Author: Tracy Cozzens

Launchpad: STL receiver, vaccine transport

A roundup of recent products in the GNSS and inertial positioning industry from the April 2021 issue of GPS World magazine.

OEM

STL receiver

For Satellite Timing and Location service

Photo: JLT

The STL-2600 Satellite Timing and Location (STL) commercial receiver was designed in partnership with Satelles Inc., the STL service provider. The STL-2600 provides a GNSS-independent, low-cost capability to generate UTC nanosecond timing and meters-accurate positioning anywhere in the world. The STL signal has 30-db (1,000 times) higher power compared to GPS signals, allowing the receiver to operate deep indoors independent of any GPS/GNSS signal. It is also useful in marine applications where GNSS signals are regularly denied or manipulated and for stationary high-accuracy timing applications such as 5G. It can be directly connected to JLT’s GPS Transcoder products for glueless retrofit capability of existing customer legacy GPS-only receiver systems to Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS as well as adding the STL and optional atomic holdover capability to these legacy systems.

Jackson Labs Technologies, jackson-labs.com

Autosteering antennas

Provide high-precision accuracy

Photo: Harxon

The TS112 family of smart antennas is designed for demanding applications such as agricultural machine autosteering systems that require high positioning accuracy. They offer scalable positioning solutions with increased GNSS availability, reliability and accuracy. Each of the three models embeds Harxon X-Survey four-in-one technology. The high-gain and wide beamwidth multi-constellation GNSS antennas integrate 4G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in a compact unit. They feature multi-point feeding technology, ensuring high phase-center stability and real-time kinematic (RTK) centimeter-level positioning accuracy. They integrate a high-precision GNSS module with multi-band GNSS receiver and Harxon’s four-in-one multifunctional GNSS antenna in a compact housing.

Harxon, harxon.com

Tactical INS

With photonic integrated chip technology

Photo: KVH Industries

The TACNAV 3D tactical navigation system is now available with the P-1775 inertial measurement unit (IMU) featuring KVH’s new photonic integrated chip (PIC) technology. PIC technology features an integrated planar optical chip that replaces individual fiber-optic components to simplify production while maintaining or improving accuracy and performance. KVH’s IMUs with PIC technology are designed to deliver improved bias stability and greater accuracy. The fiber-optic gyro (FOG)-based TACNAV 3D tactical navigation system provides an assured positioning, navigation and timing (A-PNT) solution with an embedded GNSS and optional chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC).

KVH Industries, kvh.com

Asset tracker

Offers security features

Photo: Nordic Semiconductor

IoTeX has selected Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9160 low-power System-in-Package (SiP) with integrated LTE-M/NB-IoT modem and GPS receiver to provide the cellular internet of things (IoT) connectivity for its Pebble Tracker. The Pebble Tracker provides trusted location, environment and motion-tracking data for global asset tracking and industrial supply chain applications. Critical features strengthen security from hacking and data corruption, meeting the demand of applications that require strong data security and integrity protection throughout the supply chain. There are two versions of Pebble Tracker. The first targets blockchain and IoT developers, while a second commercial version is designed for the asset tracking and industrial supply chain markets. The product combines an environmental sensor, a motion sensor (gyroscope and accelerometer), and an ambient light sensor. It enables cellular network connectivity and integrated GPS support in a global version supporting precise, long-range tracking of asset data using established cellular infrastructure.

IoTeX, iotex.io

Nordic Semiconductor, nordicsemi.com

SURVEYING & MAPPING

Photo: Emlid

NTRIP caster

Enables transmission of corrections via the internet

Emlid Caster is an easy way to transmit corrections between real-time kinematic (RTK)-capable devices via the internet. Emlid Caster has a simple interface. Users can create their personal mount point and connect one base and up to five rovers. It works not only with Emlid products but any other device supporting NTRIP. For example, users can pass RTK corrections to the DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone from the Reach RS2 receiver as a base station. Emlid Caster is free and available worldwide. Once signed up, personal NTRIP credentials are generated automatically for a base and a rover.

