In October 2014, Tesla started equipping its Model S with hardware to allow for the incremental introduction of self-driving technology: a forward radar, a forward-looking camera, 12 long-range ultrasonic sensors positioned to sense 16 feet around the car in every direction at all speeds, and a high-precision digitally controlled electric assist braking system.
Version 7.0 of Tesla’s software has now been released with Autopilot, which allows those tools to deliver a range of new features designed to work in conjunction with the automated driving capabilities already offered in Model S.
Tesla calls Autopilot a major step toward autonomous driving. “Tesla Autopilot relieves drivers of the most tedious and potentially dangerous aspects of road travel,” according to a Tesla blog. “While truly driverless cars are still a few years away, Tesla Autopilot functions like the systems that airplane pilots use when conditions are clear. The driver is still responsible for, and ultimately in control of, the car. What’s more, you always have intuitive access to the information your car is using to inform its actions.”
The combined suite of features represents an integrated autopilot system involving four different feedback modules: camera, radar, ultrasonics and GPS. “These mutually reinforcing systems offer real-time data feedback from the Tesla fleet, ensuring that the system is continually learning and improving upon itself,” the Tesla blog said.
Autopilot allows Model S to steer within a lane, change lanes with the tap of a turn signal, and manage speed by using active, traffic-aware cruise control. Digital control of motors, brakes and steering helps avoid collisions from the front and sides, as well as prevent the car from wandering off the road. “Your car can also scan for a parking space, alert you when one is available, and parallel park on command,” Tesla said.
Release of version 7.0 also features a significant visual refresh of the digital display. The instrument panel is focused on the driver and includes more functional apps to help monitor the ride.
Tesla founder Elon Musk said during a press conference that drivers should exercise caution in the initial months of the rollout, and consider Version 7.0 a beta release. “We’re advising drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at this early stage,” Musk said. The car’s dash alerts drivers when they need to take the wheel.
Just days after the launch, videos began appearing on the Internet showing near misses and other errors.
A UAV project, POSEIDRON, took top honors in the 2015 European Satellite Navigation Competition, which recognizes the year’s best innovations in commercial applications of satellite technology. POSEIDRON won over the international jury of experts with its remote-controlled multicopter built to support maritime search-and-rescue services — and took home the grand prize ahead of the European Satellite Navigation Competition’s 29 other winners.
The award ceremony took place during the Satellite Masters Conference. The ceremony was held at the ddb forum in Berlin Oct. 20. The awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the Copernicus Masters awards for Earth observation.
Thorsten Rudolph, Ulrike Daniels (both Anwendungszentrum GmbH), David Argiles (ValSpace Consortium), Rudesindo Hernando Meliá, Maria Dolores Albiol Simo, Manuel Pedreira Gimenez, Jorge Esteve Ripollés and Enrique Martínez Asensi (all Sincratech Aeronautics) and Dorothee Bär (German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI)). (Photo: Anna Kreuz)
Enrique Martínez Asensi and his winning team hope to see Poseidron save lives far out at sea when people fall overboard or are involved in shipwrecks that occur during illegal immigration. Custom-developed by Sincratech Aeronautics — a start-up based in Valencia, Spain — POSEIDRON can be launched from ships or platforms under virtually any weather conditions. The multicopter uses thermal cameras and the European positioning service EGNOS to quickly locate people in the water and transmit an alarm to rescue teams along with precise information. Capable of carrying up to 70 kilogrammes, it can also transport a dinghy and deploy it as soon as casualties are found. This is what makes POSEIDRON both faster and more cost-effective than other rescue systems, which in turn significantly increases the chances of survival — particularly in cold waters.
In addition to winning the ESNC’s EUR 20,000 grand prize, the innovative project will now have the chance to enter a 12-month incubation programme at one of five Science Parks in Valencia as part of the region’s prize.
The ESNC set a new participation record this year, with 515 innovations entered by companies from more than 40 different countries around the world. The competition more than matched the successes of past editions in increasing its overall figures to 272 winners awarded and 3,343 ideas received from more than 10,000 participants throughout its 12 years in existence.
