Four innovators in the fields of satellites, signals, services and products accepted Leadership Awards for 2018 from this magazine at the GPS World Leadership Awards Ceremony and Dinner on Sept. 27 in Miami. Their remarks at the podium directed the audience of PNT industry and research community VIPs to key challenges for the future.
Satellites
Javier Benedicto, left, accepts the Satellites Leadership Award on behalf of Giuliano Gatti of the European Space Agency, from Phil Froom of Rockwell Collins. (Photo: Melanie Beus)
Kicking off the ceremony, Phil Froom of Rockwell Collins mentioned that “Rockwell Collins and QinetiQ [have] signed an alliance agreement to produce a new family of high-assurance, multi-constellation GNSS receivers for professional and military use. This new family of receivers is aimed to be complementary to the current encrypted family of Rockwell Collins receivers in service across the globe, but allow the customer to select the level of capability and protection based upon operational, political or even financial needs.”
(Photo: Melanie Beus)
Froom conferred the Satellites Award upon Giuliano Gatti of European Space Agency, for his contribution to setting up the Galileo constellation, as Space Segment Procurement Manager, from GIOVE-A through all current operational satellites, a total of 26 deployed in 7 years.
Accepting the Award on Gatti’s behalf, Javier Benedicto of ESA told the crowd about “two moments in his [Gatti’s] professional life that were very beautiful and very difficult. The beautiful moment was January 12, 2006, when the very first Galileo satellite, GIOVE-A, started transmitting the first Galileo signals. The most difficult moment was on August 27, 2014, when we saw that Soyuz rocket deploy our satellites a few thousand kilometers before the intended orbit. We thought, how are we going to recover? Today, the satellites are working, and they will be injected into the constellation in a few months.”
[The full text of remarks by both award conferrers — Leadership Dinner sponsors Rockwell Collins, Harris and Spirent Federal — and award recipients will appear in the December issue of the magazine. Jointly with their remarks directing all in the PNT community to future challenges will appear the Directions 2019 special section: essays by the chief executive officers operating the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou constellations. Look for it!]
Signals
Joe Rolli, Harris Corporation. (Photo: Melanie Beus)
Joe Rolli from Harris opened by saying “I work with an amazing group in Clifton [New Jersey] that comes together, overcomes challenges, builds our [GPS III] payloads, and provides a system that everyone uses every day. I think we’ve gotten to the point where we can honestly say, almost nothing works without GPS.”
“The challenge that I see [for the future] is to overcome the politics: where do you draw the line between doing what’s right for the PNT solution for the common good and addressing your national security and your own agendas in protecting your own country.”
After further comments, he called Logan Scott of LS Consultiing to the podium to receive the 2018 Signals award. Scott has been, in the words of the person who nominated him for the award, “an advocate for improved civil GPS security, and the inventor of a new asymmetric navigation security paradigm for civil GPS signals that avoids the need for secure key storage in civil GPS receivers and thus allows for widespread adoption in applications without physical security capabilities.”
Logan Scott, LS Consulting. (Photo: Melanie Beus)
Scott spoke about the Chips-Message Robust Authentication (Chimera) for GPS Civilian Signals project, in which he was a key participant. “Chimera can offer security benefits far beyond what you see with data message-signing only.”
“Moving forward, the challenge I offer to you all is this: how can we establish the integrity and truthfulness of position and time reports both locally and remotely to other people and mechanized devices? In a world of autonomous vehicles, crowd-sourced databases and geofenced capabilities and information access, and an insecure supply chain, it is not enough to say, ‘Well, I saw it on C/A code.’ ”
Services
This award, sponsored by Spirent Federal, brought Justin Eldredge to the microphone.
Justin Eldredge, Spirent Federal (Photo: Melanie Beus).
“This year we maintain our position of being first to market with new signals, with the launch of SimMNSA. We’re currently in the final test phase of this new M-code option and it will delivering to several authorized customers by the end of the year. If M-code signals aren’t in the spectrum of testing for you, we offer products that simulate all other GNSS signals, plus a variety of other sensors.”
Eldredge introduced John Raquet, professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Raquet was nominated and subsequently voted as winner of the Services award for work he and his team at the Autonomy & Navigation Technology (ANT) Center developed on PNT sensors and systems utilizing almost every available source, including GPS, GNSS, inertial, vision, lidar, magnetic field, pseudolites, radar, terrain mapping, signals of opportunity, star trackers, radio ranging, 3D audio, X-ray pulsars, clocks, and more.
John Raquet, U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (Photo: Melanie Beus).
“Sometimes I called the ANT the Crazy Idea Factory. We’ve tried lots and lots of things,” said Raquet. “I think I have the best job in the world, because I get to experiment with many, many things, and work with amazing people.”
“This is not the kind of community where you build something once and you’re done, you put it away. This is a growing worldwide enterprise that takes new talent to come in and fill the spots that many of the people in this room have occupied. I’m privileged to see some of the students that we’ve worked with to then go on and fill some of the gaps, really do some amazing things.”
Products
Jade Morton, who herself received a Leadership Award in 2015, introduced the final honor of the evening.
