Fathom, a Bluetooth real-time location system (RTLS) asset tracking company, has signed an agreement with Gimbal, a manufacturer for enterprise-grade mobile engagement and location intelligence.
The partnership presents customers with the combined strengths of each company: Gimbal’s reliable beacons and over-the-air security and Fathom’s high-accuracy indoor location platform, the companies said in a joint press release.
The agreement includes joint marketing and sales referrals to common prospective enterprise customers. It also enables Fathom to distribute Gimbal beacons and leverage Gimbal Secure Mode functionality.
“With Fathom to monitor and locate their beacons, both existing and new Gimbal deployments will enjoy the best each company offers,” said Fathom CEO Guylain Roy-MacHabée. “We are building a partner ecosystem with the best global beacon vendors and we are proud to work with Gimbal. Fathom’s asset tracking customers can now purchase Gimbal beacons directly from us, including the popular coin-sized Gimbal S10 — an ideal form factor that enables exciting and secure asset tracking scenarios.”
Fathom offers next-generation indoor location technology, utilizing Bluetooth to enhance asset tracking systems. Fathom complements asset tracking systems by providing greater coverage than RFID, greater accuracy than Wi-Fi and at a lower cost than other real-time location systems like ultra-wideband (UWB).
“Fathom’s location expertise and ability to accurately locate beacons indoors without the need for a mobile app is a natural fit for the asset tracking market,” said Brian Dunphy, general manager for Gimbal’s enterprise business. “We are delighted to be working with Fathom to expand the reach of each other’s products in the marketplace.”
Gimbal harnesses the power of location and proximity to drive value and create personalized experiences for customers, using location-specific events, geofences and beacons to access deep data analytics via a sophisticated location management platform.
Precis-BX316R is a GNSS Post-Processing Kinematic (PPK) board for accurate positioning. It supports raw measurement output from two antennas: GPS L1/L2, GLONASS G1/G2 and BDS B1/B2 from primary antenna and GPS L1/L2 from the second.
The SD card on board (up to 32G) makes it convenient for users to collect data for post processing. Working with GNSS antennas, it can output stable measurement in challenging conditions, Tersus GNSS said.
Integrated with versatile interfaces and connectors, Precis-BX316R aims to facilitate applications such as precision navigation, precision agriculture, surveying and UAV, and enforcing effective GNSS data management.
Swedish-based survey and GIS equipment maker Satlab Geosolutions has upgraded its multi-purpose multi-frequency GNSS receiver.
SLX-1 receiver by Satlab.
The SLX-1 was initially released as a CORS receiver but is now able to function as a mobile sensor suitable for any application where a rugged multi-application GNSS receiver is required.
Based on embedded Linux operating system, the SLX-1 is a true multi-user and multi-tasking solution. The CORS design is ideal for long unattended and continuous operation and its mil-spec construction makes it ideal for mobile operations in the most rugged environments.
The receiver tracks GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS and SBAS constellations and can maximize the tracking to observe all visible GNSS satellite signals, thereby providing maximum performance for accuracy.
With in-built Ethernet, 3.5G wireless, WiFi, Bluetooth and multiple serial communications for data transmission and/or reception, as well as a 64GB (expandable) internal memory, the receiver can simultaneously transmit/receive corrections while recording raw data in multiple sessions.
The SLX-1 supports real-time TCP/IP, Satlab internet RTK and NTRIP in both server and client modes, as well as external radio Tx/Rx, making it compatible with most modern GNSS receivers on the market.
With high performance precision GNSS measurement techniques, direct-millimeter accuracy with the highest levels of quality assurance is obtained. CMR, CMR+, sCMRx, RTCM2.x, RTCM3.x, RTCM32 and Binex differential formats, as well as Rinex and Raw data logging/output, are all supported so the receiver can be easily integrated into existing CORS networks, SatLab’s VRS NRTIP Caster Software or SatLab’s proprietary intRTK Cloud service. Equally, in Rover mode, it can easily connect any existing correction network or single-base source using any of its inbuilt communication modes.