“Time synchronization and reliable positioning information are essential to today’s digital economy: Without corresponding satellite-based services, the development of these and other innovations — including the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communication, and Industry 4.0 — would not be possible,” explained Thorsten Rudolph, CEO of ESNC initiator and organiser Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen. “As the ideas submitted to this year’s ESNC have shown to impressive effect, it is these forward-thinking technologies in particular that present a great deal of potential waiting to be unleashed by high-tech start-ups.”
Under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), the ESNC presented prizes valued at approximately EUR 1 million in total at its festive Awards Ceremony.
The competition’s jury of 240 renowned experts selected both the overall victor and 30 other regional and special prize winners. With their innovations in areas such as connected mobility, smart cities, tourism and environmental protection, these entrants demonstrated how fundamental precise satellite navigation signals are to Europe’s digital society.
2015 Winners
Overall Winner
Loles Albiol Simó, Rudesindo Hernando Meliá, Jorge Esteve Ripollés, Manuel Pedreira Giménez, Enrique Martinez Asensi :: OVERALL WINNER – Valencian Community / Spain POSEIDRON: Remotely Piloted Aircraft System for Search and Rescue and Environmental Defence
Special Prize Winners
Rafael Olmedo, Juan Domingo, Laura Concepción :: GSA
KYNEO: The Open Navigation Platform for the GNSS of Things (Read more abut this prize here.)
Su Zhenzhong, Tonio Gsell, Alexander Wolf :: ESA
RTKNAV – A Low-Cost, Compact, User-Friendly, Centimetre-Accurate, Real-Time Navigation Solution
Dariusz Tanajewski, Grzegorz Grunwald :: DLR
Mobile Underwater Positioning System (MUPS)
Jukka Talvi, Joni Jämsä, Kalle Arola, Jukka-Pekka Alanissi, Antti Koponen :: BMVI/BMWi
HALI – Always Green Traffic Signals for Emergency Vehicles
Prof Dr Nick van de Giesen, Dr Eugenio Realini :: University Challenge
GNSS Monitoring of Precipitable Water Vapour over East Africa Using Low-Cost Receivers
Jasper Ettema, Sabine Ettema :: GNSS Living Lab
Position-Based Assistance in Case of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Regional winners
Suresh Babu Mandalanka :: Asia
GeoKey – A Locking System That Uses Geographic Locations as Keys
Jasper Ettema, Sabine Ettema :: Austria
Position-Based Assistance in Case of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Dr Walter Naumann :: Baden-Württemberg / Germany
ICARUS – A New Global Tracking Service for Small Objects
Ladislav Bartuška :: Czech Republic
Biological Protection of Airports Using Drones
Ronny Webers, Bart Lenaerts, Vincent Jorissen :: Flanders / Belgium
JobWalkr – The First Mobile App That Informs You About Job Opportunities in Your Neighbourhood
Daniel Neveux D’Agata, Laurent Kerbrat, Maïwenn Penhouët :: France
WIZAR – A new way to discover history and heritage
Alberto Gonzalez, Antonio Vazquez, Bibiano Fdz-Arruti, Aaron Nercellas, Diego Hurtado, Diego Nodar, Fernando Aguado, Franco Pérez :: Galicia / Spain
Point&Pin – Remote Localisation for Emergency Situations
Oscar Serradilla :: Gipuzkoa / Spain
Pothole Avoider
Sibylle Geiger, Jens Liebau, Nezar Mahmoud :: Hesse / Germany
Discover a Great Variety of Local Foods with the frimeo App
Aidan Flanagan, Colm Murphy :: Ireland
112GPS.com – More accurate emergency calls
Ronen Bitan, Tal Lavi :: Israel
Trailze – Complete Outdoors Experience
Dr Saulius Rudys, Mantautas Rudys :: Lithuania
Fully Camouflaged GNSS-GSM Anti-Theft System for Bicycles
Carlos Callejero Andrés, Julio Pantoja Dominguez, Ignacio Gómez Maqueda :: Madrid / Spain
VardiaN – Big Data Platform of Connected PPEs to Prevent Accidents in Hazardous Environments
Prof Dr Nick van de Giesen, Dr Eugenio Realini :: The Netherlands
GNSS Monitoring of Precipitable Water Vapour over East Africa Using Low-Cost Receivers
Thomas Jelle, Ingjard Sandhei, Åsmund Tokheim, Dag Jomar Mersland, Morten Tvenning, Iván Sánches Ortega, Robert Badnall :: Norway
