity. The modernized system is expected to be available for platform integration starting in 2018.

    Inertial market to top $8.9 billion by 2020

    The inertial navigation system (INS) market is projected to grow from $4.64 billion in 2015 to $8.87 billion by 2020, according to a January 2016 reported from research firm ReportLinker. Factors driving the global INS market include the increasing number of aircraft, technological advancements in navigation systems, increasing demand for accuracy in navigation, and availability of smaller components at lower cost.

    “Commercial platform application segment to witness the highest growth during the forecast period,” says the report.

    Key applications considered in the market study are naval, airborne, land and commercial platforms. The overall INS market is dominated by the naval platform segment. However, the commercial platform segment is projected to grow at a comparatively higher CAGR during the forecast period of 2015 to 2020, primarily driven by the demand for new aircraft in response to the burgeoning rise in air travel and congestion of airspace.

    Recent advances in inertial technology have replaced the mechanical components with electronic ones, particularly micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS). Overall focus has remained on increasing the accuracy and reducing weight of the INS.

    The major companies profiled in the report include Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Sagem (France), Rockwell Collins (U.S.) and Thales SA (France), among others.

    Lidar

    Lidar market grows with 3D

    Anew market report on light detection and ranging (lidar) technology says that the demand for lidar is increasing in line with an increase in the demand for 3D scanning and 3D imagery.

    According to the report, the global lidar market is anticipated to expand at 15 percent annually from 2014 to 2020, growing from a value of $225 million in 2013 to $605 million in 2020.

    Lidar enables direct measurement of 3D structures and underlying terrain with high resolution and high data accuracy. The adoption of lidar technology is slowly penetrating in various government sectors such as roadways, railways and forestry management, among others.

    However, the lidar market faces challenge related to the complexity in interpreting the output data, because of the lack of data-set standardization.

    The 80-page research study is titled LiDAR Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014–2020, available for sale from Transparency Market Research.

    The lidar market can be segmented based on types into airborne and terrestrial lidar and based on applications into coastal, forestry, transportation, infrastructure, defense and aerospace, transmission lines and flood mapping, among others.

    Geographically, the lidar market is dominated by North America owing to high adoption of advanced 3D imagery technologies by the U.S. government. Europe follows with a minimal difference in the market share. A large number of key players are based in Europe and are involved in making innovations to meet the requirements of consumers in different applications.

    The report has been segmented by type, application and geography. It also includes the drivers, restraints, opportunities and value chain of the global lidar market.

    Imagery

    RoboParachute drops

    The U.S. Army’s Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) has developed a new capability exploiting a navigation alternative to GPS. In recent tests, JPADS were dropped from planes, and immediately determined their location using optical sensors to compare local terrain with commercial satellite imagery. The new system demonstrated navigation to its intended point, using nothing but imagery to guide it. The new JPADS also works with little knowledge of the aircraft’s location at the drop point.

    JPADS, largely guided by GPS, has already proven its importance in supplying troops with necessary materials and equipment, relying less on vulnerable convoys.

    Contractor Draper will continue developing the system to eliminate current obstacles, such as cloud cover that degrades the vision-aided navigation system’s ability to compare vision sensor inputs with satellite imagery. These imagery-data analysis technologies could be used to help guide military freefall paratroopers and autonomous aerial vehicles.

  • Expert Opinions: Optimum number of GNSS signals for PNT device

    Q: What is the optimum number of GNSS signals to include/process in a consumer-grade PNT device?

    Daniel Ammann Executive Vice President u-blox Group
    Daniel Ammann
    Executive Vice President
    u-blox Group

    A: The cost for including additional silicon to a receiver for processing more signals is low, thanks to multiplexing hardware and high clock speeds. Having more satellite measurements allows the receiver to be selective about which ones it actually uses for PVT calculations, so a number of 30 or higher is desirable. Such a high number, and especially if the signals come from multiple constellations, enables the receiver to have a good view on integrity, too.

    Gian Gherardo Calini Head of Market Development European GNSS Agency
    Gian Gherardo Calini
    Head of Market Development
    European GNSS Agency

    A: The answer depends on application and environment where the device will be used. With the increasing need for ubiquitous positioning in difficult environments like urban canyons, the minimum number of satellites from one constellation is not sufficient. The technology makes it possible today to achieve better performance using multiple constellations with low impact on power consumption, and this is where we see the future.