Control of the receiver is easily achieved by logging into the internal Web server either remotely or direct connection using Ethernet port or the inbuilt Wi-Fi hotspot. In Rover mode, real-time NMEA messages can be sent via any of two RS232 or single RS485 ports or via Bluetooth. It also has an external clock interface, event marker and PPS output.
With a rugged anodized aluminum alloy metal case, internal lithium battery for up to 24 hours independent operation, two lane external voltage inputs with range 7-36VDC and PoE, the SLX-1 is designed to stay on regardless of environmental factors. If power is lost, once restored the receiver will reboot using the last settings and continue working normally.
“This is an exciting upgrade to our popular SLX-1 CORS receiver, and now adds true multi-functional performance for both base and mobile operations to our increasing range of GNSS mobile products,” said Bjorn Agardh, CEO of Satlab. “The simplicity yet sophisticated capabilities of the SLX-1 combined with our free internet RTK global server services makes provision of correction data seamless and simple.”
The mobile upgrade for the SLX-1 receiver is available now with a simple firmware upgrade that is available for free download and continues the promise that, there are no hidden costs of ownership with any Satlab product.
Raytheon Company has launched its GEO 6 satellite payload into orbit for its 12-year mission. It is the latest payload to support the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), which enhances the reliability and accuracy of GPS signals for directing air travel.
The Raytheon-developed payload is a key element of WAAS, which offers commercial, business and general aviation pilots more direct flight paths, greater runway capability and precision approaches to airports and remote landing sites without dependence on local ground-based landing systems.
“This latest payload launch is the next step in our journey with the FAA to bolster navigation safety and efficiency for commercial and general aviation,” said Bob Delorge, vice president of transportation and support services for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services.
In June 2016, Raytheon launched WAAS GEO 5, which was recently accepted by the FAA for integration into the operational WAAS system. Both WAAS GEO 5 and GEO 6 were launched to replace aging satellites and enhance GPS precision for the FAA. WAAS increases GPS accuracy from 10 meters to approximately two meters and supports nearly all of the national airspace.
The WAAS GEO 6 payload is hosted on a geostationary satellite, SES-15, owned and operated by SES. The satellite was successfully launched May 17 from Arianespace’s Guiana Space Center in French Guiana aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle.
Telit has introduced an ultra-slim family of smart antenna GNSS receiver modules. The fully integrated modules include a comprehensive feature set that eliminates the need for additional components. They are designed for Internet of Things (IoT) projects with size, cost and time constraints.
Easing the burden for developers with little or no RF design experience, the SL876Q5-A is compliant with regulatory and industry standards specifications. The module combines an omni-directional low profile embedded antenna and an internal RF switch. This combination is suitable for applications needing two antennas, such as personal trackers and alarms, which must be equipped with a main and a backup antenna when the signal becomes compromised.
A turnkey solution, the SL876Q5-A includes features such as an additional low noise amplifier (LNA), surface acoustic wave filter and efficient power management technology in an ultra-slim leadless chip carrier (LCC) package.
The inclusion of several low-power modes reduces total power consumption while maintaining position accuracy, which extends battery life — a critical requirement for wearables, personal trackers, and other battery-dependent applications.
“The SL876Q5-A delivers on everything our customers and partners have come to expect from the industry’s leading IoT solutions provider,” said Ronen Ben-Hamou, Telit’s EVP of products and solutions. “IoT developers continuously search for solutions that simplify the design process. We’ve developed a compact solution with features that deliver industry-leading performance without compromising performance. Not only does the SL876Q5-A eliminate the need for additional components in most use cases, but also cuts development time and costs considerably.”
