GPS World

Tag: acquisition

  • GeoDecisions expands geospatial data services with acquisition of WorldView Solutions

    GeoDecisions, Gannett Fleming’s geospatial technology division, has acquired WorldView Solutions, a geographic information systems (GIS) consulting firm based in Richmond, Virginia.

    The acquisition, which became effective Oct. 26, expands the geospatial data services that GeoDecisions provides to commercial clients as well as federal, state and local governments.

    “Consolidation of the geospatial marketplace is necessary for firms to remain competitive and provide the most robust and seamless solutions to clients,” said Brendan Wesdock, MCP, GISP, president of GeoDecisions. “We’ve collaborated with WorldView on many projects, and our corporate cultures, client-centered approach, and long-term business goals are in lockstep. The acquisition makes great sense because, by combining forces, we are better equipped to invest in creating products that push the boundaries of geospatial technology and bring greater value to our clients while advancing an aggressive growth plan to expand our geographic footprint.”

    WorldView has offered geospatial technology solutions for nearly 20 years, providing resource and asset management, machine learning, artificial intelligence and consulting capabilities to the private and public sectors and nongovernmental organizations. The firm’s 45 employees have been retained and there are not any immediate changes in project management or technical staff for existing WorldView projects.

    “Through this acquisition, WorldView’s employees have access to the enhanced capabilities and expanded resources that GeoDecisions and its parent company, Gannett Fleming, bring to the table as a 2,300-person company,” said Jamie Christensen, former president and CEO of WorldView. “Together, we are strengthened in our ability to work with our clients to define their needs and identify the most effective geospatial solutions to solve their complex challenges.”

    GeoDecisions will continue to offer ready-to-install products created by WorldView, including PracticeKeeper, a comprehensive web-based solution that enables soil and water conservation districts, departments of environmental protection, and private entities to track all data related to conservation planning, nutrient management, watershed management, erosion and sediment control, and compliance and complaint management.

    OrbWeaver, a cloud-based geospatial data-mining tool that provides location-based insights to clients across industries, will also remain available. The software uses specified geospatial parameters and datasets along with machine learning algorithms to discover, integrate, and map other relevant target data sources such as environmental conditions, demographic characteristics, transportation infrastructure, and existing businesses.

    For instance, a real estate agent may use the tool to discover, mine, and rank relevant data sets for a full-scope analysis of properties they are considering for purchase.

    According to the companies, WorldView has successfully undertaken many assignments for municipalities, districts and counties, as well as state and federal projects. Recent projects in their portfolio include: the development of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Land Application Tracking Module to better track the permits and biosolids land application activity throughout the Commonwealth; the implementation of Spotsylvania Utilities Department’s new asset management system, Cityworks; the implementation and maintenance of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s SMART Portal, a web-based solution that collects funding applications and supports statewide prioritization for transportation project selection; the implementation of PracticeKeeper to help Durham County Soil & Water Conservation District develop and manage conservation plans, document best management practices and improve reporting; and processing more than 20 terabytes of raster data for the University of Vermont to categorize the Chesapeake Bay watershed into 12 land-cover types to support the Chesapeake Conservancy’s watershed and storm water management and conservation efforts.

  • Hexagon completes acquisition of AutonomouStuff

    Hexagon completes acquisition of AutonomouStuff

    Photo: Hexagon
    Photo: Hexagon

    Hexagon AB has completed the previously announced acquisition of AutonomouStuff, a supplier of integrated autonomous vehicle solutions.

    Completion of the transaction was subject to regulatory approvals, including a filing to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which have now been obtained.

    AutonomouStuff will be a fully owned subsidiary of Hexagon and operate within Hexagon’s Positioning Intelligence division.

    “Combined with Hexagon PI’s leadership in high accuracy, functionally-safe and high-integrity positioning technology, the addition of AutonomouStuff and their offerings is helping our customers to accelerate the development of more comprehensive Autonomous X solutions,” said Michael Ritter, president and CEO of Hexagon PI. “Our expanded capabilities will allow Hexagon PI to meet the industry’s ever growing demand for more robust autonomy solutions.”