    Chaminda Basnayake Principal Engineer Renesas Electronics
    Chaminda Basnayake
    Principal Engineer
    Renesas Electronics

    A: Demand for more accuracy, availability, and reliability will drive design evolution. Sensor/map augmentations will likely drive system availability while depending on GNSS for better accuracy and reliability. As accuracy is a function of measurement quality and sky view — with the latter fixed for most use cases — placing more emphasis on minimizing errors appears ideal. Therefore, I see dual-constellation, dual-frequency GNSS as the optimal combination and the right balance between complexity versus performance.

  • Research Online: Multi-sensor SLAM key to tactical situational awareness

    Rescue and military applications require rapid, accurate and reliable information about unknown environments.

    Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is a key technology for providing an accurate and reliable infrastructure-free solution for indoor situational awareness.

    The researchers’ approach is to integrate a monocular camera, multiple inertial measurement units (IMUs), a barometer and a ranging sensor to obtain a solution for SLAM, as well as tactical motion information, such as detecting whether a rescue person or a soldier is running or crawling.
    In their paper, the authors discuss a particle filter implementation for integrating measurements from visual perception, a foot-mounted IMU, a barometer and sonar.

    The method developed is tested via experiments done in an office environment. Test setup and results are discussed in the paper.
    The results obtained using the developed method are anticipated to show improvement on the accuracy and reliability of monocular SLAM compared to previous methods.

    The proposed data fusion approach is expected to yield a vertical accuracy sufficient for floor identification in the test environment without utilizing Wi-Fi or other local infrastructure.

    The method is anticipated to advance the state of the art in infrastructure-free SLAM solutions based on a monocular camera.

    Also, the research will make significant progress towards a functioning infrastructure-free situational awareness system, which is desperately needed in the application areas in question.

    By Laura Ruotsalainen, Martti Kirkko-Jaakkola, Liang Chen, Simo Gröhn, Robert Guinness, Heidi Kuusniemi, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI), National Land Survey of Finland.
    Presented at ION International Technical Meeting 2016.

    Miniature Atomic Clocks

    “Enhanced Quantum Miniature Atomic Clock (MAC) Performance and Applications,” by Paul R. Gerry III, Will Krzewick, John Malcolmson, Microsemi.
    Microsemi has been developing small form factor atomic clocks for several years. These products have smaller size, lower power and higher performance than traditional atomic clocks.

    The recently enhanced Quantum Miniature Atomic Clock (MAC) is a small-size high-performance atomic clock with low power and low weight enabling a new range of applications previously not possible. The paper discusses the MAC performance, the performance grades and some of the applications that the MAC enables.

    Presented at the Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting, co-location with ION-ITM 2016.

  • Trimble adds scalable GNSS receiver to geospatial portfolio

    Trimble has added a new scalable GNSS receiver to its geospatial portfolio. The Trimble R9s GNSS receiver is scalable and flexible. Built on a sleek, modular GNSS platform, geospatial professionals can add functionality according to their workflow demands, such as being deployed as an RTK base station or an RTK rover mounted on a rod, in a backpack or on a vehicle.

    The Trimble R9s GNSS receiver provides access to multiple GNSS constellations, wide-band 450 MHz internal radio, Ethernet connectivity and is easily configurable via the front panel. The solution also offers scalability from an entry-level receiver for post-processing, to a full-featured triple-frequency GNSS base and rover.

    The R9s also supports corrections services, including Trimble CenterPoint RTX (better than 4 centimeters delivered via L-band satellite) and enhanced xFill technology, which allows surveyors to continue collecting data with centimeter-level accuracy indefinitely when RTK or VRS connectivity is lost.

    Options such as Trimble Access field software, Trimble DL Android app and Web user interface or front panel allow the receiver to be configured for optimal performance to support a broad range of survey workflows.

  • FY 2017 budget request includes $857 million for GPS

    The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 includes $847.362 million in Department of Defense funds and $10 million in Department of Transportation funds to sustain and modernize the Global Positioning System (GPS).

    Funds will go toward the GPS III program, including the new ground system (OCX), military user equipment, and wide-area augmentation through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

    FY 2017 Program Element
    FY 2016
    Enacted
    FY 2017
    Request
    Space Procurement, Air Force: GPS III Satellites $199.218M $34.059M
    RDT&E, Air Force: GPS III Satellites $180.902M $141.888M
    RDT&E, Air Force: Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) $350.232M $393.268M
    RDT&E, Air Force: Military GPS User Equipment $142.288M $278.147M
    DOT Research & Technology: Civil Signal Monitoring – Air Force – GPS $15M $10M

    By national policy, DOT provides resources to DOD for assessment, development, acquisition, implementation, operation, and sustainment of additional designated GPS civil capabilities beyond the second and third civil signals. In addition, the DOT budget includes the following GPS augmentations and activities.