SL876Q5-A Features
Full GNSS for exceptional coverage:
Quad-GNSS: GPS/ QZSS and GLONASS or BeiDou and it is Galileo ready
A-GNSS: Onboard generation and server-generated file injection that can be stored into the embedded flash memory
Omni-directional antenna design delivers high performance in sensitivity, tracking performance and accuracy
MEMS wakeup feature offers lowest power consumption
Built-in LNA for improved sensitivity
Primary port: UART, I2C, or SPI. Secondary port: UART or I2C, I2C supports MEMS wakeup only
Embedded RF switch allows easy integration with external antennas
Ultra-slim design, 11 x 11.9 x 2.3 mm LCC package for space constrained devices
Flash memory enables firmware upgrades, customization, and AGPS file storage, which is ideal for battery-dependent devices
Availability begins in the second quarter of 2017. Learn more about the new SL876Q5-A slim antenna module.
STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor company for electronics applications, is working with Allystar to develop and market GNSS solutions for automotive products and other applications. Allystar is a spin-off from CEC Huada Electronic Design Co. Ltd. and a Chinese GNSS chip designer.
GNSS solutions and technologies, including China’s BeiDou navigation system, are playing an ever-increasing role in many different domains, related to smart mobility. Specifically, enhanced-precision location technology enabled by multi-constellation GNSS solutions, in combination with radars, cameras and various sensors, will be a key enabler for autonomous cars.
ST and Allystar are already co-marketing products for the automotive market and cost-competitive products for the consumer market.
“GNSS positioning technologies are vital for a variety of services and applications and will be one of the key building blocks for autonomous-driving solutions,” said Marco Monti, executive vice president and general manager, Automotive and Discrete Group, STMicroelectronics. “Working closely with Allystar, the Chinese leader in GNSS/BeiDou solutions, allows ST to better address the enormous positioning market of China and Asia.”
Allystar is the first Chinese company ranked in the international top 10 of GNSS chips, and has won many important prizes and awards in China recognizing its R&D excellence and innovation capability, according to a press release by ST.
According to the Intel CEO Brian Krzanich’s keynote address, I was among more than 7,000 attendees and 650 exhibitors. Krzanich and the Intel folks dazzled us with live indoor drone flying and a demonstration of highly detailed bridge inspection using the Intel Falcon 8+ drone.
Then we had a few Shooting Star light drones flying around in a small swarm — all before the show really got cooking. Management of big data was Intel’s pitch for the keynote, but all we nav guys wanted to know was how they flew those things inside.
Intel shows off its light drones in October 2016. (Source: Intel)
Attempts later in the show to establish their guidance recipe were met with a wall of silence from Intel. We know both drone types carry inertial. The Falcon 8+ has three and more than one GNSS receiver, and the light drone has inertial and GNSS, but Intel’s secret is that they use “wireless.” So something to determine where they are and in relation to the inspection article, and to others in the swarm, hooked up to inertial? Intel will tell us sometime later, they say.
In the meantime, Intel promoted the Falcon 8+ heavily at its booth, with its configurable payload capability. Intel indicated that it hopes also to sell light-show swarms for event providers.
The show was indeed huge, and it was impossible to touch base with everyone, so in no particular order and without any leanings towards anyone, I’ll try and capture some flavor of what went down at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center at the AUVSI Xponential show.
Duro – Piksi enclosure.
Swift Navigation/ Carnegie
Swift released the rugged Duro enclosure for its Piksi Multi dual-band GNSS receiver. It’s yellow with lots of heat fins, and looks like it would survive being driven over. With dual-frequency real-time kinematic (RTK), Swift claims an all-time low price for board-level RTK.
VectorNav
Based in Dallas, VectorNav took advantage of home turf with a significant presence at the show. VectorNav released a number of use-case studies to illustrate the varied customer applications for its VN series of miniature, high-performance MEMS-inertial and GPS/INS modules. Applications include:
ground robotics for highly accurate, high-speed attitude data
a medium-range UAV with GPS/INS for primary navigation
integrated lidar for mapping capabilities
autonomous ground vehicle module waypoint navigation with a number of system functions
high-precision antenna pointing
camera pointing with a gyro-stabilized gimbal.