Emlid, caster.emlid.com

Entry-level software

For construction surveying

The Trimble Siteworks SE Starter Edition. (Screenshot: Trimble)

The Trimble Siteworks SE Starter Edition is an entry-level construction surveying software program. With the program and a construction GNSS receiver, a supervisor, foreman, grade checker or site engineer can easily check a grade, slope or alignment and navigate the project more accurately and in less time than with traditional survey methods. It also can give more personnel on the jobsite access to survey technology, enabling more productive and efficient field crews. Trimble Siteworks SE Software is a simplified version of Trimble Siteworks Software, intended for users who do not require a full feature set and are interested in a lower-cost version to connect to GNSS only. Contractors can easily upgrade to the full version.

Trimble, trimble.com

Low-altitude mapping

Flexibility for all flying parameters

Photo: Leica

The Leica CityMapper-2L configuration is designed for airborne urban mapping projects at low altitude operation. Lower flying heights can be required by air traffic control (ATC) restrictions and in areas with low cloud cover. It features a 71-mm focal length at nadir, suitable for 5-cm ground sample distance (GSD) data acquisition at flying heights of 940-m above ground level. The new lenses offer similar coverage and productivity for a specific GSD as existing configurations for standard and high-flying heights, while significantly expanding the operation envelope. The CityMapper-2 hybrid airborne sensor combines oblique imaging and a lidar in one system. The sensor efficiently creates digital twins of cities. The system includes two 150 MP nadir cameras (RGB and NIR), four 150 MP oblique cameras and a 2-MHz linear-mode lidar sensor.

Leica Geosystems, leica-geosystems.com

Lidar dataset

Full-waveform flash data for autonomous vehicle development

Photo: LeddarTech

Leddar PixSet is a publicly available sensor dataset for advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving research and development. The dataset includes full-waveform data from LeddarTech’s Leddar Pixell, a 3D solid-state flash lidar sensor. LeddarTech is offering these datasets free of charge for academic and research purposes. It allows academic and engineering research teams specializing in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technology to use existing sets of sensor data to test and develop advanced software and to run simulations without having to assemble new sensor suites and collect their own dataset. An instrumented vehicle was utilized in the development of the dataset. The various scenes were recorded in high-density urban and suburban environments as well as on the highway.

LeddarTech, leddartech.com

UAV

Lidar surveying

High-resolution scanning

Photo: Microdrones

The mdLiDAR1000HR aaS drone lidar survey package is designed for professionals responsible for geospatial data collection, such as corridor mapping, mining (volume calculation), construction site monitoring, recording environmental changes over time, forestry, contour mapping, archaeology and cultural heritage, and more. The drone lidar system has a 90° field of view for both scanned points and imagery. It repeatedly provides a precision of 1.6 cm (.052 feet) when flown at 40 m (130 ft) at a speed of 8 m/s (18 mph). It integrates the Velodyne Puck Lite lidar sensor.

Microdrones, microdrones.com

Agriculture drone

Helps assess crop health

Photo: SenseFly

The fixed-wing eBee Ag drone can provide a complete assessment of a farm and crops faster than traditional field scouting. With its dual-purpose Duet M camera, eBee Ag captures accurate RGB and multispectral data that enable farmers to effectively assess crop health and help catch early indicators of pests, diseases and weed infestations that threaten crop yields. It features real-time kinematic (RTK) functionality for greater mapping precision. With its available RTK, the drone can achieve absolute accuracy down to 2.5 cm (1.0 inches) with RGB. Highly accurate index maps allow farmers to understand each acre while managing problematic areas field-wide.

SenseFly, sensefly.com

Lidar products

Include new terrain software module

Photo: YellowScan

The Vx15-300 and Vx20-300 UAV lidar solutions are new additions to Yellowscan’s Vx product series. A new terrain software module allows users to automatically classify grounds from off-ground, as well as export various digital elevation models. Both integrate the Riegl Mini-VUX 3 airborne laser scanner (1.55 kg / 3.4 lbs), designed specifically for integration with UAVs. The scanner offers a selectable 100-kHz, 200-kHz and 300-kHz laser-pulse repetition rate (PRR). At 300-kHz PRR, the sensor provides up to 100,000 measurements per second at 120° field of view, and thus a dense point pattern on the ground for UAV-based applications that require the acquisition of small objects.

