Russian companies looking to develop GLONASS products and services can soon tap into an 8-billion-ruble fund. Russian state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) plans to offer financial support for projects using GLONASS, pending government approval, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.
VEB’s sister fund, VEB Innovations, will set up the GLONASS Fund in the fourth quarter of this year, with funds made available by next February-March. The fund will include 5 billion rubles ($122 million) from VEB and 3 billion rubles ($73.1 million) from private investors.
The project is designed to expand GLONASS market share, both to acquire advanced technology and attract new customers. It aims to support small companies with new, innovative ideas. Its goals will include the creation of an investment model that will ensure that the most promising and viable projects reach market, from conception to production.
Assistance will be sought from specific European, North American and Asian technology companies, including Norway’s Q-free, Switzerland’s Saphyrion, Slovakia’s Sygic, the Netherlands’ AND, France’s Benomad, and the Germany companies Peiker, Init and IVU. Each of these companies is involved in navigation, with hardware, software, GIS and mapping software, telematics or dispatching. The GLONASS Fund concept says that by using these technologies for the development of new domestic products and services, GLONASS can achieve technical superiority in all the major segments of the global navigation and information market.
The fund’s support will include contacts with Russian trade representatives abroad to promote the Russian products in markets such as India, Latin America and the Middle East.
Mauro Colombi, vice president of operations for Stonex, discusses the new S10 GNSS Receiver while at InterGeo 2014, held October 7-9 in Berlin. The S10 features a new generation of smart and open GPS, where a user can install custom applications directly on the receiver.
The Air Force is set to launch the eighth GPS IIF satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on October 29. The 18-minute launch window opens at 1:21 p.m. EDT.
An Atlas V 401 will launch the GPS IIF-8 mission for the U.S. Air Force.
As described by the Air Force, GPS IIF-8 is one of the next-generation GPS satellites, incorporating various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users.
GPS IIF-8 will be United Launch Alliance’s fourth GPS launch of 2014 and the 12th of the year. The mission will mark ULA’s 89th mission launched since the company was founded in 2006.
To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch; look for the #GPSIIF8 hashtag.
The Air Force Second Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) indicates that IIF-8, SVN-69/PRN-03, will replace SVN-51 in the E plane slot 1. SVN-51 will be re-phased from E1 to an auxiliary node at E7 somewhere around SVN-54 currently on station at E4. SVN-38/PRN-08 will be taken out of the operational constellation prior to SVN-69 payload initialization and sent to Launch, Anomaly Resolution and Disposal Operations (LADO). PRN-08 will be assigned initially to SVN-49 and set to test.
SVN-38 was launched on November 5, 1997, successfully serving nearly 17 years, 9.5 years beyond its designed service life, due to the diligent efforts of the men and women of the U.S. Air Force. SVN-51 will remain in an auxiliary node once it completes its re-phase journey. The SVN-51 re-phase will take about six months after the initial burn occurs.
Hyman Huang of South Surveying & Mapping Instrument Co. talks with GPS World about the company’s new dual-frequency GNSS Receiver and its tablet counterpart while at InterGeo 2014, held October 7-9 in Berlin.
Bruce Carlson, president of Carlson Software, and William “Butch” Herter talk about the company’s new BRx5 GNSS Receiver and Surveyor2 data collector, among others, while at InterGeo 2014, held October 7-9 in Berlin.
Eric Gakstatter discusses positioning technology, mapping, UAVs and the industry during an interview with InterGeo TV. Eric is GPS World contributing editor for survey, editor of Survey Scene, and editor of Geospatial Solutions.
Topcon Positioning Group demonstrates its LN-100W, an update to its line of 3D positioning systems designed for one-operator layout, while at InterGeo, held October 7-9 in Berlin. The latest model includes Bluetooth functionality.
Qualcomm, Inc., has agreed to buy British CSR for $2.5 billion, to enhance its automotive infotainment and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings. CSR is known to the GPS/GNSS industry as the maker of the SiRFstar series of chips, which are used in many consumer devices. Qualcomm is a leading maker of chips used in smartphones.