Gryphon Sensors
Drone detection and prevention systems had a significant presence at AUVSI. Gryphon Sensors combines radar, RF direction finding and optical sensors in a integrated “intelligent drone detection system.”
Gryphon has been around for some time, using technologies from military applications to also provide vehicle-mounted drone security and UAS traffic management (UTM) capabilities.
Fortem has gone one step further with drone detection — its Dronehunter flies a drone within feet of an intruder, fires a net at the unwanted vehicle and takes it down. The company’s video encounter was at low altitude and the intruder was undamaged — for higher, larger vehicle take-downs, they have a net with a parachute.
Other components of the system include a compact airborne radar for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and a ground-based radar detection system.
Countries
Several country pavilions exhibited at the show, including China, Spain, France, UK, Denmark and Canada. Highlights included Drone Hopper, a Spanish firefighting drone concept; Chinese UAV antennas and avionics; a French “cluster” of drone-related companies; and Canada, which included a multi-rotor drone dealer and introduced the Foremost drone test range.
Aeronix and Rajant
Secure radios are key to any drone operations. Aeronix displayed a secure software-defined datalink product for providing data, video and voice onto and off drones. The company also introduced significant radio and interface capability for military and secure commercial operations.
Rajant featured mesh radio systems, providing the wireless backbone in UAV applications in mining and on mine trucks. Once again, U.S. Department of Defense technology developed over many years has been spun off into commercial operations.
Aeronix software-defined datalink. Photo: Aeronix
Rajant BreadCrumb LX5.
Trimble
It was good to see Trimble in force again at a trade show; the company had a nice booth with lots of people. We talked with Chris Wheeler about Trimble’s approach of providing an antenna with down conversion, integrated with an RTK software API on existing on-board computing hardware – it’s a good way to potentially reduce costs for UAVs.
Sold through a software license, this reduced-hardware solution could be a new way to get high performance at much reduced prices for larger UAV fleets. It might be significant for lots of other OEM solutions too.
AsteRx-m2 UAS receiver.
Septentrio
The recently released AsterRx-m2 receiver has an optional UAS interface board with record-and-store capability so that real-time images can be readily geo-coded. It directly connects to an on-board autopilot. Self-interference issues coming from existing UAV control electronics are minimized by further enhanced AIM interference mitigation processing on the –m2 receiver.
NovAtel
NovAtel’s military business group continues to make headway with the GAJT integrated anti-jam antenna with more than 600 sold to date. Other applications include the use of the anti-jam electronics processing solution in the GAJT anti-jam Antenna Electronics unit.
If you were not convinced that these are rugged units designed for difficult outdoor applications, they were recently evaluated under firing conditions by the Canadian forces mounted on an M777C1 Howitzer — “No problem,” said Peter Soar, business development manager, Military and Defence.
The anti-jam antenna electronics unit is well suited for UAV applications in signal-rich environments where GPS tracking might otherwise be untenable.
The NovAtel GAJT-710ML GPS anti-jam antenna.
GAJT-AE-N
Aspen Avionics
As the FAA makes progress toward integration of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS), the interest in using ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance) for UAV location awareness seems to be growing. ADS-B equipment on both manned and unmanned vehicles provides an output signal containing position, velocity and altitude which can be used by other similarly equipped aircraft and terrestrial/satellite tracking systems.
Aspen Avionics supplies FAA-approved ADS-B equipment for manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as approved GPS navigation receivers for selected classes of certified navigation and landing.
Rockwell Collins/Harris
BVLOS demonstration work under the FAA Pathfinder program with BNSF Railway has continued, with significant technical contributions by both Rockwell Collins and Harris. Monitoring and control of the UAV during inspection flights along the BNSF track test-section in Clovis, New Mexico, was achieved through the deployed Rockwell radio network and CNPC-1000 datalink transceiver installed on a Latitude Engineering UAV. Reliability is now well established, and BNSF is able to operate without visual observers during regular inspections for bad track.