“There’s a community of people kind of like you guys, a few of them are sitting here, who are crazy about the atmosphere. That’s their livelihood. They’re talking about how to use satellite navigation technology to monitor the atmosphere, to provide forecasting and modeling technologies. All of these effects, we [navigation engineers] have done everything we can to filter them out, to make them go away. But this company built a system to analyze the real traits that the atmosphere has imprinted on GNSS signals.”
Jean-Marie Sleewaegen from Septentrio then accepted the Products award, jointly on behalf of his colleagues Tom Willems, Andrew Simsky and Wim de Wilde. The company’s PolaRx5S receiver supports worldwide ionosphere monitoring, providing multi-frequency multi-GNSS measurements with low phase noise, high data rates, and flexible configurations, and enabling many Earth-observing applications ranging from ionospheric scintillation characterization to tectonic movements monitoring.
Wim de Wilde and Jean-Marie Sleewaegen, Septentrio, and Jade Morton, University of Colorado (Photo: Melanie Beus).
Sleewaegen said, “We continue to cherish our close ties with the research community. While most of us dream of getting rid of these error sources and these perturbations, atmospheric research scientists don’t want us to filter them out — they want to focus on them and see them in their full glory! The technology that we developed [to both mitigate and preserve the perturbations] is now at the heart of all of our receivers.”
“With the avalanche of new signals and constellations that we see — in some regions of Asia you can now see more than 60 GNSS satellites — the question is how to absorb, process and use that huge amount of data. All these questions are still not answered and will definitely keep us busy for years to come.”
The GPS World Dinner and Awards Ceremony are held annually at the time of (although separately from and independent of) the ION GNSS+ conference. Nominations for the awards come from a group of 40 industry executives and researchers. A ballot of the nominees is then circulated to a larger group of similar make-up.
The festive evening concluded, after dinner and dessert, with the Smart City Jam!, a group exercise in navigation and obstruction. Details in the December issue.
At the Smart City starting line (Photo: Melanie Beus).Smart City jammers in action (Photo: Melanie Beus).And they’re off! (Photo: Melanie Beus)
Last gasp, struggling to finish in second place (Photo: Melanie Beus).You wouldn’t think that professional navigation engineers would be so enthusiastic about jamming (Photo: Melanie Beus).
Somehow, the team of Leadership Award winners (LOQUATRIO) ended up winners of the Smart City Jam! as well. Smart drivers (or jammers) (or both). (Photo: Melanie Beus).
Atlantic Microwave, a U.K.-based satellite communications company, has announced the maiden flight of its DSS Satellite Simulator product on board an eight-rotor drone.
Off-air testing of ground- and vehicle-based satellite communications systems has developed into a major industry need with the current explosion of satcom applications in multiple industries, Atlantic Microwave said.
Atlantic’s satellite simulator and loop-test translators were aboard the drone in a first flight in Denmark, using frequencies in the Ku band for proof of concept. Atlantic is also offering similar payloads in Ka band (which delivers greater bandwidth), X band for the military, as well as future Q and V band operations.
“We are in an exciting age where new technologies are shaping our current and future lifestyles,” said Atlantic’s CEO, Geoff Burling.”At Atlantic Microwave, we embrace these advances and seek, innovatively, to create solutions in all kinds of communications industries.”
Atlantic Microwave, based in Braintree, U.K., provides satellite simulation with antenna and cabled-in based products, which have been supplied to major satcom operators, integrators and manufacturers on all continents.
Newly captured aerial maps show before and after images to support cleanup efforts by public safety organizations, utility companies and insurance agencies.
Aerial mapping company Nearmap has flown and captured aerial imagery in the areas in North and South Carolina impacted by Hurricane Florence.
The imagery is already supporting the extensive cleanup and reconstruction efforts for public safety, utility companies, insurance agencies and numerous contractors in many industries.
High-resolution captures from the Wilmington and Myrtle Beach areas are now online and available for immediate use with more areas scheduled to come online over the next several days.
The post-hurricane coverage includes about 4,530 square kilometers around the coastline from Newport, N.C., to Myrtle Beach, S.C., covering a population of about 752,000 people.
High-resolution imagery shows the impact of Hurricane Florence at Southport, North Carolina, comparing September 2017 to September 2018. (Image: Nearmap)
Before the hurricane, Nearmap had already covered more than 30,000 square kilometers in North and South Carolina with ortho imagery and more than 12,000 square kilometers with oblique imagery. With previous aerial maps taken at least once a year totaling over 140,000 square kilometers online, some of them dating back to 2014, users are able to compare current imagery with historical photos.
“A key element to the recovery efforts is having access not only to high-resolution imagery from after the storm, but also to historical aerial captures from before the storm hit,” said Rob Newman, CEO and managing director of Nearmap. “Historical captures provide consistency and contrast, enabling crews to look at the current truth on the ground and compare it to previous time periods to help assess the damage along the coastlines.”
All pre- and post-hurricane imagery can be accessed through a standard web browser using Nearmap’s MapBrowser, through Nearmap partners or via APIs to integrate with common GIS, CAD and other applications.