Yellowscan, yellowscan-lidar.com

TRANSPORTATION

Vaccine container

GPS tracking ensures custody chain remains intact

Photo: FrankyDeMeyer/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Cryo-Vacc containers use helium — a fraction of the weight of nitrogen — to provide safe transportation of vaccines at the required extremely low temperatures and for periods of up to 30 days, without the need for any power supply. Now in prototype, the containers work with both air and ground transportation. A temperature range of -150°C to 8°C, makes it versatile for a range of vaccines — including those for COVID-19 — that need to be transported for up to 25 days or longer in transit, where access to an external power source is not possible. Combined with cold-chain monitoring and asset tracking technology from Beyond Wireless (a World Health Organization-certified provider), Cryo-Vacc can provide accurate temperature readings of vaccines in transit, as well as GPS-based tracking to ensure the custody chain can be audited.

Renergen, renergen.co.za

Data logger

Multiple parameter sensing for transportation

Photo: MSR Electronics

The tamper-proof MSR175plus GPS data logger records potentially damaging shock events as well as the associated ambient conditions with the exact geographic position via its GPS/GNSS receiver. It contains two 3-axis-acceleration sensors (±15 g/±200 g), a temperature sensor (-20 to +65° C), a humidity sensor (0 to 100% relative humidity), air pressure sensing (0 to 2000 mbar), and an ambient light sensor (0 to 65,000 lux). It helps ensure compliance with transport specifications and provides irrefutable data for identifying damage liability for help with insurance claims. An external connector is ready for a cable-connected antenna. The removable, rechargeable 2400 mAh LiPo-battery enables recording for up to 8 weeks (at least one year without GPS-based tracking).

MSR Electronics, www.msr.ch

March 30, 2021
ST joins with OQmented on MEMS mirror-based solution

Agreement focuses on increasing development and capacity for ultra-compact, low-power laser-beam scanners to expand the market

STMicroelectronics and OQmented, a startup focused on MEMS-mirror technology, have agreed to collaborate on the advancement of the technology for augmented reality and 3D-sensing markets. Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) combine tiny 3D mechanical structures and electrical circuits on a chip to sense and actuate activity.

The joint effort aims to build on the expertise of both companies to advance the technology and products behind the leading MEMS-mirror-based laser-beam scanning solutions in the market.

ST manufactures MEMS sensors, actuators and related components including drivers, controllers and laser-diode drivers. ST is contributing its MEMS design and manufacturing resources to the collaboration.

OQmented plans to further industrialize and mass produce its Bubble MEMS technology, a patented 3D glass-encapsulation method of hermetic vacuum sealing of MEMS micro-mirrors. The glass bubbles eliminate environmental contaminants and minimize light-refraction effects.

Automotive grade. Vacuum sealing is a key element for meeting automotive-grade requirements, while simultaneously reducing power consumption by an order of magnitude and enhancing performance for resonant, bi-axial scanners, where the MEMS mirrors move in both axes at their resonant frequency, creating an ultra-compact and power-efficient scanning solution. The resonant mirrors are suitable for display and 3D sensing applications in mobile devices.

“In teaming with ST, we’ve chosen a solid semiconductor partner that has demonstrated its leading position in design and manufacturing of MEMS products, particularly MEMS mirrors, over the past 20 years,” said Ulrich Hofmann, CEO/CTO and co-founder, OQmented. “Combining ST’s expertise in developing, marketing, and manufacturing key components for laser-beam scanning solutions with OQmented’s knowledge and intellectual property will contribute greatly to our product offering, manufacturing capacity, and marketing channels, while also expanding the market in numerous application areas.”

“Our goal in working with OQmented is to leverage our shared expertise and deep understanding of laser-beam scanning technologies with the mutual vision to continue the adoption and growth of laser-beam scanning in key applications, such as augmented reality and 3D sensing,” said Anton Hofmeister, vice president and general manager, MEMS Microactuator Division, STMicroelectronics.

From the joint effort, ST and OQmented plan to market a wide range of scanning solutions. These would include MEMS mirrors, MEMS drivers and controllers, and complete reference designs of laser-beam scanning engines for a range of applications. The companies also intend to collaborate on a laser-beam scanning roadmap and the development of future technologies and products.

March 29, 2021
Army approves requirement for Navigation Warfare

The U.S. Army’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team has approved the Navigation Warfare Situational Awareness Abbreviated Capability Development Document (A-CDD), signed March 25.