MazeMap – High-quality, interactive, searchable, and linkable indoor maps
Jan Filipowiak, Radoslaw Jastrzebski, Maciej Glowacki :: Poland
Pastguide: Virtual Reality in Real Places
Florin Banica, Andreea Diana Banica :: Romania
Shared Ahead – A Truck-Sharing System
Su Zhenzhong, Tonio Gsell, Alexander Wolf :: Switzerland
RTKNAV – A Low-Cost, Compact, User-Friendly, Centimetre-Accurate, Real-Time Navigation Solution
Zoe Farrington, Andrew Richardson :: United Kingdom
REALRIDER®
Loles Albiol Simó, Rudesindo Hernando Meliá, Jorge Esteve Ripollés, Manuel Pedreira Giménez, Enrique Martinez Asensi :: Valencian Community / Spain
POSEIDRON: Remotely Piloted Aircraft System for Search and Rescue and Environmental Defence
Nicolas de Kerchove, Joel Mendez, Oscar Marí :: Wallonia / Belgium
A New Concept for a Location-based Mobile Game with an Innovative Monetisation Platform
The 2015 edition of the European Satellite Navigation Competition GSA Special Prize was awarded to Rafael Olmedo for the KYNEO project. The project develops inexpensive, flexible Galileo and EGNOS enabled modules that allow ubiquitous positioning data for applications in the Internet of Things. Other winners of the competition are listed here.
Described as an open innovation platform for the GNSS of Things, the basis of the KYNEO concept is a perceived need to be able to fast prototype applications and devices in the rapidly developing field of the Internet of Things. According to Olmedo, a variety of Internet of Things platforms are looking for positioning systems that can be flexible and adapted to a variety of situations and circumstances. To serve this objective, the product works as an open-source software for the creation of interactive electronic objects.
REMINDER: For continued undisturbed use of GPS as Internet use mushrooms, led by the booming Internet of Things, more efficient utilization of spectrum bandwidth on all sides is essential; for this, synchronization is key. Timing experts will share their views during GPS World‘s “Timing, Time Transfer and Synchronization: New Applications and Techniques” webinar sponsored by EndRun Technologies on Thursday, Oct. 29. Registration is free.
“There is a huge development community for digital electronic products out there, and our aim with KYNEO is to provide a great positioning tool for this community,” Olmedo said. “The first KYNEO products are already available to order via our website, but we will also sell via the many open hardware platforms that already serve the developer community.”
“The Internet of Things is a potentially massive global market for European GNSS programs, offering many benefits to the end users,” said GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “Open source programmes like the KYNEO project will not only prove to be competitive in their own right, but will also open doors to related services and other opportunities.”
The project was selected from a record-breaking 192 entries. Entries came from 29 different countries, with 72 entries coming from individuals and 59 from start-up companies. The award was announced during a special awards ceremony, held on the opening day of the Satellite Masters Conference in Berlin.
About the European Satellite Navigation Competition
Since 2004, the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) has been rewarding the best services, products, and business cases that utilize satellite navigation in everyday life. Over this time, ESNC has evolved into an international innovation competition — one that recognizes the best ideas in the field of satellite navigation. Entries come from a wide range of companies, research institutes, students and individuals.
“The GSA Special Prize nicely complements the Agency’s focus — getting closer to the end user and helping them benefit from European space technology,” des Dorides said. “Whether through competitions like this, or through such funding programmes and Horizon 2020 and Fundamental Elements, it’s by supporting innovative applications like KYNEO that the GSA will be able to succeed at its mission.”