    FY 2017 Program
    FY 2016
    Enacted
    FY 2017
    Request
    FAA Facilities & Equipment: Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and GPS Civil Requirements Oversight $80.6M $85M
    FAA Facilities & Equipment: Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) GEO Satellite Leases $26.6M $26.6M
    DOT Research & Technology: Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) $1.61M $1.61M

    More details on the budget are available at GPS.gov.

  • Pole Star, MOCA provide MWC 2016 with geolocation

    Pole Star, with its end-to-end scalable indoor solution, and MOCA, with its location-based mobile engagement platform, are the official providers for the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2016, being held Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.

    Pole Star’s technology integrated with the MOCA solution provides visitors, exhibitors and organizers with geolocation and context-aware marketing services. The joint solution is based on three service levels that combine users’ geolocation with other data to expand the value of contextualized messages.

    The combination guides visitors through the 240,000 square meters of the Mobile World Congress, providing personalized notifications based on proximity along with an intelligent recommendation system aimed at enhancing networking efficiency.

    Using geofencing, the exhibitors will be able to interact with attendees and attract them to theirs booths.

    Finally, indoor location analytics brings a powerful analysis tool to the event organizer, providing the necessary knowledge to understand the behavior and preferences of attendees.

    Pole Star is exhibiting in Hall 5, Stand 5B41, French Tech Pavillon. MOCA is exhibiting in Hall 8.1, stand B75.

  • CartoDB acquires Nutiteq to bring location intelligence to mobile devices

    CartoDB is acquiring Nutiteq, a mobile mapping software development company with more than 15 million unique installations of its software development kit (SDK).

    CartoDB is a location intelligence, data analysis and visualization company. Nutiteq’s clients include SeatGeek, LonelyPlanet, iRobot and Accenture, among others.

    The acquisition will allow CartoDB to offer a cross-platform mobile mapping SDK, with a core rendering engine that complements its geo-analytics capabilities. The offline mapping and routing capabilities, along with an ability to work with a number of different sources of data, will enable enterprise customers to implement core location intelligence apps from a one-stop solution.

    “We believe there is a big opportunity to rethink how we interact with location data on mobile devices. Most geospatial innovation has been pushed to the consumer space. Now enterprises will be able to make use of location intelligence on mobile devices with CartoDB,” said Javier de la Torre, CEO of CartoDB.

    Nutiteq’s current SDK offering, including on-device analytics and vector rendering, will be augmented with CartoDB’s cloud location analytics and self-service products. This will provide a complete solution for companies building external facing apps or productivity tools on mobile.

    “We’re thrilled for the potential to unlock massive value for location intelligence in virtually every industry,” said Jaak Laineste, CEO of Nutiteq. “It’s no surprise that people are moving from laptops to smartphones, and it’s safe to say that enterprises will be quick to follow.”

    Laineste will lead the mobile division for CartoDB. The entire Nutiteq team will join CartoDB, with an office opening in Estonia, where Nutiteq is currently headquartered.

  • New Garmin smartwatch combines GPS, heart-rate monitor

    Garmin will introduce a new GPS smartwatch at Mobile World Congress, being held Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain. The vívoactive HR includes Garmin Elevate wrist heart-rate technology.

    vivoactiveHR_HR-WThe vívoactive HR helps keep track of active moments throughout the day, counting steps and floors climbed, intensity minutes, monitoring sleep and featuring built-in GPS-enabled sports apps for walking, running, biking, swimming, golfing, paddle boarding, rowing, skiing and snowboarding.

    The smartwatch uses 24/7 wrist-based heart rate data to calculate calories burned information as well as the intensity of fitness activities, providing proper credit for users’ array of workouts. With the Connect IQ store, users can personalize their vívoactive HR with free apps, widgets, watch faces and data fields.

    The smartwatch will be showcased at the Garmin booth #CS 90.

    “The vívoactive HR builds on the incredible versatility and multi-functionality of its predecessor by adding wrist-based heart rate and a barometric altimeter — allowing it to track even more data essential to workouts and day-to-day activity,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “All your efforts to stay active are accounted for from taking the stairs at the office to going on a run or ride.”