The A-CDD validates the operational need and enables experimentation and rapid prototyping for NAVWAR-SA capabilities for the warfighter.

NAVWAR is deliberate offensive and defensive actions to assure friendly use and prevent adversary use of positioning, navigation and timing information. NAVWAR supports Multi-Domain Operations as an enabler to precision fires, movement and maneuver, force tracking, and a host of data networks that tie personnel and weapon systems together into a joint or coalition force.

NAVWAR-SA provides the capability to detect, identify and locate sources of interference that deny or degrade reception of PNT. It is intended to validate PNT signal integrity and provide users with indication and warnings of the presence and intensity of interference.

NAVWAR-SA will also characterize the operating environment through the integration of multiple sensors that are able to detect, identify and geolocate sources of intentional and unintentional interference.

William Nelson, Director, APNT CFT

“This A-CDD will enable us to accelerate critical NAVWAR technology development and streamline the process of expediting an operationally relevant system to our warfighters,” said Willie Nelson, director for the APNT/Space CFT. “This capability will enhance our ability to provide real-time situational awareness of PNT reliability to soldiers and commanders on the battlefield, which will enable Long-Range Precision Fires and support freedom of maneuver of large scale ground combat operations.”

NAVWAR-SA will give the Army Forces the ability to “sense” the PNT environment in real-time, allowing commanders and units to maneuver with confidence and with precision when the global positioning system is degraded or denied. This is critical element of NAVWAR operations.

The APNT CFT coordinated with organizations across the modernization enterprise to get the NAVWAR-SA A-CDD approved. The Army Capability managers for Space and High Altitude played a major role in developing the written requirement and getting it through the approval process.

“The requirements provided in the NAVWAR-SA A-CDD are a first step in developing dedicated NAVWAR capabilities for our soldiers and are a key enabler in enhancing lethality in combat operations,” said Col. Tim Dalton, Army Capability manager for Space and High Altitude director.

The A-CDD details methods to leverage new and existing solutions for rapid prototyping, testing and soldier assessment. The APNT/Space CFT will utilize the “buy, try and decide” process to accelerate the development of critical enabling technologies and streamline the process of transitioning a scalable, interoperable and agile capability to the field. This process will inform NAVWAR-SA requirements for current and future Army systems.

“NAVWAR-SA will strengthen the Army’s ability to conduct military operations in PNT-challenged environments,” said David Pinckley, NAVWAR director for the APNT/Space CFT and chairman of the NATO NAVWAR Capabilities Team. “The unfortunate reality is that our systems will continue to be challenged by our adversaries so we are working with our joint and coalition partners to preserve military capabilities while mitigating impacts of interference.”

NAVWAR is one of the three APNT/Space CFT Signature Efforts, which will deliver offensive and defensive NAVWAR capabilities in conjunction with existing Department of Defense NAVWAR policies.

Joint and coalition forces conducting military operations will employ NAVWAR-SA to coordinate and implement mitigating actions to overcome PNT challenged environments.

The APNT/Space CFT plans to assess and test NAVWAR-SA prototypes later this year, during Project Convergence 21 and the CFT’s annual PNT Assessment Exercise at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

March 29, 2021
NASA analyzes navigation needs of Artemis Moon missions
Space communications and navigation engineers at NASA are evaluating the navigation needs for the Artemis program, including identifying the precision navigation capabilities needed to establish the first sustained presence on the lunar surface.

“Artemis engages us to apply creative navigation solutions, choosing the right combination of capabilities for each mission,” said Cheryl Gramling, associate chief for technology in the Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “NASA has a multitude of navigation tools at its disposal, and Goddard has a half-century of experience navigating space exploration missions in lunar orbit.”

Alongside proven navigation capabilities, NASA will use innovative navigation technologies during the upcoming Artemis missions.

“Lunar missions provide the opportunity to test and refine novel space navigation techniques,” said Ben Ashman, a navigation engineer at Goddard. “The Moon is a fascinating place to explore and can serve as a proving ground that expands our navigation toolkit for more distant destinations like Mars.”

Illustration of NASA’s lunar-orbiting Gateway and a human landing system in orbit around the Moon. (Image: NASA)

Ultimately, exploration missions need a robust combination of capabilities to provide the availability, resiliency, and integrity required from an in-situ navigation system. Some of the navigation techniques being analyzed for Artemis include the following.