Each year, the GSA Special Topic Prize awards the most promising European GNSS application idea. The winner of the GSA prize has the opportunity to realise his or her idea at a suitable EU incubation centre for six months, with the option of an additional six months based on evaluation after the first period. The award criteria is based on the uniqueness and originality of the idea, its business (and social) potential, the credibility of the corresponding team, and the application’s use of unique EGNOS/Galileo features.
PCTEL Inc. has launched a new GNSS multi-satellite antenna portfolio for mobile and base-station timing applications. PCTEL’s new SkyLink antenna technology features out-of-band rejection characteristics that provide exceptional GPS/Galileo and GLONASS L1 support and performance in heavy RF traffic environments for fixed and mobile timing and asset tracking applications.
The new portfolio consists of two product lines:
SkyCompass for fleet management and asset tracking applications
SkyStamp base-station antennas for timing and synchronization of 4G LTE cellular networks.
SkyCompass comprises six new configurable antenna platforms, including single-band or multiband GNSS options that address the majority of fleet management installation needs. SkyStamp offers two timing reference and synchronization antenna models that provide maximum mitigation of the effects from nearby LTE interference sources.
“Over the last decade, PCTEL has been the industry’s technology leader in high rejection GPS products. These antennas are deployed worldwide by OEM customers in aviation, defense, and fleet management public safety projects,” said Rishi Bharadwaj, vice president and general manager of PCTEL’s Connected Solutions. “True to our commitment to support global communications and evolving requirements, PCTEL’s SkyLink technology provides global multi-satellite GNSS coverage and precision tracking by rejecting RF noise or interference that can negatively affect communications in performance critical situations.”
SkyCompass and SkyStamp antennas will be available for shipment in November.
WASHINGTON – On Friday, Oct. 16, the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) submitted two filings regarding federal spectrum policy. Comments were filed in response to a public notice in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility assessment, and testimony was submitted for the record to a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in response to its recent hearing, “Improving Federal Spectrum Systems.” Both filings stressed that the “1 dB standard” is the appropriate criterion for testing the compatibility of terrestrial broadband and GPS operations.
The GPS Innovation Alliance has consistently supported the more complete use of underused spectrum where technically feasible. In both filings, GPSIA expressed support for each government entity’s ongoing efforts and stressed the importance of protecting GPS, one of the country’s most important and ubiquitous national utilities.
Regarding the DOT effort, GPSIA offered suggestions relating to certain aspects of the proceeding and voiced support for the “1 dB standard” in testing — which would determine Adjacent Band Masks based on a measurement of received interference test signal power levels that cause a 1 decibel (dB) degradation in the receiver’s Carrier-to-Noise Density Ratio. As outlined in GPSIA’s comments, the organization’s support for the 1 dB standard is based on its long and well-established history in international and domestic regulatory proceedings and difficulties associated with other standards.
GPSIA wrote: “While DOT has proposed recording other performance metrics, such as loss of signal lock or degradation of pseudo-range or position accuracy, GPSIA believes these are inappropriate metrics for interference assessment since their inherent basis is an interference level that seriously degrades the RNSS spectrum environment and causes significant disruption to GPS receivers.”
Degradation of accuracy or otherwise attempting to determine effects on the “user experience” are not practicable interference metrics, and DOT should rely upon the 1 dB protection criteria in derivation of the Adjacent Band Masks. GPS receivers are used in a tremendous range of end user applications beyond simple navigation. It is unclear how it would be possible to determine whether there has been “material degradation” in the functioning of this wide range of GPS applications, much less what constitutes degradation that is “material.”
GPSIA also submitted testimony for the record in response to an Oct. 7 hearing by the House Subcommittee on Commerce and Technology, where the potential for repurposing spectrum currently reserved for use by satellite applications for terrestrial broadband was discussed, but without addressing the difficult technical challenges associated with repurposing satellite spectrum.
A key theme raised in the GPSIA testimony is support for allocating similar uses for spectrum in close proximity to each other. Doing so is an approach that is preferable to adopting receiver standards. GPSIA also explained the unique technical differences between communications and navigation spectrum use.