According to Qualcomm, the acquisition complements the company’s offerings by adding products, channels, and customers in the important growth categories of Internet of Everything (IoE) and automotive infotainment. “This opportunity is aligned with Qualcomm’s established strategic priorities in these rapidly growing business areas,” according to a Qualcomm statement. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the summer of 2015.
Once the transaction is complete, the two major U.S. wireless/mobile-chip design/manufacturers will have GPS/GNSS technology firmly embedded within their organizations. In July 2007, Broadcom acquired Global Locate. More recently, CSR acquired SiRF Technology in June 2009, and now CSR has in turn been acquired by Qualcomm. Throughout 2008, Broadcom and SiRF were locked in a patent battle that Broadcom eventually won, precipitating a decline in SiRF’s one-time dominance and sending it into eventual disappearance/acquisition by CSR. The two companies are again aligned as opponents as part of the rival camps, Qualcomm and Broadcom, whose competition is fully as intense as the former Global Locate (then Broadcom) versus SiRF tussle.
“The addition of CSR’s technology leadership in Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart, and audio processing will strengthen Qualcomm’s position in providing critical solutions that drive the rapid growth of the Internet of Everything, including business areas such as portable audio, automotive and wearable devices,” said Steve Mollenkopf, chief executive officer of Qualcomm Incorporated. “Combining CSR’s highly advanced offering of connectivity technologies with a strong track record of success in these areas will unlock new opportunities for growth. We look forward to working with the innovative CSR team globally and further strengthening our technology presence in Cambridge and the UK.”
The full announcement, issued in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the UK Takeover Code, can be found on Qualcomm’s website at www.qualcomm.com/2.7.pdf.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is burdened with one of the world’s most severe land mine problems as a result of the four years of hostilities from 1992 to 1995 that left an estimated two million unexploded landmines and munitions scattered in 28,699 locations throughout the country. In one district in the northeast of the country, Posavina Without Mines (PWM), a humanitarian, non-profit NGO, is under contract with the government of the District of Brčko to warn residents of mined areas by permanently marking suspected contaminated areas, removing the lethal objects, and helping mine-affected victims.
The task of marking suspected areas to warn residents begins when Posavina Without Mines (PWM) receives mapping information from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center (BH MAC), the nation’s central landmine research and coordinating authority. BH MAC gathers information by researching records of where minefields were laid, a task made difficult because many landmines were not documented during construction, the records have been lost, hidden or destroyed, or the people who recorded the locations were killed or left the country.
Posavina Without Mines uploads the data it receives from BH MAC into its Spectra Precision ProMark 800 recently purchased through a grant it received to acquire a GNSS capability. Each warning sign is positioned with the aid of the ProMark 800 and assigned a unique serial number. A list of the serial numbers, coordinates and photos of each site comprises a permanent record and database that is submitted to BH MAC.
Photo: Spectra Precisions
Posavina Without Mines had been using an older model handheld GIS GPS for the job. However, according to Ivan Markovic, a Posavina Without Mines spokesperson, “It was producing errors up to two meters necessitating follow up surveys and the involvement of supervisors to rectify the errors.” After reviewing alternative solutions to solve the problem, Posavina Without Mines contacted Gauss Geoinformation Systems.
The ProMark 800 rover and base station system was chosen for its ease-of-operation, excellent accuracy and light weight, an important feature because it is often used in difficult and virtually inaccessible terrain. “On our limited budget, we are very pleased with the accuracy and simplicity of the ProMark 800, and the high-quality training provided by Gauss,” Markovic said.
Spectra Precision has recently replaced its ProMark 800 with a new SP80 GNSS receiver, which offers superior accuracy and reliability, enhanced connectivity capabilities, including Wi-Fi, e-mailing or text messaging, and advanced anti-theft protection.
At InterGeo 2014, James Van Rens, chief executive officer of Riegl, explains the launch of the RiCopter UAV with LiDAR integration, and its designer gives a live demonstration of the UAV in flight. The show was held October 7-9 in Berlin.
The unmanned aerial vehicle is a survey-grade unmanned scanning platform for a variety of demanding applications, such as corridor, power line, or railway mapping.