    Hexagon PI has been an important technology provider to AutonomouStuff for several years, and the two organizations have worked closely together to serve common customers and collaborate on important industry events. As the division grows, AutonomouStuff will continue to function as an independent brand within Hexagon PI.

    Founded in 2010, U.S.-based AutonomouStuff is pioneering solutions and platforms for autonomous vehicle development, robotics and data intelligence innovation. Its platforms, which use an expansive portfolio of technologies, are deployed in pilot programs worldwide — representing thousands of customers in the automotive and technology sectors across the globe, AutonomouStuff said.

    “The combined entities now provide the fuel and support for exponential growth while affording us the ability to make continued advances in the mobility space,” said Bobby Hambrick, founder and CEO, AutonomouStuff. “I’m very excited for our shared future.”

    In 2017, AutonomouStuff generated sales of 45 MUSD, with good profitability, Hexagon said. The AutonomouStuff transaction purchase price will not be publicly disclosed because it is considered insignificant relative to Hexagon’s market capitalization.

    The income statement during the third quarter of 2018 will be impacted by -25 MEUR, related to impairment of overlapping technologies, transaction costs and a reduction in workforce. During the third quarter 2018 Hexagon also divested its shares in Bimobject which resulted in a capital gain of 22 MEUR.

    Overall, the net impact of one-off items on the income statement in the third quarter 2018 will be approximately -3 MEUR, Hexagon said.

  • PrecisionHawk partners with EagleView, acquires energy experts

    PrecisionHawk partners with EagleView, acquires energy experts

    Drone company PrecisionHawk has announced a partnership with EagleView, a provider of aerial imagery and data analytics for government, insurance and commercial sectors.

    PrecisionHawk also announced that it has purchased both HAZON Inc. and InspecTools Inc., businesses that specialize in the delivery of inspection services and technology for the energy industry.

    Both companies bring demonstrated expertise to enable tighter integration between the collection and the analysis of drone data, PrecisionHawk said. Paul Bingaman, CEO of InspecTools, and David Culler, CEO of HAZON, will join PrecisionHawk’s executive leadership team.

    EagleView partnership for insurance claims

    The EagleView partnership enables drone insurance inspections. (Photo: PrecisionHawk)
    EagleView’s partnership with PrecisionHawk enables drone insurance inspections. (Photo: PrecisionHawk)

    Through the partnership with PrecisionHawk, EagleView will collect at-scale insurance claims imagery via drones by leveraging PrecisionHawk’s global network of drone pilots, Droners.io.

    The addition of PrecisionHawk’s drone pilot network will benefit EagleView OnSite Solutions for remote claims inspection. EagleView OnSite virtual desk adjustment combines imagery from multiple sources, including drones, with a variety of data analytics and reports to enable adjusters to efficiently triage claims, virtually inspect properties from their desk, and ultimately close property and casualty (P&C) claims faster.

    “EagleView OnSite provides insurance customers with all the tools necessary to settle claims without ever going into the field,” said Rishi Daga, CEO of EagleView. “As drones transform the way the insurance industry operates, making inspections safer, easier and more cost effective, EagleView reinforces its commitment to drone technology to digitize manual workflows.”

    Virtual drone inspections for insurance claims address a challenging trend in the P&C insurance industry. Over the past 20 years, the number of experienced insurance adjusters has dropped dramatically, causing labor shortages — especially after major storms hit. The demand for insurance adjusters is high, yet drone pilots add a new, untapped “labor force” to the equation.

    Combining the EagleView OnSite virtual desk adjustment solution with PrecisionHawk will offer the insurance industry thousands of certified, trained drone pilots to perform high-quality insurance inspections at a competitive cost. With more than 25,000 claims processed by EagleView OnSite in the last 18 months, EagleView can help insurance carriers transform their property claim workflows and decrease cycle time by at least 40 percent to best serve their customers after a catastrophic natural disaster.