“A straightforward approach is to minimize the number of dissimilar spectrum applications in close spectral proximity to each other,” GPSIA said. “Put another way, similar spectrum uses should be grouped together to the greatest extent possible to minimize the number of band edges or ‘border areas’ where dissimilar uses in close proximity create serious interference challenges. This approach minimizes the need for the FCC to engage in extensive rule making to balance the interests of dissimilar spectrum uses in every spectrum ‘border’ area.”
GPSIA then noted that “attempts to attribute Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference issues mainly to poor receiver design are misguided. The FCC has long understood that receivers designed to receive one set of frequencies can be ‘overloaded’ by transmissions in adjacent frequencies.”
In fact, overload interference is not unique to GPS, whose receivers are typically designed to withstand adjacent band transmissions hundreds of millions of times stronger than GPS signals and compare favorably to other common types of mass market receivers.
GPSIA again voiced support for the 1 dB standard for testing, explaining that communications systems operate above the noise floor spectrum while GPS signals are below the thermal noise floor when they are received.
“Because GNSS operates below the noise floor, the most appropriate means by which to assess the potential of new adjacent band systems is whether the new service causes a 1 dB degradation in a receiver’s Carrier-to-Noise Ratio.” Other interference metrics, the GPSIA explained, “are based on interference levels that seriously degrade the GNSS spectrum environment and will cause devastating disruption to GPS receivers.”
“Use of a 1 dB standard is vastly superior to an approach that attempts to assess whether there is ‘actual’ harm to an incumbent service, which wrongly assumes that you can accurately predict the impact of a new service across a heterogeneous series of devices in adjacent spectrum. Defining harmful interference by reference to a level of degradation to a particular key performance indicator among a limited universe of devices and applications fails to account for and support future innovation, including known and currently unknown applications which could take advantage of ever increasing accuracy of the position, navigation and timing functions of GPS. Use of a defined change in the noise floor (1 dB) provides a readily identifiable and predictable metric that all interested parties can take into account now and in the future.”
GPSIA’s testimony concluded by urging policy makers to engage in “rational, long term spectrum planning,” noting that a focus solely on regulation of receiver characteristics is likely to have limited usefulness and may be inefficient and harmful to continued innovation in affected spectrum uses.
The GPS Innovation Alliance recognizes the ever increasing importance of Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The GPS Innovation Alliance seeks to protect, promote and enhance the use of GPS. For more information, visit www.gpsalliance.org.
PrecisionHawk will serve as a technical resource to regulators. (PRNewsFoto/PrecisionHawk)
PrecisionHawk is contributing to a safety task force created by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FAA. The task force brings together a diverse group, representing the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders, to develop an augmented registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
“PrecisionHawk is working on many safety solutions, procedural and technological, that we believe can contribute to safer operations for commercial drones in the national airspace,” said Ernest Earon, PrecisionHawk CTO and co-founder. “The creation of this task force further demonstrates the willingness of the FAA to move forward with industry leaders to promote rapid and safe integration.”
“As a UAS technology company and operator, we know how important coordinated identification is to the environments in which we work,” said Thomas Haun, VP of Strategy at PrecisionHawk. “The goal of this task force, to create a streamlined registration process for UAS, will have a direct and positive impact on the operations of our partners and service teams.”
“This task force presents another opportunity for PrecisionHawk to serve as a technical resource to regulators as we move towards the adoption of UAV regulations. Earlier this year PrecisionHawk was also named, alongside CNN and BNSF, to the FAA Pathfinder Program to test and develop technology solutions to solve beyond line of sight operations,” PrecisionHawk said in a statement.
Telit’s cellular and GNSS Internet of Things (IoT) modules will integrate Yon Motor, a new product from Nastek Indústria e Tecnologia, bringing to market a tiny vehicle tracker with a user-friendly mobile app. Besides vehicle security, speed is a top concerns for parents of teenage drivers. Yon Motor targets this market, delivering real-time location and speed data to a smartphone app along with a number of vehicle security features.