Latitude UAV, similar to those flown on BNSF program. Photo: Latitude
Rockwell CNPC-1000 datalink. Photo: Rockwell
Harris has also provided extended ADS-B coverage throughout the BNSF test section and provided an aircraft-tracking feed from its FAA flight database, to ensure there are no manned aircraft conflicts during UAS track inspection flights.
Insitu
Insitu has conducted very successful business with military and government for many years with its ScanEagle, Blackjack and Integrator UAS. The company is now approaching the commercial world through a turnkey inspection service that it will now offer as its INEXA Solutions.
The intent is not to just offer data collection by flying UAVs for customers, but to first put together the best business case, then collect and process data and deliver the information required.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin also is approaching the commercial market with a services offering: Commercial Aviation Inspection Services. LM’s UAS capability extends beyond the Stalker fixed-wing surveillance drone, the quadcopter Indago and the military-looking Fury heavy-payload fixed-wing vehicle, to include an autopilot, a vision-processing unit and a dual-sensor gimbal. The LM Hydra-Fusion Geospatial toolset provides post-processing capability for applications including construction, surveying, agricultural, inspection and tactical.
AeroVironment
AeroVironment is another company offering turn-key flight services, from UAS operations through to data processing and custom results. AeroVironment had two new product announcements to add to its extensive UAS capability: the Mantis electro-optical/infrared gimbal sensor suite, and the Snipe man-carried UAS.
The Mantis is designed for installation on the AeroVironment Puma fixed-wing UAS to provide enhanced imaging capabilities, while the 5-ounce Snipe is small enough to be worn by an operator and can be rapidly deployed for close-in surveillance/reconnaissance.
Snipe UAS. Photo: Snipe UAS
…And More
Other news on the show floor:
Airbus Aerial is being established in the U.S. and Europe to provide imagery services for commercial industries, such as insurance, agriculture, oil and gas, and utilities as well as state and local governments.
Spirent promoted its GSS6450 portable GNSS record-and-playback simulator for UAV systems testing and verification.
Multi-rotor drone manufacturer DraganFly indicated that it has been in the UAS business since 1998, so it has lots of capability and experience.
Canadian UAV autopilot supplier MicroPilot continues to do well, and now claims to have 1,000 customers in 85 countries. Looking to future requirements for onboard systems that will make possible UAS integration into manned airspace, MicroPilot is now working toward airborne (RTCA DO-178C) software qualification.
The 2017 AUVSI Exponential convention measured up to all its expectations and pre-show hype. The atmosphere was energetic and positive, with almost every booth getting the attention of attendees & the whisper of deals was everywhere in the many corridors and rooms of the huge Dallas convention center. The UAS industry didn’t only come to show off its wares, but also to do business.
Several UAS flight centers were represented, each with the strong backing of its own home State and vying to attract test center users and to establish new UAS businesses. The industry is apparently ready and able to create those local jobs that have been forecast to grow out of new UAS applications.
While attention has previously been on flying small UAS (sUAS, and there is now a set of FAA rules allowing controlled commercial operations to get underway, there did seem to be an growing expectation that work towards getting larger, longer endurance drones into commercial operations was coming into focus. Many fixed wing applications currently operate under FAA Certificates of Authorization (CoAs), so their scale of operations is limited. But on-going efforts to develop Sense & Avoid and BVLOS solutions are hopefully leading towards the next phase of larger UAS applications in the US National Airspace System.
With an in-depth look at market opportunities and trends across eight market segments, the European GNSS Agency’s (GSA’s) annual GNSS Market Report serves as a key resource for navigating the fast-evolving world of satellite navigation technology and GNSS applications.
The fifth edition, the 2017 GNSS Market Report, was released May 10 by Carlo des Dorides, executive director for the GSA, at the European Navigation Conference held in Lausanne Switzerland.