    Drone technology and analytics for the energy market

    HAZON brings extensive aviation experience, standards-based operating procedures, certified drone flight operations and inspection services, widely regarded as the best in the energy industry, to the PrecisionHawk team. The company has delivered more than 13,000 inspections totaling over 8,000 hours of flight time, with a majority focused in energy markets for Fortune 500 utilities.

    InspecTools brings high-fidelity machine vision software and data analysis tools built for the renewable energy market. Their market-leading software for both solar-panel and wind-turbine inspection is utilized by some of the largest equipment manufacturers and service providers in the world. Customers like Vestas, PG&E and SMA Solar rely on InspecTools’ sophisticated reporting, analytics and machine learning capabilities.

    “We’re very pleased to bring together the established technology and multi-market reputation of HAZON and InspecTools with PrecisionHawk’s experience, team and expanded portfolio,” said Michael Chasen, CEO of PrecisionHawk. “By combining these offerings, our customers will have access to extensive and leading-edge energy products and services, regulatory expertise and a record of safe, secure and compliant operations.”

    Thanks to advances in technology and regulations, the energy market has quickly moved from experimenting with pilot projects to large scale deployment of drone solutions, PrecisionHawk said. Across distribution lines, transmission lines, solar panels, wind turbines, oil and gas and utility infrastructure, and emergency response, energy presents a current global market opportunity of $9.7 billion.

    According to IDC, worldwide spending on robotics and drones will accelerate over the next four years reaching $201.3 billion in 2022. While the value is clear across time, safety improvements and operational efficiency, scaling and managing a drone program can be complex.

    “HAZON is excited to bring our world-class best practices and reputation for standards-based operations and safety to the PrecisionHawk team,” said Culler. “By joining PrecisionHawk, our customers gain access to the next level of technological sophistication for more scalable, predictive and cost-efficient drone solutions that drive better business intelligence.”

    “InspecTools brings years of experience, analytics tools and machine vision software for renewable energy that is an immediate value-add to PrecisionHawk’s software analytics platform,” Bingaman said. “This relationship further enhances the technologies and services that are fundamental to advancing the economic potential of drones in the energy market.”

    The acquisition of HAZON and InspecTools underscores PrecisionHawk’s strategy to operate in high-growth markets and accelerate the adoption of commercial drones.

    The acquisitions, which are subject to customary closing conditions, are expected to close later this month.

  • Hemisphere GNSS completes acquisition of Outback Guidance business from AgJunction

    Hemisphere GNSS completes acquisition of Outback Guidance business from AgJunction

    Hemisphere GNSS has closed its definitive agreement to purchase all of the assets of the Outback Guidance business from AgJunction Inc., along with a new technology licensing agreement.

    The new Hemisphere GNSS logo.

    The acquisition aligns well with Hemisphere’s continued push into the global agriculture market, the company said. In addition to the included IP (intellectual property) licenses for business into the dealer channel, a second license was finalized to allow agriculture steering solutions sales into OEM (original equipment manufacturer), VAR (value-added reseller), and all other segments of the agriculture supply chain.

    Hemisphere has assumed ownership of the Outback assets, including a global sales channel, infrastructure and trademarks. Additionally, licenses to IP and related technology have been executed. Also included are two product development, sales and support facilities, including personnel, located in Hiawatha, Kansas, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

    “Outback’s highly knowledgeable personnel and dealer network will provide us with a key piece of the agriculture supply chain that perfectly complements Hemisphere’s current global agriculture strategy,” said Farlin Halsey, president and chief executive officer of Hemisphere GNSS.

    Jeffrey Farrar will lead the Outback business as general manager. Before joining Hemisphere, Farrar was vice president of sales for AgJunction and served in a capacity of director and senior management-level positions for both sales and marketing for AgJunction and Hemisphere GPS. “Jeffrey’s previous leadership and history with the Outback business makes him the ideal person to direct the future growth of this business,” Halsey said.