The innovative project was developed in partnership with Telit. The company’s GL865-QUAD and SL871 GPS modules are integrated in the miniature Yon Motor to deliver machine-to-machine communication and location awareness respectively. The free Yon Motor mobile app is available for download in iOS and Android.
“What parent would not want to know about their children’s night out or would not sleep better knowing that they are respecting speed limits? The idea of Yon Motor was to create something that could get people closer through Internet of Things,” says Lauro Cruz, CTO, Nastek. The Yon Motor tracker was built with latest generation technology. Moreover, the solution is lightweight and waterproof, permitting parents to secure it to any motor vehicle.
“The Yon mobile app lets users follow vehicle movements in real time and can be downloaded for free to a smartphone. The tracker helps combat car accidents involving young people, since parents have full visibility of their children’s driving speeds and the routes they take,” Cruz said.
SmartDrive Systems has introduced the SmartDrive SmartChoice Program, a video-based safety program that provides fleets the freedom to choose the level of video protection that best aligns with their specific business priorities and needs.
Whether the company’s primary objective is exonerating drivers from frivolous claims or preventing collisions with 360-degree visibility to risk, SmartDrive’s SmartChoice Program offers a product line to meet each fleet’s requirements. The new SmartDrive Shield and SmartDrive Defender, in conjunction with SmartDrive Assurance, offer flexibility in video-based safety by providing a program allowing users to start now and upgrade at any time with existing hardware.
“With our SmartDrive SmartChoice Program, we put choice squarely in the hands of our customers, ensuring every fleet now has a better way to protect its drivers with video,” said Steve Mitgang, CEO of SmartDrive, “We understand that a video safety program needs to fit the culture of the individual fleet. With three video-safety product lines and our distinctive open platform, SmartDrive’s SmartChoice Program lets fleets decide what they need, how best to deploy video within their operation and when the time is right to scale their investment, by moving up to a more comprehensive solution as their requirements expand.”
With the SmartDrive SmartChoice program, fleets can choose from among three product lines, each with unique capabilities and benefits, as described below:
SmartDrive Shield — A road-facing camera combined with on-demand video offload and easy-to-use review workflow, SmartDrive Shield is designed for fleets that have owner operators or are not yet ready for integrated coaching, and are focused on capturing every collision, exonerating when not at fault and providing drivers the ability to record issues on the road, such as delivery verification and security incidents.
SmartDrive Defender — Configurations of up to two cameras offer road-facing and cab views, with automatic video offload, risk scoring and integrated coaching. SmartDrive Defender is designed for fleets that want to protect every driver by identifying high-risk incidents — including speeding, lane departure, hard braking and collisions — and provide proactive coaching to reduce collision frequency, improve safety and reinforce good driving skills.
SmartDrive Assurance — Deployment of up to four cameras enables a 360-degree view of the vehicle and insight into the most frequent causes of collisions — such as U-turns, backing, unintended lane changes, roll-overs and close following — delivering a high level of coverage and complete visibility to risk. SmartDrive Assurance is designed for fleets focused on maximum protection and prevention of safety and compliance-related incidents.
The SmartDrive multi-tiered video-based safety program identifies unsafe driving with an extensible platform, integrating video, vehicle data, audio and driving data for a unified and comprehensive view of risk. The SmartDrive SmartChoice Program offers unmatched flexibility for fleets with a wide range of priorities, while ensuring that companies’ investments in video solutions are protected and can evolve as their operational needs change and technology advances.
Fleets that previously felt video safety didn’t fit their driver or operational environment now have an option with SmartDrive Shield, a no-coaching, road-facing only solution focused on exonerating drivers in not-at-fault collisions. When ready for an integrated safety program, fleets can easily move to SmartDrive Defender or SmartDrive Assurance, leveraging the same flexible video analytics platform.
“With our SmartChoice Program, it’s all about letting fleets decide what’s best for them, in terms of onboard system integration, how many cameras they incorporate, what type of risk they want to measure, and how or if coaching is part of their operations,” emphasized Mitgang. “SmartDrive Shield, Defender and Assurance not only reduce collisions, but also save fleets time and resources, which can then be focused on delivering increased value to their customers through on-time delivery, accuracy and better overall service.”