According to the new report, the growing demand for precise location information, in combination with the ongoing evolution of GNSS technology, means that today’s GNSS market is bigger than ever.
According to the 5th edition of the GSA’s popular GNSS Market Report:
The global GNSS market is expected to grow from 5.8 billion devices in use in 2017 to an estimated 8 billion by 2020.
The GNSS downstream market is expected to produce over € 70 billion in revenue annually in 2025. When the revenue created by added-value services is included, this number could more than double.
The global GNSS downstream market is forecast to grow by more than 6 % annually between 2015 and 2020. Following the declaration of Galileo Initial Services in 2016, chipset and receiver manufacturers and application developers are leveraging Galileo signals, and a number of Galileo-ready devices are already on the market.
By 2025, the installed base of GNSS devices in drones will reach 70 mln, more than twice the sum of other professional market segments combined.
Regularly referenced by policy-makers and business leaders around the world, the GNSS Market Report serves as the go-to resource for an in-depth look at GNSS market opportunities and trends across an array of essential market segments.
“Providing in-depth information on today’s GNSS market opportunities and a data-driven forecast of its evolution through to 2025, this edition is a must-read for anyone looking to successfully navigate this promising market,” des Dorides said.
The GNSS Market Report takes a comprehensive look at the global GNSS market, providing a thorough analysis per market segment (Location-Based Services, Road Transportation, Aviation, Maritime, Rail, Agriculture, Surveying and Timing & Synchronisation), region and application type, including information on shipments, revenues and installed device base.
The 2017 edition includes such new features as:
An expanded section on macro-trends like the Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Cities and Big Data.
Segment-specific user perspectives, with an emphasis on the increasingly stringent demands of today’s GNSS users.
The unique added-value that European GNSS (EGNOS and Galileo) brings to each segment and how Galileo is already enhancing the functioning of many applications.
A special feature on the important role that GNSS plays in the growing market of drones (i.e., UAVs/Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems).
The full 100-page report is available for download free of charge.
Methodology
The GSA GNSS Market Report is compiled by the GSA and the European Commission and was produced using the GSA’s systematic Marketing Monitoring and Forecasting Process.
The underlying market model uses advanced forecasting techniques applied to a wide range of input data, assumptions, and scenarios to forecast the size of the GNSS market in terms of shipments, revenue, and installed base of receivers.
Historical values are anchored to actual data in order to ensure a high level of accuracy. Assumptions are confronted with expert opinions in each market segment and application and model results are cross-checked against the most recent market research reports from independent sources before being validated through an iterative consultation process involving pertinent sector experts and stakeholders.
Positioning chip company u-blox is making available its latest automotive dead reckoning (ADR) firmware for navigation, Telematics, eCall and V2X applications for both OEM and after-market applications.
Firmware ADR4.10 offers real-time, low latency positioning at up to 30 Hz using a combination of multi-GNSS, inertial sensor and vehicle speed data. The release also offers simplified installation, improved accuracy in dense urban environments and new messages for eCall.
ADR4.10 is available now to OEMs using u-blox M8030-Kx-DR professional and automotive-grade chips. By the end of May, it will also be available on NEO-M8L ADR modules, including the new automotive-grade NEO-M8L-02A.
u-blox ADR products are backed by specialist support at local and regional centers.
Hemisphere GNSS has released the Vector Eclipse H328, the next offering in its line of refreshed, low-power, high-precision, positioning and heading original equipment manufacturer (OEM) boards.
The H328 is designed for robotics, autonomous vehicles, antenna pointing, marine survey, machine control and any application where high-accuracy positioning and heading is required.
The multi-frequency, multi-GNSS H328 is an all signals receiver board that includes Hemisphere’s new and innovative hardware platform and integrates Atlas GNSS Global Correction Service.