    “Outback has always been a household name in the agriculture space associated with simplicity, performance, and value, and we intend to keep it that way,” Farrar said. “I look forward to ensuring that the Outback business thrives and that the solution and technology offerings are maintained and supported, as we look to refresh and update product lineups. We are committed to helping and supporting our dealer network, farmers, and growers alike to ensure they continue feeding the world.”

    The addition of Outback represents Hemisphere’s continued effort to make significant investments to expand its presence in the global agricultural market. Hemisphere has seen successful revenues and wide-reaching positive feedback in recent years with its OEM-focused agriculture products. Hemisphere seeks to further integrate its high-precision GNSS positioning technology via systems and services offered by the Outback dealer network.

    The Outback channels of communication including customer support, sales and website, will remain as they currently operate. The Outback dealer network will not see any interruption during this transition period.

  • Hemisphere GNSS acquires Outback Guidance from AgJunction

    Hemisphere GNSS acquires Outback Guidance from AgJunction

    Hemisphere GNSS Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to purchase all of the assets of the Outback Guidance business from AgJunction Inc., along with a new technology licensing agreement.

    The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, contingent on normal regulatory approvals.

    The Outback MAX terminal with ISOBUS. (Photo: Outback Guidance)

    The acquisition aligns with Hemisphere’s continued push into the global agriculture market, Hemisphere GNSS said. In addition to the included IP licenses for business into the dealer channel, a second license was signed to allow agriculture steering solutions sales into OEM (original equipment manufacturer), VAR (value-added reseller) and all other segments of the agriculture supply chain.

    As a result of these agreements, Hemisphere will assume ownership of the Outback Guidance assets, including channel, infrastructure and trademarks. Additionally, licenses to intellectual property and related technology have been executed.

    Also included are two product development, sales, and support facilities, including personnel located in Hiawatha, Kansas, United States, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

    “The decision to acquire the Outback Guidance business will significantly accelerate Hemisphere’s expansion into the global agriculture market and allow stronger integration between Hemisphere’s core competency GNSS and Outback’s highly refined steering solutions,” said Farlin Halsey, president and chief executive officer of Hemisphere GNSS.

    The Outback A320 smart antenna. (Photo: Outback Guidance)

    “We are very pleased to be bringing on board additional seasoned personnel with strong agriculture domain experience, a strong product line with deeply embedded agricultural technology and a well-accepted, reputable brand in Outback,” Halsey said. “We will also be bringing back together many years of history and legacy between the two organizations.”

    The addition of Outback Guidance represents Hemisphere’s continued effort to make significant investments to expand its presence in the global agricultural market. Hemisphere has seen successful revenues and wide-reaching positive feedback in recent years with its OEM focused agriculture products. Hemisphere seeks to further integrate its high-precision GNSS positioning technology via systems and services offered by the Outback Guidance dealer network, the company said.

    The Outback Guidance channels of communication including customer support, sales, and website will remain as they currently operate. The Outback Guidance dealer network will not see any interruption during this transition period.

  • Hexagon acquires AutonomouStuff for autonomous vehicle solutions

    Hexagon acquires AutonomouStuff for autonomous vehicle solutions

    Hexagon AB has acquired AutonomouStuff, a supplier of integrated autonomous vehicle solutions.

    Founded in 2010, U.S.-based AutonomouStuff is developing turnkey platforms for autonomous vehicle development, robotics and data intelligence innovation. Its turnkey platforms are deployed in pilot programs worldwide representing more than 2,500 customers in the automotive and technology sectors across Silicon Valley, America, Europe and Asia.

    “The acquisition of AutonomouStuff accelerates Hexagon’s ability to move our customers beyond the data impasse of IoT [internet of things],” said Ola Rollén, Hexagon President and CEO. “We’re particularly interested in technologies that are the most disruptive — those capable of leveraging the vast potential of data being generated by connected things, integrating AI [artificial intelligence], edge-cloud orchestration, mobility and data visualization into autonomous connected ecosystems. When combined with our positioning intelligence, mapping and sensing technology leadership, this acquisition creates a nexus of domain expertise that will lead the autonomous mobility industry for years to come.”