The high-performance UAV can be equipped with the Riegl VUX-1 survey-grade LiDAR sensor to offer a fully integrated turnkey solution. The RiCopter platform design includes a fully integrated Riegl VUX LiDAR sensor, IMU/ GNSS unit with antenna, control unit, and up to four optional cameras providing measuring characteristics of a 330-degree field of view, 500,000 measurements per second, and 10-millimeter accuracy.
The class 1 unmanned aircraft system can be flown at a maximum operating altitude of 550 meters with a maximum take-off mass of up to 25 kg and a maximum payload of 16 kg, providing a long flight endurance of 30 minutes.
RiCopter flight characteristics are smooth and stable in hovering positions, as well as on demanding flight maneuvers under challenging conditions.
Flight Operations Director Hervé Côme celebrating success finding the satellites. Photo: Galileo Control Centre
On September 27, the first two Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites were handed over from the European Space Agency’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, to the Galileo Control Centre, Oberpfaffenhofen, which will care for them pending a final decision on their use.
The satellites, launched on August 22, are in excellent health and working normally. However, a launcher problem left the pair in the wrong orbit, with higher apogee, lower perigee and an incorrect inclination compared to the planned circular orbit.
According to a release by the European Space Agency, the orbit presented a sudden and unexpected — though not untrained for — challenge to the team at ESOC responsible for the launch and early orbit phase. For months before each Galileo launch, a joint team of mission operations experts from ESA and France’s CNES space agency train intensively for this critical period, which typically lasts about eight days, from separation until handover to Oberpfaffenhofen.
“After launch, we quickly discovered that one of each satellite’s pair of solar wings had not deployed correctly,” said Liviu Stefanov, Spacecraft Operations manager. “At the same time, difficulties in receiving radio signals — indicated by unusually low power and instability — alerted us to the fact that the orbits could be incorrect. Basically, the ground stations were pointing to where we expected the satellites to be, and they weren’t there, so we weren’t getting good signals.”
The joint ESA–CNES Galileo operations team in the Main Control Room at ESA’s Space Operations Center, August 28. (Photo credit: R. Solaz).
Engineers determined within four hours the approximate actual orbit and then generated new commands to point the ground antennas to establish robust radio links. Working around the clock, and with assistance from the Galileo project engineers and the satellite builder, the teams then started to look at how to free the solar arrays. “Each undeployed wing had to be treated as a separate problem,” said Flight Operations Director Hervé Côme.
“Each satellite had to be maneuvered separately into an orientation where the undeployed panel was facing the Sun because we realized that one cause was linked to the low temperature of the release mechanism. It all required developing, validating and rehearsing new flight operation procedures on the fly.”
It took three days to release the trapped solar wing of the first satellite, and then two days later the second Galileo’s stuck array was also freed. The satellites have since been brought into full operation, as the teams in Darmstadt were tasked to retain control for five weeks — four weeks longer than planned.
“This was very demanding on the ESA and CNES personnel, and on the ESOC operations team in particular, but the strong bonds developed through months of joint training enabled them to perform very well,” Liviu said.
Possible uses of the two satellites are now being studied, and a future mission scenario will be decided at a later date.
While the process of handing over the satellites to the Galileo Control Centre (where they are operated by teams from a private company, spaceopal GmbH), had been practiced in the past, this was the first time it was done with FOC satellites in orbit. The delicate process involves transferring responsibility for commands and telemetry, and beginning the satellites’ secure mode of operation by the teams at Oberpfaffenhofen. The handover ran very smoothly over the last weekend in September.
“By the end of the Saturday, the first satellite was fully handed over, while the second handover took place on Sunday,” said Richard Lumb, ESA’s Galileo Mission director.
“I am extremely proud of the entire Mission Control Team and the way they handled a dramatic and very critical situation resulting from multiple, independent anomalies,” said Paolo Ferri, ESA’s head of Mission Operations. “After launch, the joint team managed to maintain control of the satellites under extremely difficult conditions, rapidly stabilized them, and determined the actual orbit. The accuracy and professionalism of the subsequent handover activities also showed that the joint team at ESOC and the spaceopal team at the Galileo Control Centre are very well tuned for this procedure, which will become increasingly frequent with future launches.”
Allen Crawford of Tallysman Wireless Inc. details the company’s GNSS antennas at InterGeo 2014, including a new product Tallysman Wireless plans to launch in the first quarter of 2015.
