Piksi is a low-cost, high-performance GPS receiver with real-time kinematic (RTK) functionality for centimeter-level relative positioning accuracy.
Its small form factor, fast position-solution update rate, and low-power consumption make Piksi ideal for integration into autonomous vehicles and portable surveying equipment. An open-source architecture with a high-performance DSP on-board and our flexible correlation accelerator make it the perfect platform for GNSS research.
Piksi is designed for autonomous vehicle guidance, such as formation flight and autonomous landing; GPS/GNSS research; and surveying systems.
Swift Navigation is a San Francisco-based startup building centimeter-accurate GPS technology for automotive, surveying, robotics, agriculture and drones.
The company says its products are 100 times more accurate than the GPS in a cell phone, at a tenth of the price of the competition.
In November, the company raised $11 million in a series-A investment round led by Pierre Lamond and Lior Susan at Eclipse Ventures. Swift Navigation plans to use the funds for taking current customers to scale and growing their team, with a focus on core engineering. Another focus continues to be research and development, with a second new product due out this year.
KVH’s new GEO-FOG 3D inertial navigation system (INS) continuously provides extremely accurate measurements that keep applications operating in challenging conditions. (Image: KVH)
KVH Industries has introduced the GEO-FOG 3D inertial navigation system (INS). The new product offers roll, pitch and heading accuracies of .05 degrees for demanding applications in unmanned, autonomous and manned aerial, ground, marine and subsurface platforms, such as subsea remotely operated vehicles or mining systems.
The GEO-FOG 3D is based on the company’s high-performance fiber optic gyro (FOG) technology combined with centimeter-level precision RTK GNSS receivers and advanced sensor fusion algorithms. The result is a solution that continuously provides fast, ultra-accurate position, velocity and attitude measurements that keep applications operating no matter how challenging the conditions, according to KVH Industries.
The core inertial sensor for the new system is KVH’s 1750 IMU, an inertial measurement unit incorporating three axes of KVH’s DSP-1750 FOG — a high-performance fiber optic gyro — with three axes of advanced accelerometer technology. The 1750 IMU is then fully integrated with a GNSS receiver and a three-axis magnetometer, a barometric pressure sensor and a triple frequency RTK GNSS receiver to deliver reliable, real-time, centimeter-level positioning and orientation measurements.
The system’s sensor fusion algorithms automatically switch from loosely to tightly coupled filtering for improved performance under poor GNSS signal conditions. The system also offers high-speed update rates and rapid north-seeking gyrocompass capabilities for high-accuracy heading in environments when magnetometers and GNSS-aided heading cannot be used.
The GEO-FOG 3D Dual inertial navigation system (INS) is designed for applications that require heading at system startup or in low dynamic conditions. (Image: KVH)
KVH has also introduced a variant, the GEO-FOG 3D Dual, an INS and attitude and heading reference system (AHRS). This product features two GNSS antennas on a fixed RTK baseline that offers the same reliability and performance levels as the GEO-FOG 3D, with increased heading, pitch, and roll accuracy for static and dynamic applications where single antenna systems can be problematic. The GEO-FOG 3D Dual is a superior choice for applications that require heading at system startup or in low dynamic conditions.
“KVH’s GEO-FOG 3D and GEO-FOG 3D Dual provide exceptional accuracy and outstanding performance in a single, small package (less than 1.6 pounds), at price points never previously achieved in the industry,” said Jay Napoli, KVH’s FOG/OEM vice president. “And, because KVH controls the entire design and production process, from creating its own optical fiber to packaging its FOGs together with other sensors for advanced applications, these new products — and all of our open-loop FOGs, IMUs and INSs — offer outstanding accuracy and excellent durability at a lower cost than competing systems.”
Reliable, high-accuracy navigation and control are essential to unmanned, autonomous and manned platforms that must operate in conditions that include magnetic interference and the absence of reliable satellite navigation data. The integrated FOG, GNSS and sensor fusion technologies allow the GEO-FOG 3D and GEO-FOG 3D Dual to achieve performance levels that are beyond typical INS- or MEMS-based solutions.
Both the GEO-FOG 3D and GEO-FOG 3D Dual are designed to support current and future satellite navigation systems including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou. Both systems offer data rates up to 1000 Hz, and the ability to output data over a high-speed RS-422 interface or RS-232 interface, which ensures the systems can be easily and readily integrated in a wide range of platforms.