    AutonomouStuff began when CEO Bobby Hambrick realized that robotics company representatives were having difficulty gaining access to the technology needed to solve their applications, according to the company. He envisioned a place where they could find the products needed to get their projects up and running. It is headquartered in Morton, Illinois, with offices in San Francisco, Detroit, Germany and China.

    AutonomouStuff has been closely involved in Project Apollo, an autonomous driving ecosystem helmed by Baidu, the so-called “Google of China.”

    Project Apollo seeks to provide an open, comprehensive and reliable software platform for Baidu’s partners in the automotive and autonomous driving industries. Partners can use the Apollo open software platform together with the reference hardware platform to accelerate development of their customized autonomous vehicle solutions.

    AutonomouStuff provides the Apollo Kit to project partners: the hardware, software and services required to begin developing their own autonomous vehicle. NovAtel SPAN GNSS/INS products provide position, orientation and time as a critical component of this kit. A detailed description of the NovAtel (another Hexagon company in the Positioning Intelligence Group) and AutonomouStuff partnership is given in the August 2017 cover story of GPS World, “Autonomy assembled: Driverless kits to hit the road in 2020.”

    At a Baidu conference in Beijing, April 2017, AutonomouStuff kitted out two standard Lincoln MKZ sedans for demonstration drives, with one technician completing each vehicle in about three hours — a task that would normally take a team of workers up to six weeks. The two Lincolns then drove simultaneously, driverless, around a test track.

    The technology has been developed to be transferrable to other vehicles. Each car is modified by adding lasers, camera, radar sensors, GPS and inertial measurement unit (IMU), a drive-by-wire computer interface and computer engine.

    As of August 2017, the kit incorporated a choice, depending on user needs, of a selection of NovAtel GNSS receivers, including the ProPak6 GNSS receiver and the SPAN-IGM-A1 GNSS+IMU combined system, IMUs such as the IMU-ISA-100C incorporating Northrop-Grumman Litef GMBH’s inertial measurement technology, and antennas such as the GNSS-703-GGG-HV high vibration triple-frequency GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo antenna. A 64-beam Velodyne lidar sensor and 16-beam HDL-16E provide laser data. Some units may have changed since then.

    Terry Lamprecht, director of products at AutonomouStuff, gave a presentation on verifying proper installation, and creating a baseline data set to benchmark against data collected on autonomous vehicles in real-time, as part of a November 2017 GPS World webinar, “High Accuracy for Autonomous Driving.” Download the free webinar here.

    Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including a voluntary filing to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and other customary conditions that are expected to be satisfied within the next 90 days.

  • Esri acquires ClearTerra location data extraction technology

    Esri acquires ClearTerra location data extraction technology

    Spatial analytics company Esri has acquired technology from ClearTerra, a company that offers geospatial and activity-based intelligence tools.

    The acquisition will provide ArcGIS platform users the ability to easily discover and extract geographic coordinates from unstructured textual data like emails, briefings and reports, instantly generating intelligent map-based information.

    This capability will make mapping this elusive information easier across many industries. Defense, intelligence and public safety organizations tend to have massive volumes of unstructured data, as do other fields, such as petroleum, utilities and maritime, where locating information on the Earth is not as easy as searching for a street address.

    Esri’s acquisition of ClearTerra technology brings workflow-enhancing software technologies into the ArcGIS platform.

    “We have been close partners with Esri for a number of years,” said Jeff Wilson, former vice president of sales for ClearTerra, now an executive for defense and intelligence with Esri. “Esri has the platform and resources to provide a solid path going forward for our technology, allowing us to expand this capability to the global market.”

    ClearTerra LocateXT technology allows analysts to rapidly scan through documents without having to spend hours reading, copying, pasting and running spreadsheet formulas, placing the results instantly into geospatial features.