New Task Force to Develop Recommendations by Nov. 20
WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta today announced the creation of a task force to develop recommendations for a registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
The task force will be composed of 25 to 30 diverse representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government and other stakeholders. The group will advise the department on which aircraft should be exempt from registration due to a low safety risk, including toys and certain other small UAS. The task force also will explore options for a streamlined system that would make registration less burdensome for commercial UAS operators.
The task force may make additional safety recommendations as it deems appropriate. Secretary Foxx directed the group to deliver its report by Nov. 20.
“Registering unmanned aircraft will help build a culture of accountability and responsibility, especially with new users who have no experience operating in the U.S. aviation system,” Foxx said. “It will help protect public safety in the air and on the ground.”
Every day, the FAA receives reports of potentially unsafe UAS operations. Pilot sightings of UAS doubled between 2014 and 2015. The reports ranged from incidents at major sporting events and flights near manned aircraft, to interference with wildfire operations.
“These reports signal a troubling trend,” Huerta said. “Registration will help make sure that operators know the rules and remain accountable to the public for flying their unmanned aircraft responsibly. When they don’t fly safely, they’ll know there will be consequences.”
While the task force does its work, the FAA will continue its aggressive education and outreach efforts, including the Know Before You Fly campaign and No Drone Zone initiatives with the nation’s busiest airports. The agency also will continue to take strong enforcement action against egregious violators. At the same time, it will continue working with stakeholders to improve safety to ensure further integration and innovation in this promising segment of aviation.
Secretary Foxx was joined by representatives from the following stakeholder groups:
Omnitracs LLC has added Omnitracs Navigation to its portfolio of solutions. Omnitracs Navigation uses Big Data collected from more than 250,000 customers contributing more than four billion data points. The company terms Omnitracs Navigation the “next generation of navigation solutions” — it provides critical information to drivers through a user-friendly interface, with fast, near real-time updates and extensive fleet configuration options.
Omnitracs Navigation delivers critical information drivers need in a meaningful and distraction-free way, enabling them to be time efficient, stress free and safe while navigating.
Omnitracs Navigation provides fleets and drivers with the following features:
Data Publishing — All of the data is stored onboard with Omnitracs as the data publisher. Updates are sent to the unit automatically as the data changes so that the unit is always current. By leveraging traditional data (such as posted speed and traffic light locations) combined with real-time data (including current traffic and weather conditions), and Big Data (how a particular road is used at a certain time, and “black spot” high frequency accident zones), Omnitracs Navigation delivers a more consistent, predictable and accurate plan for maximizing the road network.
Actionable Data — Data is pulled from Omnitracs telematics units to build statistical models that create an enhanced, truck-preferred network that is constantly pushing new and actionable data to drivers. More than turn-by-turn instructions, the tool is constantly updated to ensure that drivers have a better and safer navigation experience.
Driver Community — Omnitracs Navigation has a closed-loop feedback mechanism, which brings driver feedback into the data-editing process and gives them an opportunity to improve their navigation experience, along with the navigation experience of fellow drivers. The loop is closed by informing the driver of how his or her feedback was used, leading to improved driver satisfaction and retention by acting as the driver’s trusted advisor.
“Navigation has evolved with the advent of smartphones and GPS devices, and the days of folded paper road maps are gone,” said Rick Turek, chief navigation scientist at Omnitracs. “However, we know that current and hybrid systems aren’t yet perfected and still struggle in keeping data current. Imagine not knowing that a new road has opened up or that a road’s name has changed; these are the types of things that can easily frustrate drivers. Omnitracs Navigation is the next-generation navigational solution that delivers current and actionable data so that drivers can do their jobs more safely and efficiently.”
Omnitracs Navigation leverages the proven technologies of HERE and INRIX. HERE Map Content contributes rich, automotive-grade data that enables large semi fleets to navigate across the U.S. and Canada. Through this partnership, Omnitracs provides precise turn-by-turn navigation, as well as enhanced resource tracking and route optimization.