All the Nearmap pre- and post-hurricane imagery is published at sub-3-inch ground sampling distance, which allows users to see great detail on the ground. At this resolution, they can clearly identify important ground conditions such as roof blow-off, property damage and flooding. The same is true for streets and all other ground features, providing details for users to complete analysis both pre and post storms.
“Our thoughts are with the residents of North and South Carolina recently impacted by the hurricane,” Newman said. “We are pleased that Nearmap customers are using our imagery to help restore these neighborhoods, and help residents fix and rebuild after rooftop, flooding and other damage.”
Nearmap customers use aerial imagery to assist in the following aspects of post-disaster cleanup:
Public Safety: Access to immediate, crystal-clear aerial imagery of areas affected by storm damage for emergency response routing and safety.
Utilities: View all areas where above-ground utilities have been affected and also see where infrastructure is down or damaged and causing hazards.
Reconstruction Efforts: Compare historical image captures with post-event imagery to see structure elements and provide proper measurements to rebuild.
Insurance: View impacted properties to see first-hand damage and potential structural damage.
The Institute of Navigation presents Dr. Oliver Montenbruck with prestigious Johannes Kepler Award at the ION GNSS+ 2018 Conference. (Photo: ION)
The Institute of Navigation’s (ION) Satellite Division presented Oliver Montenbruck with its Johannes Kepler Award on Sept. 28 at the ION GNSS+ Conference in Miami. The Kepler Award recognizes and honors an individual for sustained and significant contributions to the development of satellite navigation. It is the highest honor bestowed by the ION’s Satellite Division.
Montenbruck was honored for his pioneering contributions to GPS for navigation of space vehicles, the advancement of multi-GNSS understanding, and tracking networks to support scientific and societal benefit.
He is head of the GNSS Technology and Navigation Group at DLR’s German Space Operations Center and an affiliated professor for GNSS at the Technical University of Munich. His research activities have been devoted to spaceborne GNSS applications, where he made contributions in the fields of receiver technology, autonomous navigation systems, spacecraft formation flying and precise orbit determination.
These range from development of the first meter-level autonomous navigation system for micro-satellites based on Kalman-filtered GPS observations, to detailed modeling of user spacecraft antenna phase-center variations, non-gravitational forces and ambiguity fixing techniques that support GNSS-based POD precision to the 1-centimeter level in support of space geodesy.
His unique expertise in the field has resulted in numerous consultancy tasks for national and European space industry and agencies. Focusing on the new satellite navigation systems, he has pioneered the advancement of monitoring networks, characterization of new navigation signals, GNSS performance assessment and multi-GNSS processing.
A GPS World Leader
In 2014, Montenbruck was honored with the GPS World Leadership Award, Products Category, for “Bringing SatNav Future into View: A Platform for Early Familiarization with New Constellations” (see his remarks here.) He also has authored several articles for the magazine, including:
He pioneered the expansion of global monitoring networks for new and modernized GNSS, initiating the Cooperative Network for GNSS Observation (CONGO), which has been a primary source of information for early assessment of Galileo, BeiDou, GPS L2C and L5 signals. His leadership and research have contributed to a thorough understanding of new GNSS constellations, enabled the full exploitation of new signals, advanced satellite technology and made multi-GNSS available to a wider community.
Montenbruck is an active member ION and past member of council. He serves on the IGS Governing Board and key working groups. Within the International GNSS Service (IGS), Montenbruck chairs the Multi-GNSS Working Group and coordinates the performance of the Multi-GNSS Project (MGEX).
Montenbruck is widely recognized for his frequently cited textbooks, ~100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, more than 250 conference papers and the Springer Handbook of Global Navigation Satellite Systems, which he co-edited and authored/co-authored. He is a recipient of the ION’s Tycho Brahe Award and the DLR Senior Scientist Award as well as the GPS World Leadership Award.
Montenbruck received his Ph.D. in 1991 and Habilitation in 2006 from the Technical University of Munich. He has supervised more than 25 master and a dozen Ph.D. theses, and served on defense committees at several international universities. As a visiting scientist, he conducted joint research projects at various international institutions, including the University of Texas at Austin, the European Space Agency, and the University of Bern.
The Skyfish platform is controlled by the tiny SkyNode computer, which integrates with optical, thermal, navigational and lidar devices along with sensors, algorithms and robotics. (Photo: Skyfish)
UAV technology developer Skyfish has introduced a computing platform for commercial drones that fully automates crucial infrastructure inspection and measurement tasks.
The Skyfish platform was unveiled and is being demonstrated at Booth #133 at the Commercial UAV Expo Americas conference being held Oct. 1-3 in Las Vegas.
Skyfish supports DJI and PixHawk flight controllers and other popular drone architectures, as well as 3D modeling software from companies such as Bentley Systems Inc.
Skyfish provides a smarter platform so anyone can fly, inspect and model complex infrastructure with an easy-to-use interface, the company said. The platform also pre-processes the collected infrastructure data and metadata to help create impeccable 3D models.
Available now to selected early-adopter customers, the Skyfish platform comprises:
SkyNode. Application-specific, onboard microcomputer controls the Skyfish system (and any Pixhawk 2.1 or DJI A3-based airframe.)