    Additionally, ClearTerra FindFZ technology provides enhanced search capabilities for the ArcGIS platform, incorporating the powerful techniques found in internet search engines, including a tolerance for misspelled words, as well as wildcard and Boolean logic searches.

    The LocateXT extension for ArcMap is used to extract locations from unstructured data (messages, reports, briefings) into a geodatabase feature class. (Image: ClearTerra)
    The LocateXT extension for ArcMap is used to extract locations from unstructured data (messages, reports, briefings) into a geodatabase feature class. (Image: ClearTerra)

    “We are excited to bring ClearTerra technology into the Esri family,” said Jeff Peters, Esri director of national government. “The unstructured data tools are powerful not only for those who have made use of this technology for a number of years, such as in the military, but it also has useful applications for so many more Esri users.”

    ClearTerra has been an active member of the Esri partner program, providing their software to ArcGIS users via desktop, server, and the cloud. Support and maintenance for the software will continue via Esri with no interruption of service, and is readily available for licensing.

    ClearTerra specializes in geospatial and activity based intelligence software products, custom solutions, technical services, consulting and training. ClearTerra is a business unit of ClearShark.

  • Trimble acquires e-Builder to expand construction management solutions

    Trimble has acquired privately-held e-Builder, a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based construction program management solution for capital program owners and program management firms.

    e-Builder extends Trimble’s ability to accelerate industry transformation by providing an integrated project delivery solution for owners, program managers and contractors across the design, construct and operate lifecycle, the company said.

    e-Builder manages more than $300 billion of construction project value and over 200,000 projects from some of the most influential owners in North America. Owners benefit from the e-Builder solution through improved transparency and accountability while contractors benefit from faster payments, increased productivity and improved competitive advantage.

    The e-Builder solution is uniquely designed to measure and manage every step of the capital project delivery process including planning, design, procurement, construction and operations.

    Trimble’s wide range of construction hardware and software solutions significantly improve project cost, schedule and effectiveness — beneficially impacting owners, architects, engineers and contractors. The Trimble presence in construction has two points of focus, one on civil engineering projects and the other on the construction of buildings and structures. Both will benefit from the e-Builder acquisition.

    Trimble solutions leverage constructible building information model (BIM) workflows to integrate processes, improve information fidelity, reduce rework, establish transparency and deliver higher productivity. By using Trimble technologies, contractors and owners are realizing substantial reductions in total project cost.

    The combination of Trimble and e-Builder accelerates value creation for both owners and contractors by combining e-Builder’s best practice solutions for owners with Trimble’s construction lifecycle solutions, access to contractors and global reach.

    The combined solution portfolio will accelerate the integration of field operations with enterprise needs, enabling additional productivity gains. The tangible benefits include more consistent on-time and within-budget project delivery that is enabled by improved visibility, clear accountability for outcomes and the ability to convert large volumes of disparate data into actionable workflows and measurable outcomes.

    “e-Builder has always recognized that owners play a key role in the construction lifecycle and that their influence will be key to the adoption of transformative construction technology,” said Steven Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble. “Trimble will extend its reach into the owner community by leveraging e-Builder’s presence. In turn, we intend to aggressively bring e-Builder solutions to civil and building contractors and the international market. We see a significant opportunity in leveraging data and intelligence gained through design-construct workflows across the full infrastructure lifecycle. e-Builder’s solutions and, more importantly, its organization provide a strong platform for significant growth.”

    “e-Builder’s mission is to improve project execution to make construction faster, less expensive and more reliable,” said Ron Antevy, president and CEO of e-Builder. “The addition of our solutions to Trimble’s broad portfolio extends our collective ability to best support owners and contractors with project delivery and management. e-Builder current and future customers will benefit from Trimble’s construction management expertise, culture of innovation and global reach to take e-Builder solutions to the next level.”

    The e-Builder business will be reported as part of the Buildings and Infrastructure Segment.