Radiometrics, optimetrics and laser altimetry

Radiometrics, optimetrics, and laser altimetry measure distances and velocity using the properties of electromagnetic transmissions. Engineers measure the time it takes for a transmission to reach a spacecraft and divide by the transmission’s rate of travel — the speed of light.

These accurate measurements have been the foundation of space navigation since the launch of the first satellite, giving an accurate and reliable measurement of the distance between the transmitter and spacecraft’s receiver. Simultaneously, the rate of change in the spacecraft’s velocity between the transmitter and spacecraft can be observed due to the Doppler effect.

Radiometrics and optimetrics measure the distances and velocity between a spacecraft and ground antennas or other spacecraft using their radio links and infrared optical communications links, respectively. In laser altimetry and space laser ranging, a spacecraft or ground telescope reflects lasers off the surface of a celestial body or a specially designated reflector to judge distances.

The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) sends laser pulses down to the surface of the Moon from the orbiting spacecraft. These pulses bounce off of the Moon and return to LRO, providing scientists with measurements of the distance from the spacecraft to the lunar surface. As LRO orbits the Moon, LOLA measures the shape of the lunar surface, which includes information about the Moon’s surface elevations and slopes. This image shows the slopes found near the South Pole of the Moon. (Image: NASA/LRO)

Optical navigation

Optical navigation techniques rely on images from cameras on a spacecraft. There are three main branches of optical navigation.
- Star-based optical navigation uses bright celestial objects such as stars, moons, and planets for navigation. Instruments use these objects to determine a spacecrafts’ orientation and can define their distance from the objects using the angles between them.
- As a spacecraft approaches a celestial body, the object begins to fill the field of view of the camera. Navigation engineers then derive a spacecraft’s distance from the body using its limb — the apparent edge of the body — and centroid, or geometric center.
- At a spacecraft’s closest approach, Terrain Relative Navigation uses camera images and computer processing to identify known surface features and calculate a spacecraft’s course based on the location of those features in reference models or images.
NASA will use data gathered from LuGRE to refine operational lunar GNSS systems for future missions.

Weak-signal GPS and GNSS

NASA is developing capabilities that will allow missions at the Moon to leverage signals from GNSS constellations. These signals — already used on many Earth-orbiting spacecraft — will improve timing, enhance positioning accuracy, and assist autonomous navigation systems in cislunar and lunar space.

In 2023, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), developed in partnership with the Italian Space Agency, will demonstrate and refine this capability on the Moon’s Mare Crisium basin. LuGRE will fly on a Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission delivered by Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas. NASA will use data gathered from LuGRE to refine operational lunar GNSS systems for future missions.

Illustration of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface. The lander will carry a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023 as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Autonomous navigation

Autonomous navigation software leverages measurements like radiometrics, celestial navigation, altimetry, terrain-relative navigation, and GNSS to perform navigation onboard without contact with operators or assets on Earth, enabling spacecraft to maneuver independently of terrestrial mission controllers. This level of autonomy enables responsiveness to the dynamic space environment.

Autonomous navigation can be particularly useful for deep space exploration, where the communications delay can hamper in-situ navigation. For example, missions at Mars must wait eight to 48 minutes for round trip communications with Earth depending on orbital dynamics. During critical maneuvers, spacecraft need the immediate decision-making that autonomous software can provide.

LunaNet navigation services

LunaNet is a unique communications and navigation architecture developed by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. LunaNet’s common standards, protocols, and interface requirements will extend internetworking to the Moon, offering unprecedented flexibility and access to data.

For navigation, the LunaNet approach offers operational independence and increased precision by combining many of the methods above into a seamless architecture. LunaNet will provide missions with access to key measurements for precision navigation in lunar space.

Artist’s conceptualization of Artemis astronauts using LunaNet services on the Moon, a unique approach to lunar communications and navigation. The LunaNet communications and navigation architecture will enable the precision navigation required for crewed missions to the Moon and place our astronauts closer to scientifically significant lunar sites, enhancing the our missions’ scientific output. (Image: NASA/Resse Patillo)
March 29, 2021
PTP now available on all OxTS next-generation devices

Oxford Technical Services (OxTS) has launched precision time protocol (PTP) master functionality on all of its next-generation inertial navigation systems (INS).