SkyControl. Flight planning software that facilitates the creation and execution of complex flight plans in a few clicks.
SkyFish Smart Gimbal. Delivers precision angle measurement with encoded motors to capture deep, highly accurate metadata for 2D mapping and 3D modeling.
SkyFish M6 or a DJI Commercial Drone. An expandable and collapsible commercial-grade UAV.
“The Skyfish platform represents a sea change in commercial drone technology for infrastructure inspection, measurement and analysis,” said Mike Barkasi, project manager at Bentley Systems. “For our infrastructure customers that want to enable the benefits of drone sourced data — but need engineering grade accuracy for their 3D modeling — I believe leveraging both the Skyfish and Bentley platforms together is a good answer.”
“As a leader in the unmanned aerial system (UAS) industry since 2013, Vision Aerial’s been waiting for a well-designed, autonomous solution that provides both precision navigation and built-in sensor integration,” said Shane Beams, CEO at Vision Aerial. “Skyfish delivers exactly that.”
The Commercial UAV Expo takes place Oct. 1-3 at the Westgate in Las Vegas. The expo brings together more than 3,000 professionals, and provides both education and an exhibit floor filled with high-precision UAS technology.
LidarUSA showcases revolutionary tech.LidarUSA will be at Booth 515, discussing its lidar products and the impact of the technology on the UAV industry.
“Whether you’re documenting a road accident scene at night, designing rice field irrigation systems or surveying archeological sites under dense forest canopies, advances in 3D mapping and geospatial data capturing are making these once time-consuming tasks, quicker and more efficient than ever before,” the company explains.
Pilot a WingtraOne. Wingtra, in collaboration with RDO Equipment Co., will be attending Commercial UAV Expo, North America’s trade show and conference for the commercial drone market.
Wingtra will be demonstrating its WingtraOne drone on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the William Bennet R/C Airfield. The demonstrations begin at 8 a.m., with hotel pick-up provided at 7:30 a.m.
Register here for the demo, or visit Wingtra’s booth is 1404 in the Westgate.
RIEGL exhibits sensors, systems.RIEGL will be exhibiting at Booth 309 during the conference, showcasing its unmanned sensors and systems as well as the miniVUX-1UAV.
The miniVUX-1UAV is integrated onto a DJI-M600 with the RIEGL Integration Kit 600. It is a user-friendly, cost-efficient miniaturized lidar sensor for unmanned laser scanning to acquire survey-grade measurement data through the use of remotely piloted multi-rotor, rotary-wing or fixed-wing UAVs for a variety of applications.
The miniVUX-1DL. (Photo: Riegl)
The miniVUX-1DL is a downward-looking lidar sensor for unmanned laser scanning with a special design tailored to meet the needs of corridor mapping tasks through its downward looking capability, its optimized field of view, and its small size.
Microdrones offers post-show event.Microdrones, which offered a series of workshops during the expo, is providing an in-depth technical symposium following its conclusion. The Key presenter is Mohamed Mostafa, director of mdSolutions at Microdrones.
On Oct. 4, expo attendees are invited to join ASPRS for an additional in-depth technical symposium led by Mostafa. Registration at the Commercial UAV Expo is required and the ASPRS UAS Symposium is an optional add-on event.
The symposium features detailed technical discussions on high-precision mapping by drones including lidar, photogrammetry, GNSS, inertial, datums, post processing, best practices and quality control. Real-world datasets acquired in the U.S. and Canada will be used to demonstrate the concepts and best practice of precision mapping by drones.
Other presenters at the symposium are:
Karen Schuckman, PLS, CP, CMS, Pennsylvania State University
GIS software company Caliper has released new highway exit data for the United States and Canada.
Users of Maptitude 2018 with the Canada or United States country packages can download a free point layer containing all signed and numbered highway exits within their respective country.
The highway exits layer allows users to find the nearest highway interchange to a particular location or determine proximity to a desired interchange. Applications include site location assessment, commercial real estate, franchise development and accessibility studies.
The data can also be used in conjunction with the free U.S. traffic count data to determine traffic volumes around a chosen exit.
The Highway Exits and Interchanges layer can be added to any Maptitude 2018 map.
Special section, October 2018 GPS World. Cover photo: PrecisionHawk
If you blink, you might miss something! The examples here represent only a fraction of this booming field, but they show how diverse drone use has become. Interspersed among them, this article offers further insights on technology integration, the regulatory outlook and the economic future of this fast-moving industry.
By Tony Murfin, Contributing Editor, UAV & Professional OEM
Capturing where the drone industry has been this year and where it is headed in 2019 resembles trying to describe a Florida thunderstorm: how can there be so much rain so quickly, how long will it last, and what will the landscape look like afterwards? (I’m writing this during just such a deluge near Venice on the Gulf Coast.)
The UAV/UAS industry has grown at such an amazing rate, it’s almost impossible to count or describe all the applications that have become normal practice, not to mention the number of companies involved in either making drone platforms or supplying drone integrators with sensors: GNSS, inertial, lidar, cameras photographic, thermal, infrared, video and more.