    Featuring Elevate wrist heart rate technology1, the vívoactive HR provides 24/7 heart rate monitoring and eliminates the need for a chest strap. Using the heart rate data the vívoactive HR quantifies the intensity of fitness activities and allows users to monitor their progress against aerobic activity goals recommended by leading health organizations like the American Heart Association.

    The vívoactive HR’s always-on, touchscreen, sunlight-readable Garmin Chroma Display lets users track activity and stay connected anytime, anywhere. Its built-in GPS-enabled sports apps include:

    Running – Using a built-in accelerometer and GPS users can track runs either indoors or out. Additional features include Auto Lap, Auto Pause, and vibration alerts for heart rate, pace, run/walk intervals, and more. Post-run summaries include stats such as total mileage, calories, average pace and overall time.

    Cycling – The cycling app measures time, distance, speed and calories. It is compatible with speed and cadence sensors, and the Varia® lights and radar (sensors and radar are sold separately).

    Pool Swimming – In addition to tracking total and interval time, distance, pace, stroke count and stroke type, the swimming app also features easy pausing for rests, complete with rest timers, and can calculate swolf, a measure of swimming efficiency.

    Golfing – Users can view a simplified view of the green, measure shot distance and be pointed in the right direction with PinPointer while golfing on one of the 40,000 course maps worldwide available for download from the Garmin golf course database.

    Stand Up Paddleboarding and Rowing – Users can easily track and view pace, time, distance, stroke count, stroke rate and distance per stroke. When using an indoor rowing machine, users can track time, stroke count and stroke rate.

    Skiing and Snowboarding – The skiing and snowboarding app measures 3-D speed by calculating the speed and distance on an incline versus latitude and longitude. It also provides splits automatically and features Auto Pause, which freezes the timer automatically when users stop or ride the lift.

    The vívoactive HR also includes Garmin Move IQ, a new feature that continuously monitors for periods of sustained activity. With Move IQ, the vívoactive HR automatically recognizes walking, running, biking, swimming and elliptical training. Users can easily track their exercise throughout the day without needing to start a timed activity. Once synced with Garmin Connect, users can review their full day of activity in a convenient Timeline view.

    The vívoactive HR will begin shipping in Q2 for a suggested retail price of $249.99. It will be available in regular and extra-large fit black bands. Accessory bands will be available in black, white, force yellow and lava red for a suggested retail price of $29.99 each.

  • Anti-drone system for airports passes tests

    SkyTracker_sensors_900pxEach month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) receives more than 100 reports from pilots and others who spot what appears to be an unmanned aircraft (UAS) flying close to an airport or a manned airplane. It’s become a serious safety concern for the agency, and a potential security issue for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

    In addition to the FAA’s ongoing outreach and education efforts, an additional step toward a solution is to detect and identify these “rogue drones” and their operators. Recently, the FAA partnered with DHS and CACI International to explore how the company’s prototype detection technology may help detect UAS in the vicinity of airports.

    The main goal of the partnership is to safely explore procedures and processes for deploying and operating detection technologies in and around commercial airports.

    SkyTracker. CACI’s proof-of-concept system — dubbed SkyTracker — employs radio frequency sensors at strategic locations around an airport in high, prominent locations. When the sensors detect frequencies unmanned aircraft typically use, it triangulates the signals and determines the location of both the UAS and the operator.

    Under a Pathfinder agreement with the FAA, CACI successfully tested its system at the Atlantic City International Airport from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2. It was the first UAS detection research in a commercial airport environment.

    A total of 141 operations were executed over five days — 72 with a UAS on the ground and 69 with different small UAS in flight.

    The SkyTracker concept.
    The SkyTracker concept.

    “SkyTracker successfully identified, detected, and tracked UAS in flight, and precisely located drone ground operators — all without interfering with airport ground operations,” said CACI CEO and president of U.S. Operations John Mengucci. “We are very proud to partner with the FAA and DHS to help ensure national airspace safety from the escalating UAS threat.”

    “The explosive growth of the unmanned aircraft industry makes evaluating detection technologies an urgent priority,” said Marke “Hoot” Gibson, FAA senior advisor on UAS Integration. “This research is totally aimed at keeping our skies safe, which is our number-one mission.”

    “Working with the FAA, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate is proud to provide our expertise in testing and simulation of technologies to better address the safety and security challenges posed by unmanned aerial systems,” said DHS Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Technology Robert Griffin.