PTP is a network-based time synchronization protocol used to synchronize all clocks throughout a computer network. It is used in many industries, but most notably in finance to synchronize transactions, mobile-phone tower transmissions and subsea acoustic arrays.

Time synchronization

In many commercial organizations, millisecond-level device synchronization as offered with network time protocol (NTP) is sufficient. However, in surveying and automotive testing environments where there is more than one clock source (lidar and inertial navigation systems, or INS, for example), final results can suffer from time drift if millisecond — and not microsecond — synchronization is used.

Time drift becomes relevant as soon as you introduce more than one data acquisition system working in parallel. This is because each system will have its own timing error, and over time this error will grow and create drift.

For surveyors, time drift can negatively impact point clouds by making object recognition difficult, subsequently leading to blurring and double vision.

For automotive engineers, when running campaigns, analysis of events within your data may be misaligned, making the analysis more difficult and/or less efficient.

Stamp out time drift

To stamp out time drift, it is important to use the most accurate clock source available.

A key component of an INS is the GNSS receiver. The GNSS receiver acquires data, including timing information, directly from multiple GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo). The GNSS receiver, coupled with the inertial measurement unit within the INS, allows users to benefit from the centimeter-level position accuracy that is so important in surveying and automotive testing environments.

These satellite systems house the most accurate time source possible — atomic clocks — meaning that devices connected to a network that includes an INS can take advantage of this time source owing to the GNSS receiver within the INS.

Simpler setup for lidar use

By migrating from a traditional PPS hardware set-up, which involves connecting and wiring multiple cables, to a PTP setup, which is essentially an Ethernet “plug-and-play” solution, users can also make day-to-day use of the equipment simpler and more efficient.

Without PTP – using PPS setup. (Image: OxTS)

An example PPS hardware setup with a PTP-enabled network. (Image: OxTS)

This much-improved hardware setup allows surveyors and automotive test engineers to be up and running in a much shorter time frame than previously possible.

Adding value to the automotive industry

The addition of PTP also adds value for automotive users. With cars-under-test incorporating multiple sensors (lidars, cameras, etc.), synchronizing all that data can help support accurate analysis after the test is complete.

OxTS is continuing to develop its PTP solution by working on PTP slave functionality and improving the configuration process, which will provide greater flexibility in typical automotive setups that use data acquisition (DAQ) for larger sensor networks.

Summary

PTP as a time synchronization method is becoming more popular, particularly in the lidar industry, with manufacturers such as Ouster and Hesai enabling PTP on their sensors.

The shorter “time to survey” gives customers a much-enhanced user experience, and the higher quality final output on offer means that many users will demand their sensors are PTP-compatible before considering them for their projects.

Manufacturers of complimentary sensors, such as INS, need to build the capability into their product sets to allow them to be fit for the future.

Various OxTS INS are available to use PTP, including the new xNAV650, the company’s new small, lightweight and affordable INS for applications where payload size and weight matter. Learn more about the xNAV650 INS.

Users can also find out more about OxTS and its range of PTP-enabled devices by visiting its dedicated landing page, OxTS PTP-enabled INS devices.

Image: OxTS

March 29, 2021
DJI provides dual controllers for two UAV operators

Photo: DJI

DJI now offers dual UAV controllers. Dual operator mode allows a pilot to focus solely on safe operation of the drone, while another operator can focus on payload operations — creating a 3D scan of a location, hoisting or releasing items, or operating a lidar scanner or air-quality sampler.

The DJI Inspire 2 and M600 have dedicated forward-facing video feeds so pilots can see where they are flying, regardless of what the payload camera or other sensors are doing.

Dual controls can ensure safe operation remains the top priority of even a complex and challenging drone flight.

March 29, 2021
GPS + modeling reveal shrinking glacier

Photo: Jupiterimages/PHOTOS.com/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) calculates that thinning of Alaska’s Taku Glacier has increased from an average rate of 0.5 meter to 2 meters per year over the past two decades. Annual mapping by JIRP reveals the glacier’s thickness has varied from one year to the next, likely due to snow accumulation variability, but the overall current trend shows an annual net loss of ice.

“Taku is losing enough meltwater every day to fill an NFL stadium,” said Seth Campbell, JIRP director of Academics & Research.