From accident reporting to crop monitoring to infrastructure inspections, drones are, so to speak, on the rise. This year we have seen substantial increases in investments by equipment suppliers, continuing funding for military businesses, prototype systems for remotely identifying and even taking down drones, and vastly expanded use in mapping and survey.
As precision guidance, autonomous operations, high-definition geocoded images and high-volume data processing all improve, drone usage will continue to increase. OEM receiver manufacturers, sensor suppliers and data-handling companies play key roles in development, and stand to profit thereby.
The Delair Septentrio UX11 mapping UAV. (Image: Septentrio)
In particular, use of drones is growing in land management, construction, mining and farming. An open-pit mine operation can be supported through detailed drone inspection producing high-resolution images. Processed images and data enable keeping tabs on inventory, site changes over time, identifying best areas for further extraction, and monitoring and managing vehicle movement. These tasks required huge amounts of time in the past. Drone overflight and processing tools condense all the effort as well as producing enhanced results to enable faster and clearer decision-making.
Surveillance and reconnaissance are probably the biggest military drone applications. Carrying payloads that include color video cameras and infrared night vision cameras, more than 19,000 drones are now in the arsenal of the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marines and Special Ops, and more have gone to other nations’ militaries. Some fly at relatively low altitude, with limited range and powered by a single quiet electric motor; these drones have become essential in gathering forward-situation intelligence.
The following examples represent only a small part of the industry. I selected them here to show how diverse drone use has become. Interspersed among them, I’ll offer further observations on technology integration, the regulatory outlook and the economic future of this fast-moving industry. If you blink, you might miss something!
Accident Investigations
In the past, when police arrived at a serious traffic accident, investigators had to use tape measures and roller wheels to construct an accurate physical record of the incident. More recently, police have used laser measuring tools but this still entails time-consuming procedures and produces traffic back-ups. Now police departments have started to collect highly accurate aerial images of traffic incidents using drones, and it’s proving quicker and more efficient.
UAVs collect photos and videos, and software then stitches multiple high-resolution images together into a 2D or 3D map. With geolocation annotation provided by the drone, investigators can then take measurements directly from visual accident records.
Previously, an investigation could take up to three hours gathering information manually, but with a drone overflying and documenting an accident this might be reduced to around 45 minutes. This clearly saves time and money for the police as well as drivers who suffer shorter traffic delays. With an investment of about $15,000 in drone hardware and training, payback can happen pretty quickly.
Overall UAV Market Growth
What is the killer app for drones? What professional UAV market sector will most powerfully drive adoption and influence new regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles? (Source: GPS World 2018 State of the GNSS Industry survey)
The drone logistics and transportation market was estimated to be valued at US $11.20 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $29.06 billion by 2027, at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.01%, according to India-based MarketsAndMarkets Research, in its May 2018 report.
The logistics and transportation market was defined to include warehousing, shipping, infrastructure, software, military, freight, and even passenger and ambulance drones. “The increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles in civil and commercial applications for faster delivery of goods is one of the most significant factors expected to drive the growth of the drone logistics market,” stated the report.
The shipping segment is indeed projected to grow at the highest CAGR, as drones will see increasing use to transport a range of products from small packages to medical supplies and food. Venture capitalist investment in this market has been substantial as well as significant commitments by companies such as Amazon, Google, and Walmart in research and development to commercialize drone delivery services.
Couple that with another report from the same company report on the drone analytics market, valued at $1.17 billion in 2016 and projected to reach $5.41 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 28.11% from 2017 to 2022. The drone analytics market was considered to encompass agriculture and forestry, construction, insurance, mining, utilities, telecommunications, oil and gas, and scientific research.
Both reports note that “The imposition of restrictions by various government agencies on the use of UAVs in civil and commercial applications is one of the major challenges faced by the drone logistics and transportation market.”
In February of this year, MarketsandMarkets estimated that the overall UAV market was valued at $18.14 billion in 2017 and projected to reach $52.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 14.15%.
Agriculture
Results of a survey of 269 farmers by Munich Reinsurance America indicate that three quarters of all farmers in the U.S.— from those with less than 100 acres to those with more than 5,000 — have either begun to use drones for precision agriculture, and monitoring crops, livestock and soil conditions, or are thinking about using drones. Roughly half of these farmers contract out the work to drone service suppliers and most use drones either daily or more than once a week.
Sensor Integration
What is the biggest challenge for the UAV industry? (Source: GPS World 2018 State of the GNSS Industry survey)
As the size, weight and power (SWAP) and the accuracy of sensors continue to improve, drone use will continue increasing steadily. OEM receiver manufacturers, sensor suppliers and data-handling companies play key roles in this vital and ongoing development, and stand to profit thereby.
Making it all work is a combination of sensor payloads gathering inertial and GNSS location, stills and video, lidar, thermal and hyperspectral data; the secret sauce lies in how the data is processed and presented to users. All these areas show significant growth. The following are only a few key examples.
Lidar. Light detection and ranging (lidar) detects and measure the distance of an object or surface from an optical source, in this case a hovering or cruising UAV. GPS and inertial provide geo–referencing per each scan point.