Designed with this new hardware platform, the overall cost, size, weight and power consumption of the H328 are reduced. It offers scalability with centimeter-level accuracy in either single-frequency mode or full performance multi-frequency, multi-GNSS, Atlas-capable mode that supports fast real-time kinematic (RTK) initialization times over long distances, Hemisphere GNSS said.
The H328 offers fast accuracy heading of better than 0.17 degrees at 0.5 m antenna separation and aiding gyroscope and tilt sensors for temporary GNSS outages. The 60 mm x 100 mm module with 24-pin and 16-pin headers is a drop-in upgrade for existing designs using this industry standard form factor.
The latest technology platform enables simultaneous tracking of all satellite signals including GPS, GLONASS P-code, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS making it robust and reliable. The updated power management system efficiently governs the processor, memory, and ASIC making it ideal for multiple integration applications. The H328 offers flexible and reliable connectivity by supporting Serial, USB (On-The-Go with future firmware upgrade), CAN, Ethernet and SPI for ease of use and integration. Optional output rates of up to 50 Hz are also supported.
Powered by the Athena GNSS engine, the H328 provides centimeter-level RTK. Athena excels in virtually every environment where high-accuracy GNSS receivers can be used, Hemisphere GNSS said. Together with SureFix, Hemisphere’s advanced processor, the H328 delivers high-fidelity RTK quality information that results in guaranteed precision with virtually 100-percent reliability.
Integrated L-band adds support for Atlas GNSS global corrections for meter to sub decimeter-level accuracy while Tracer technology helps maintain position during correction signal outages. The H328 also uses Hemisphere’s aRTK technology, powered by Atlas. This feature allows the H328 to operate with RTK accuracies when RTK corrections fail. If the H328 is Atlas-subscribed, it will continue to operate at the subscribed service level until RTK is restored.
Inertial Sense will be releasing a high-quality, low-cost navigation system — the μINS — later this summer, the company said. The company made the announcement at AUVSI’s Xponential 2017.
Inertial Sense is a privately owned U.S. company that specializes in designing and manufacturing GPS inertial navigation technology for commercial and consumer products.
Historically, quality GPS inertial navigation has been expensive and was only designed into a small number of systems. As the commercial and consumer drone industries grow, the need for an accurate, low-cost navigation system has become more apparent, Inertial Sense said.
Acccording to Inertial Sense, the company’s engineers have invented a design that enables the technology to be smaller and less expensive.
The μINS is a tiny sensor module that is designed to provide high-quality direction, position and velocity data for drones and robotic applications. It provides this data by fusing sensor data from GPS (GNSS), gyros, accelerometers, magnetometers and a barometric pressure sensor.
Panasonic Corporation, in collaboration with u-blox, has launched a tablet-using centimeter-level RTK GNSS technology.
Toughpad, the newly born version of Panasonic’s professional grade notebooks family, is specifically designed for precision agriculture, machine control and robotic guidance applications in harsh environments and conditions. Embedded in the tablet is a u-blox NEO-M8 GNSS receiver module delivering high integrity and precision in demanding applications world-wide.
The Toughpad FZ uses a u-blox NEO-M8 GNSS receiver module. Photo: Panasonic
First successfully tested for collecting snow in Hokkaido, the Toughpad tablet uses Panasonic’s own satellite positioning technology combining a satellite radio receiver module, wireless WAN, and a single band real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS receiver connected to an external antenna. The system enables high-precision positioning down to centimeter level in open sky conditions.
“We needed a high quality, reliable and robust GNSS module for this tablet designed to be used in rugged environments,” said Tetsuya Sakamoto, general manager, mobile solutions business division, development center at Panasonic Corporation. “The NEO-M8 from u-blox was therefore the right choice.”
“It was very exciting to collaborate with a market leader such as Panasonic in developing a product that would guarantee precise positioning for a wide range of professional applications,” said Tesshu Naka, country manager at u-blox Japan. “This implementation will support the global expansion of the high precision market where u-blox is a key player.”