At more than 800 square kilometers, Taku Glacier is the largest in the massive Juneau Icefield, making it vital to the study of climate change.

JIRP monitors the complex kinematics and mass balance of the Juneau Icefield — changes to ice velocity, snow accumulation and surface melting — to estimate whether the glacier is advancing or retreating over time. The team maps yearly GPS field measurements in Golden Software’s Grapher and Surfer modeling packages.

Image: JIRP/Golden Software

Straddling the Alaska-Canada border, the receding icefield plays multiple important roles in local ecosystems. For British Columbia, it provides fresh water, but for the Gulf of Alaska, increasing glacier meltwater can potentially harm the marine ecosystem and valuable fisheries.

JIRP research dates from 1946; the introduction of GPS in 1993 contributed significantly to annual summer fieldwork. Volunteers capture more than 1,000 GPS measurements at designated transect locations on the icefield each year to record glacial velocity and surface elevation changes.

Using Grapher, the team plots GPS “Z” elevation values across transects in 2D to generate thickness profiles. The scientists also input GPS field points for multiple transects from multiple years into the Surfer 3D surface mapping package to gain a sense of overall glacier volume change.

The primary revelation from the JIRP work has been a greater understanding of how and where the glaciers are changing, according to Scott McGee, JIRP Geomatics Program Lead. Until recently, glacial melt was assumed to occur mostly at lower elevations of the icefield, where temperatures are generally higher. However, McGee and the JIRP team have routinely discovered thinning occurring at all elevations of the icefield, including at the highest elevations of 1,900 meters.

March 27, 2021
L3Harris provides detailed mapping for UAV flights

Image: L3Harris

L3Harris provided a detailed digital map of Blacksburg, Virginia, to aid in the development of a Navigation Performance Forecast for UAVs, specifically for beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights.

L3Harris used a novel method of 3D map generation using a deep stack of high-resolution satellite imagery and artificial-intelligence technology without the time or expense of a site visit. This detailed mapping technology, known as multi-view photogrammetry, was used in a pilot study to determine the viability of using modern, automated, mapping technologies to build a scalable methodology that can be applied to very large-size mapping programs, potentially covering the urban areas of North America and Western Europe.

The company is using these 3D maps with its GNSS forecast technology to accurately predict GPS performance for UAS flight planning and operation. This prediction helps the unmanned aircraft service supplier and UAS operator ensure safe operations.

The L3Harris Geospatial Data Products team provided 2D and 3D products, including the vector map shown above.

March 27, 2021
Remembering U.S. history by mapping internment camp with UAV

Photo: Eos Positioning

It has been 78 years since 110,000 Japanese-Americans were forcibly interned in 10 camps across the United States.
In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order announcing their internment. When World War II ended in 1945, the 10 camps were unceremoniously abandoned. The people interned there, their descendants, and historical groups are now trying to preserve memory of the camps.

A new Esri StoryMap from Eos Positioning Systems explores the stories of two men whose lives were connected by Amache Internment Camp in southeastern Colorado.

In the first chapters, we meet Dennis Otsuji, a renowned landscape architect who was born at Amache in 1943. Then we meet Jim Casey, GIS user and philanthropist on a quest to preserve Amache. Besides using Esri ArcGIS Online tools, Casey used the Arrow Gold GNSS receiver from Eos Positioning Systems for ground control points.

In an unlikely story twist, Otsuji and Casey happened to meet when Otsuji went searching for his past, just as Casey was working to preserve the past. The StoryMap ends with the first augmented-reality look at Amache.

The project — selected for Esri Favorite Stories of 2020 — was 10 years in the making. Learn more at Mapping Amache.

March 26, 2021
Inertial Labs’ INS rock powerline inspections with UAVs

Image: Inertial Labs

Lidar and photogrammetry payload maker Rock Robotic has finished development of its new Rock R2A payload. Featuring the Livox Avia lidar scanner mounted on an aluminum enclosure, the R2A is light enough to fly on the DJI Matrice 200 and 210 series (versions 1 and 2), Matrice 300 RTK, Matrice 600 Pro, Freefly Alta X and many custom platforms.

A major factor in Rock Robotic’s success has been its use of Inertial Labs’ inertial navigation systems in its payloads. The Rock R2A uses the INS-D-OEM, which features temperature-calibrated and precisely aligned tri-axis micro-electromechanical accelerometers and gyroscopes.