Lidar has seen increasing application in surveying and engineering, GIS mapping, accident scene reconstruction, topographic and coastline mapping, digital elevation model and digital surface model generation, mining and quarries, gas and oil pipelines, railroads and other infrastructure. As hardware costs decline, software begins to play more and more of a major role, becoming a larger part of the solution in every way.
The M200 Snoopy series lidar package from LidarUSA is designed specifically for integration aboard the DJI M200 UAV. The laser scanning has a 100-meter maximum range, yielding 4-5 cm accuracy. It carries a tactical grade L1/L2 GPS/IMU unit and weighs 1.63 kg.
Inertial Miniaturization. UAVs are driving even further size-downs of other navigation sensors as well.
As just one example, the miniature μIMU from Inertial Sense incorporates a magnetometer, barometric pressure sensor, and L1 GPS (GNSS) receiver. Angular rate, linear acceleration, magnetic field, barometric altitude, and GPS location outputs are at 1 KHz with UTC time synchronization.
ADS-B.Aerobits in Poland has developed a high-speed, miniaturized (23.0 x 18.0 x 2.5mm & weighing 2 grams) Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) module which provides detect-and-avoid for small UAVs. The module accepts external GNSS position inputs and has high speed on-chip processing which enables processing of thousands of ADS-B signals/second from other aircraft/drones. Aerobits claims a reception range of over 200 miles due to a high-sensitivity RF front-end. With FAA-mandated equipage coming for aircraft in 2020, this potentially offers a detect-and-avoid option for even small drones.
Regulatory Outlook
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International has been an industry voice for more than 40 years. AUVSI president Brian Wynne recently told Congress what needs to be done to fully integrate UAS into the National Airspace System — a critical step in further drone development and growth.
Initial regulations governing civil and commercial UAS operations are now in place. The FAA’s small UAS rule, known as Part 107, established a flexible, risk-based approach to regulating UAS and reduced many barriers to low-risk civil and commercial UAS operations. Since its enactment in 2016, however, demand for commercial UAS has exploded.
“As of March 2018,” Wynne stated, “more than 150,000 platforms have been registered for commercial use. The FAA expects more than 450,000 UAS to be flying for commercial purposes over the next five years.” That’s three times as many as today!
Waivers to Part 107 permit their holders to operate at night, as well as in certain restricted airspaces, beyond line of sight and over people. More than 1,700 operators across the U.S. have received these waivers.
Continued adoption of unmanned flight will require an expanded regulatory framework that extends the waiver provisions much more widely. There are many challenges to this, particularly security concerns. A key step will be “implementing a remote ID system that identifies any UAS flying in the airspace, in real time.” according to Wynne.
The FAA reauthorization bill recently passed by the House of Representatives calls for rulemaking concerning carriage of property, a necessary step for allowing UAS package deliveries — the next big thing.
Military UAV Business Strong
French MQ-9 Reaper. (Photo: DoD press release/UAS Vision)
Military business remains a major source of revenue for the UAV/UAS industry, as demonstrated by the recent award of several contracts to various drone suppliers.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command recently awarded Insitu a ~$54 million fixed-price contract for four production RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems and eight attrition air vehicles: seven for the Marine Corps and one for the government of Poland. The contract includes ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, shipboard equipment kits as well as systems engineering and program management support.
U.S. Army Contracting Command recently awarded General Atomics Aeronautical System Inc. (GA-ASI) a Grey Eagle engineering support contract worth ~$11m. Work will be undertaken at the GA-ASI facilities in Poway, CA and will run through to Sept 30, 2019.
GA-ASI has also just won an FMS (Foreign Military Sales) contract worth $123 million for MQ-9 Reaper systems for France – deliveries are expected to be completed by May 2020. An FMS contract is normally how a foreign government procures U.S. government military equipment. The foreign government contracts with a U.S. agency, and the U.S. agency awards a back-to-back contract to the U.S. supplier. In this case, the U.S. contracting authority is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS), San Diego, California, a contract worth up to ~$134 million to develop, integrate, and flight test an advanced sensor into the MQ-9 UAV. The work will be performed in San Diego, California from August 2018 through October 2021 with realistic flight testing scenarios taking place both within the U.S. and elsewhere.
At the end of August, Boeing won the contest for the U.S. Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker with an $805 million contract award. The award covers the development and manufacturing of an initial four air vehicles. The future MQ-25 Stingray will be the first UAV to operate from U.S. aircraft carriers to refuel and extend the range of several combat aircraft.
L3 Technologies has won a U.S. Army $454M contract to build, deliver and support an electro-optical infrared laser designator for the RQ-7Bv2 tactical UAS. The drone mounted payload will help the Army manage battlespace situational awareness, increase UAS survivability and obtain imagery for target/threat detection.
Counter-UAS Systems
DroneShield out of Australia markets a drone detection and mitigation system, known for its DroneGun, a point-and-shoot device able to disrupt multiple RF frequency bands simultaneously (433MHz, 915MHz, 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz), taking out the communication link to a drone operator — and also GNSS signals when so equipped — up to 1km away.
The full DroneSentry detection system integrates a suite of sensors and countermeasures including radar, optical, RF listening, acoustic, thermal and an RF countermeasure transmitter with greater power/range than the portable DroneGun.