    In the coming months, engineers from the FAA, DHS, CACI and the University of Maryland (UMD), which also was a partner in the evaluation, will work together to compile the data for a final report by August 2016.

    Malicious drones. Research on UAS detection systems may go beyond addressing the FAA’s concerns with the safety of UAS in the nation’s airspace. The effort also may contribute to keeping the skies safe from “bad actors” who want to use unmanned aircraft for malicious purposes.

    To that end, the FAA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DHS in December to collaborate on the safe integration of UAS into the U.S. aviation system.

  • Australia enacts new GNSS requirements for aviation

    Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has implemented a GNSS equipment mandate for all aircraft flying in the country, regardless of state of registry. The mandate is designed to align Australian operations with global standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Communications, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM).

    The changes include the requirement that all aircraft operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) must now be equipped with GNSS avionics meeting TSO C129, which enables compliance with Required Navigation Performance (RNP) 1 terminal area and RNP 2 continental en route operations that begin May 26.

    GNSS is the enabling technology for both performance-based navigation (PBN) and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) in Australia and will affect all IFR aircraft. Applying both PBN and ADS-B over the whole of Australia will permit:

    • Increased safety as air traffic control surveillance will be available over the whole of Australia at higher levels, and with substantial coverage at lower levels.
    • Flexi-route—a system that optimizes aircraft routes according to the latest weather and location of other aircraft
    • Reduced separation distances, greater fuel efficiency, lower flight times and reduced congestion at busy aerodromes.

    To help foreign-registered aircraft operators in meeting the new requirements, transition arrangements are available for a two-year period. Operators who need the extension must complete an online form before their first flight in Australia on or after May 26.

    To facilitate RNP operations within Australia, CASA has developed an acceptable means of compliance document.

    The GNSS mandate will see ground-based navigation capability reduced by about 50 percent, with the decommissioning of about 190 ground-based navaids. The remaining network of navaids will form the GNSS backup navigation network.

  • Leica Ultra locator finds underground utility lines

    Leica_UTLRA_application_2_

    Leica Geosystems has released the Leica Ultra underground service locating system for site engineers and underground utility specialists who need to trace buried utility lines accurately for safe underground excavations and utility surveys.

    The locating systems helps users attain the highest accuracy to avoid costly mistakes, such as cutting utility lines or delaying project schedules during excavation work. By providing a wide range of transmitter mode frequencies, operators in segments such as power, water, gas or telecom can easily and quickly optimize the locator performance in any operating condition.

    Users save time and effort by tracing utility depths and distances, Leica said. Multiple utilities in close proximity requiring a combination of adjustments can also be traced efficiently and with confidence.

    Clear visualizations of line direction and depth indication are displayed on a large LCD interface. Users can easily interpret signal displays in all light conditions. Bluetooth enables quick connectivity so users can easily transfer data to a GIS data collector.

  • Topcon releases 3D dozer machine control system

    Topcon Positioning Group has released a new 3D dozer machine control system — 3D-MCMAX. The system is driven by dual IMUs (inertial measurement unit) designed to increase on-grade performance where speed and blade response is maximized, while eliminating the need for a mast on the blade.

    The system uses Topcon 3D-MC2 technology with the dual IMU sensors and new, unique algorithms to deliver an integrated solution that locates the sensitive GNSS technology safely inside the cab instead of out on the harsh environment of the blade.

    “The 3D-MCMAX is the next generation of dozer grading solutions that redefines the concept of machine control,” said Jamie Williamson, executive vice president and general manager of the Topcon Precision Automation Group. “It provides high-accuracy elevation, slope, and blade rotation sensing in an integrated configuration resulting in maximum speed, maximum control and maximum grading performance.”

    3DMCMAX_Topcon-W

    The system is designed to let operators work confidently in rough or fine grade applications, slope conditions, and in restricted sight environments without the visual obstruction of masts or risks to hanging cables.

    “This advanced system is a result of our clear understanding of how technology is driving the evolution of the construction world, and focusing our improvements on smart algorithms in our firmware and software to increase the productivity of the hardware — a full systems approach,” said Williamson. “The added bonus is a clean integration onto the equipment. Gone is the need for daily installation and removal of antenna, cables, and mast. With 3D-MCMAX, the operator just climbs on and gets to work — downtime is minimized.”

    3D-MCMAX is available for Caterpillar dozers.