With 20 years in the position, navigation and timing industry, Inertial Labs has been able to develop hardware solutions integrating many different types of sensors to ensure accurate time synchronization among independent data packets, resulting in a guaranteed high-performing system-level solution.

These high-quality systems and components, paired with a robust onboard Kalman filter, result in trajectories with heading accuracies of 0.03 degrees and pitch-and-roll accuracy of 0.006 degrees. These values directly affect point-cloud accuracy, which for the Rock R2A means a system accuracy of 5 centimeters or less.

The advent of drone lidar payloads has had a profound impact on industrial inspections such as for powerlines, saving labor costs and improving safety. The multiple return method of scanning with the Livox Avia and excellent position and orientation accuracy from the INS-D-OEM ensure that the R2A provides a highly dense and accurate point cloud for powerline classification.

“The Inertial Labs team has a deep understanding of the whole navigation technology ecosystem,” said Rock Robotics CEO and Co-Founder Harrison Knoll (known on YouTube as Indiana Drones). “This has made their products offer world-class performance and maintain easy integration and interoperability with GNSS receivers and onboard computer systems.”

March 26, 2021
A new angle on mapping cliffs on California’s shore

Photo: Trimble

Cliff surveys are traditionally performed with fixed-wing aircraft that collect nadir photos. However, a photogrammetry company accurately triangulated oblique images and mapped them in 3D stereo, developing a new technique in the process.

The erosion survey — along Pacific Coast Highway 1 in Cayucos, California — required imaging the side of the cliff to produce a precise orthomosaic and topographic map of its structure and integrity. The project required a 0.5-inch orthomosaic, a 1.2-inch 3D topographic contour map and a vector-based digital terrain model accurate to 1.2 inches.

Surveyor Paul Reichardt and Robert Lafica, owner of Central Coast Aerial Mapping, placed ground control points around the property and beach, and then used a Trimble R8 GNSS receiver to measure their positions to within 0.04-foot accuracy. They also established four checkpoints for quality control in the photo triangulation process. The R8 and a Trimble 5600 total station were used to collect property corners and top-of-surface elevations to integrate into the 3D topographic map.

At an altitude of 131 feet, the UAS covered the site from both nadir and oblique camera angles in nine passes, collecting 158 photos at an average ground sample distance of 0.5 inches. To capture the cliff side, Lafica flew the UAS about 90 feet from its face and angled the camera at 40 degrees.

The photos and position data were loaded into Trimble’s Inpho UASMaster photogrammetric software to automatically triangulate the images. The software pinpointed 6,368 common features with multiple connections to match images to each other. After initial triangulation, precise coordinates were attached to each control point, a final triangulation was completed to create the maps, and a new technique for mapping cliff faces was born.

March 26, 2021
UAV + lidar combination maps mine, tunnel mouth

Photo: CHC Navigation

In September 2019, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography conducted a nine-day project on the Heishan Mining Zone in Toksun County, Xinjiang Province, China.

The CHCNAV BB4 UAV was combined with the AlphaUni 900 lidar solution to capture data and produce a topographic map of the mining area at a scale of 1:500. The point-cloud data was collected for subsequent 3D modeling to facilitate asset management and inventory work.

In another project, CHCNAV provided training and equipment for a China Railway No. 10 Engineering Bureau project. For this project, CHCNAV’s BB4 UAV was combined with the AlphaUni 1300 lidar system and deployed to study the topography of the tunnel mouth in Liangshan, Sichuan province.

The BB4 is a high-end unmanned aerial system resulting from an alliance between the two companies in their respective segments. Its scientific design and highly integrated production technology come from CHCNAV — a global manufacturer specialized in efficient geospatial measurement technologies — and its fully automated flight control system from DJI, pioneer in the manufacture of commercial UAVs.

The AlphaUni 900 and AlphaUni 1300 are high-end multi-platform lidar systems, designed and improved by CHCNAV through many years of exploration and data-capture experience. Both are fully integrated systems with high-precision, long-range laser scanners that provide unique waveform lidar technology from Riegl and a high-accuracy inertial navigation system.

The AlphaUni systems can take on demanding surveying missions in the air and on the ground that require the highest quality of data.

March 26, 2021