Survey and Mapping
SenseFly recently completed work on a three-year construction project in Northern Ireland to build the new A6 highway. A senseFly eBee Plus drone provided detailed aerial coverage and minimize interruptions with road traffic and ongoing quarry operations.
Adopting an integrated aerial approach enabled the construction contractor to quickly obtain detailed, accurate, professional-grade data, and has helped save time and resources. Reducing the time required in the field and proximity to dangerous quarry sites optimized the mapping task
High-Precision Survey Drone. The TRIUMPH-F1 UAV is built around the JAVAD GNSS TRIUMPH-1M receiver, the company’s high-precision geodetic GNSS receiver with 864 channels to track all current and future GNSS signals.
When used on the ground, the TRIUMPH-F1 can function as a TRIUMPH-1M base or rover. The four motor arms (for eight motors) are detachable. Four screw inserts in the bottom to attach the TRIUMPH-F1 to a pole mount for field use.
The TRIUMPH-F1 features user-friendly mission programming. The four lithium polymer batteries that power the eight propeller motors, arranged in a stacked quad formation.
The TRIUMPH-F1 also has two micro-SD slots for image storage, a SIM card slot, a USB connector for uploading flight plans and downloading collected images, and indicators for satellite tracking and communications. Other indicators are dedicated to flight status and gyro.
Vertical Landing.WingtraOne’s vertical landing technology enables touchdown in confined areas as small as 2 m x 2 m like boats or forest lanes. Combined with a flight range of up to 50 km, this makes large-coverage mapping missions feasible
The vertical-take-off-and landing (VTOL) drone WingtraOne is designed to safeguard its valuable sensors and eliminate wear and tear of the equipment. Instead of broken wings or damaged cameras from belly landings and parachute touchdowns, the WingtraOne lands gently. During the vertical descent, laser sensor data enables the WingtraOne to sense the ground and land safely even on rocky or hilly hilly terrain.
In case of a changing landing environment like a drifting boat or recently parked cars, the landing spot can be adjusted easily.
The WingtraOne works truly autonomously during its entire mission, including take-off and landing. Instead of catapult or hand launches that can cause injuries or damage equipment, the WingtraOne takes off vertically without any human interaction.
Shipping and Logistics
Matternet, based in Switzerland, is testing deliveries using drones under a 3-year program run by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The NC program is one of 10 authorized by the FAA to evaluate the commercial use of drones.
The objective is to transport small items like blood samples, but initially vials of water will take the ride from a medical office building before landing on a hospital roof. In March, the company was authorized to operate drones over populated areas in Switzerland, carrying samples to hospitals in Lugano.
Items can be securely deposited into the drone station for pick up or retrieved following delivery. A smartphone application is used to authorize pick up and delivery. The item is then scanned for pick up, the station automatically installs the item into the drone for transport, the drone then departs for the assigned destination and on arrival, scanning is required to retrieve the delivered item at the other end.
Conclusion
These examples just skim the surface of an exploding industry which just keeps on keeping on, constantly developing new solutions and applications. High-altitude pseudo satellite drones, drone delivery of goods within minutes of placing an internet order, automated drone facility inspections, power via wireless to keep drones airborne, parachute safety systems for drones….the list goes on and on.
Clearly the UAV/UAS industry has only begun its journey. There are many unexpected places we can look forward to it visiting in coming months and years.
A team deployed ground-penetrating radar mounted on drones, showing that the technology can search and locate targets buried deep in glacial ice.
On July 15, 1942, six P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft and two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers encountered a blizzard while supporting the Allied war effort in the British Isles.
The aircraft were forced to conduct an emergency landing on the glaciers of Greenland, and though all the crew members were rescued nine days later, the aircraft were left behind.
After using radar to find areas of interest in 2011, an expedition led by the non-profit Arctic Hot Point Solutions returned to Greenland.
Ground-penetrating radar was integrated with a drone for the survey mission in Greenland. (Photo: Arctic Hotpoint Solutions)
This time, the team deployed ground-penetrating radar mounted on drones, and showed that the technology can search and locate targets buried deep in glacial ice. Aerial surveying was more effective and less risky than working on the ice.
The team extracted hydraulic fluid from 340 feet below the surface, leading to the identification of the buried aircraft as the P-38 Echo piloted by Robert Wilson.
Six undiscovered aircraft — also part of the “Lost Squadron” — remain entombed in shifting glaciers, along with many additional WWII aircraft that went down over of Greenland as they flew between the United States and the European theater.
A future expedition will attempt to excavate Echo, and locate other aircraft of the Lost Squadron.
FAA also warns about drones interfering with public safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced nine new partners to its Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) initiative, a collaboration between the FAA and the drone industry that provides near real-time processing of airspace authorizations for Part 107 drone operators nationwide who fly in controlled airspace.
Following the FAA’s successful prototype, the initiative was simultaneously opened to additional air traffic control facilities and to new industry partners. The five-month onboarding process that began in April resulted in nine new LAANC partners — Aeronyde, Airbus, AiRXOS, Altitude Angel, Converge, DJI, KittyHawk, UASidekick and Unifly.