INRIX will provide real-time traffic and historic traffic profiles, along with travel time and incident alerts, for every major road type including highways, arterials and city streets. INRIX combines information from connected vehicles and other public and private sources to provide accurate real-time traffic that covers more than five million miles in 42 countries. Omnitracs Navigation will launch with INRIX Traffic XD Profiles, followed by real-time traffic and incidents.
UPDATE: Read news of the official announcement here.
The federal government is expected to announce today a new plan requiring anyone buying a drone to register the device with the U.S. Department of Transportation. The registration of the drone will enable authorities to track a drone back to its owner if used in a dangerous manner.
Under the plan, the DOT would work with the drone industry to set up a structure for registering the drones, and the regulations could be in place by Christmas.
The government has been concerned about the rise in close calls between unmanned drones and aircraft flying into and out of some of the nation’s biggest airports. In July, a passenger jet preparing to land at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had a close call with a drone, which was 100 feet away from the jet at an altitude of 1,700 feet. Normal safe separation distance is between aircraft is at least 1,000 feet.
Private drones were also blamed for hampering aerial firefighting efforts over a California blaze in July. Firefighting aircraft trying to attack the fast-moving blaze in the Cajon Pass had to leave the area for around 20 minutes over safety concerns, officials said. That fire swept over a freeway and burned 20 vehicles.
On Oct. 6, the FAA announced the largest civil penalty proposed yet — $1.9 million — against a UAS operator for endangering the safety of the national airspace.
Brian Wynne, president & CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), released the following statement on today’s announcement that he is joining the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Task Force to develop a streamlined registration process for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS):
“AUVSI welcomes the opportunity to join this task force of government and industry stakeholders. This collaborative effort to develop an efficient process for UAS registration should lead to increased accountability across the entire aviation community.
“Under the FAA’s proposed small UAS rules released earlier this year, commercial operators would be required to register their platforms. Extending this requirement to other UAS users will help promote responsibility and safety.
“In addition to UAS registration, it is essential for the FAA to finalize its small UAS rules as quickly as possible. Once this happens, we will have an established framework for UAS operations, allowing anyone who follows the rules to fly. Considering that safety is at stake, time is of the essence to finalize the rules.
“Because safe operations are essential for all users of the national airspace, AUVSI is also looking forward to continuing its work with the FAA, the Academy of Model Aeronautics and more than two dozen supporters of the ‘Know Before You Fly’ campaign to educate newcomers to UAS technology about safe and responsible flying.”
Data is curated by SpecOut.com and sourced from the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.
Trimble has launched Trimble Asset Tracking, a solution that offers complete visibility into the location and utilization of portable assets from a convenient portal.
An enhancement to its fleet management portfolio, Trimble Asset Tracking enables field service organizations operating high-value portable assets, such as generators, pumps or trailers that are towed behind a service vehicle, to better manage asset performance and costs to increase efficiencies and improve operations.
“We recognize the importance for businesses to have the visibility to not only manage their vehicles but also their portable assets,” said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management Division. “Asset tracking solutions are becoming an increasingly valuable tool for those that rent, lease or own portable assets that are critical to their field service operation. Having real-time information into the location and utilization of portable assets can enable businesses to determine how best they should be deployed in order to optimize productivity and their return-on-investment.”
Key features include:
A map view of the location and status of the towed, powered and non-powered assets.
Integration with Trimble Fleet Management to view vehicles alongside the assets within one interface.
High-level utilization reports for an individual or group of assets from across multiple locations.
Rugged hardware with simple installation.
Long-life battery that can send location alerts for up to 3 months on a single charge.
Real-time alerts if a unit changes location, has been disconnected and wakes on motion for instant location reporting.
Trimble Asset Tracking enables businesses in industries from construction to utilities to streamline their workflow in the field. When deployed in conjunction with Trimble Fleet Management, businesses can benefit from a single portal to view their entire field operation, knowing where each vehicle and asset is in real time at the touch of a button.
Trimble has launched