The nine join five companies — AirMap, Harris Corp., Project Wing, Skyward and Thales Group — that have already met the technical and legal requirements to provide LAANC Services.
LAANC uses airspace data, including UAS facility maps, which shows the maximum altitude around airports where the FAA may authorize operations under Part 107 in controlled airspace. The program gives drone operators the ability to interact with industry developed applications and obtain near real-time authorization from the FAA.
The FAA next year will accept applications from parties interested in becoming LAANC service providers from Jan. 7 to Feb. 8 and from July 8 to Aug. 9. This is not a standard government acquisition; there is no Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposal (RFP) related to this effort.
In a different announcement, the FAA said that drone pilots who interfere with fighting wildfires, law enforcement efforts, or other first responders such as medical flights now are more likely to face serious civil penalties, even for first-time offenses.
Deterring interference with first responders is critical as drone use expands exponentially. Firefighting aircraft trying to contain a wildfire have to suspend flights when a drone enters the area to avoid a possible mid-air collision. A drone flying over a crime scene or accident site can hamper police or medical aircraft operations.
Ultimately, interference by a drone can cost lives.
The FAA has provided guidance for agency personnel who handle possible drone violations to refer all cases involving interference with first responders to the FAA Chief Counsel’s office for possible enforcement action.
In July 2016, Congress authorized the FAA to impose a civil penalty of not more than $20,000 for anyone who operates a drone and deliberately or recklessly interferes with wildfire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response efforts.
Under FAA guidance, inspectors generally use non-enforcement methods, including education, for correcting unintentional violations that arise from factors such as flawed systems, simple mistakes, or lack of understanding.
However, given the potential for direct and immediate interference with potentially life-saving operations where minutes matter, offenders will immediately be considered for enforcement actions. Enforcement actions can include revocation or suspension of a pilot certificate, and up to a $20,000 civil penalty per violation.
ThinkRF Corp., a software-defined spectrum analysis solution provider, has released the ThinkRF R5700 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer with GNSS.
Unlike other handheld portable spectrum analyzers, the ThinkRF R5700 analyzer combines the performance needed to cover the 27-GHz frequency range with the portability and form-factor required to be easily used in a vehicle.
“This solution allows users to conduct advanced analysis in a variety of deployment scenarios, including in a vehicle for drive testing and other mobile testing applications,” said Jasvinder Obhi, vice president of product management and marketing at ThinkRF. “Combined with our application ecosystem, users get a complete mobile situational awareness solution with the best price-performance ratio available on the market.”
To accompany the R5700 analyzer, ThinkRF has also released the ThinkRF P120 vehicular power conditioner. It is designed to provide regulated power to portable equipment while protecting from vehicular power transients This allows spectrum analysis equipment, including all ThinkRF real-time spectrum analyzers, to be powered in standard vehicles via power outlets or directly from the vehicle battery.
According to the company, when combined, the two products enable advanced mobile spectrum analysis and drive testing capabilities for RF engineers and monitoring program managers in government, aerospace and defense, and telecommunications.
The ThinkRF R5700 analyzer and ThinkRF P120 conditioner are available to order immediately.
Spirent Communications plc has partnered with Fraunhofer IIS and LZE GmbH to ensure continuity of supply of Spirent’s Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) Radio Frequency Constellation Simulator (RFCS) product extension after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union (EU).
The new partnership will see sales and order processing hosted by LZE GmbH of Erlangen, Germany, with Munich-based Fraunhofer lIS taking on responsibility for the future development, fulfillment and support of Galileo PRS in the Spirent GSS9000 GNSS test solution.
Fraunhofer will become the sole owner of the SimPRS software/firmware, which will no longer be accessible to Spirent after the U.K. leaves the EU.
Spirent is exhibiting this week at ION GNSS+ 2018 in Miami.
This partnership and strategy is technically made possible through Spirent’s RFCS system architecture providing a clearly defined interface, with strict need-to-know separation between the core RFCS and PRS hardware and software components. This well-defined delineation ensures that both the RFCS and PRS simulation tools can be developed independently, the companies said.
“We are delighted with this new partnership with Fraunhofer and LZE,” said Martin Foulger, general manager of Spirent’s global positioning business. “We have been actively exploring contingency strategies to address the possibility that our UK-based Positioning Technology Division would be disallowed from engaging with Galileo PRS-related activities following Brexit. With this partnership in place, LZE, Fraunhofer IIS and Spirent are confident that this new approach will successfully deliver continuity of supply for Galileo PRS on the GSS9000 RFCS.”
Spirent and Fraunhofer IIS, together with key Spirent Galileo RFCS customers, can confirm that authorization was given by the relevant authorities to proceed with the partnership and that a legal framework was agreed between the two organizations.
That framework is allowing both parties to execute on a focussed technology transfer, training and quality assurance plan that will result in Fraunhofer IIS taking qualified technical ownership of the SimPRS product by the end of 2018.
The technical challenge and programmatic risks associated with this migration exercise are significantly mitigated by Spirent’s similar experience in working with a third-party U.S. entity to add GPS Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm (MNSA) support to the GSS9000.