    Financial Terms

    The all cash purchase price of $500 million will be financed through a new $300 million credit facility and cash. The new facility has terms and conditions similar to the existing revolver with a 364 day term.

    e-Builder’s reported trailing twelve month revenue is approximately $53 million. In recent years, e-Builder’s revenue growth rate has exceeded 20 percent annually, with greater than 65 percent subscription revenue as a percentage of total revenue. The transaction is expected to be dilutive to Trimble’s first quarter non-GAAP net income per share by $0.01 per share and dilutive to full year 2018 non-GAAP net income per share by $0.02 to $0.03 per share, due to the impact of fair value accounting of e-Builder’s deferred revenue and interest expense. Trimble expects the acquisition to be accretive to 2019 non-GAAP net income per share.

    An overview of e-Builder and the strategic rationale for the acquisition is available on Trimble’s Investor Relations website. For a more detailed description of the acquisition and credit agreements see Trimble’s Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Feb. 2, 2018.

    About e-Builder

    Founded in 1995, e-Builder is a provider of integrated, cloud-based construction program management software for top facility owners and the companies that act on their behalf.

    The company’s flagship product, e-Builder Enterprise, improves capital project execution, resulting in increased productivity and quality, reduced cost and faster project delivery.

    Since 1995, e-Builder’s technology leadership and construction industry focus have helped thousands of global companies, government agencies, and health care and educational institutions manage billions of dollars in capital programs with solutions to improve the plan, build and operate lifecycle.

    The company is based in Plantation, Florida.

  • Lear to acquire EXO Technologies for connected car tech

    Lear Corporation, a global supplier of automotive seating and electrical systems, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israel-based EXO Technologies, a developer of GPS technology providing high-accuracy solutions for autonomous and connected vehicle applications.

    EXO Technologies has operations in San Mateo, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    EXO Technologies has developed core technology that addresses the need for high-accuracy positioning in a vehicle. Its proprietary technology works with existing GPS receivers to provide centimeter-level accuracy anywhere on the globe without the need for terrestrial base-station networks.

    EXO Technologies offers a software-based GPS approach — PICO pinpoint positioning software — that enhances GNSS receivers. By correcting satellite orbit error and clock error, it eliminates the inherent error sources within navigation messages. Its algorithms reduce complementary errors and construct a full positioning solution.

    The integration of EXO’s technology with Lear’s vehicle and connectivity expertise will enable a superior vehicle positioning solution, the companies say.

    “EXO has developed technology that is essential for the future of connected and autonomous vehicles,” said Nuri Golan, EXO co-founder and CEO. “We are extremely excited to join the Lear family where we will provide unparalleled solutions for vehicle-to-vehicle, autonomous driving and other applications.”

    “Lear is a leader in automotive connectivity solutions including Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communications,” said Matt Simoncini, Lear’s president and chief executive officer. “The acquisition of EXO Technologies will provide Lear with a differentiated technology to significantly improve GPS accuracy and reliability, thereby enhancing vehicle safety and enabling autonomous driving.

    “The combination of EXO Technologies with Lear’s existing resources further strengthens our connectivity capabilities,” Simoncini said. “We see excellent growth opportunities for our E-Systems business as the proliferation of connected and autonomous vehicles will drive increased demand for improved accuracy and reliability in vehicle positioning.”

     

  • GM doubles autonomous test fleet in California, acquires lidar company

    GM doubles autonomous test fleet in California, acquires lidar company

    GM’s Cruise Autonomous test car.

    General Motors Co.’s (GM) self-driving unit, Cruise Automation, has more than doubled the size of its test fleet of robot cars in California during the past three months, a GM spokesman told Reuters.

    The unit is testing vehicles in San Francisco as part of its effort to develop software capable of navigating congested and often chaotic urban environments.

    GM has reported more run-ins between its self-driving cars and human-operated vehicles and bicycles. Its vehicles were involved in six minor crashes in September, all of which were caused by the other vehicle.

    In the past three months, the Cruise unit has increased the number of vehicles registered for testing on California streets to 100 from the previous 30 to 40.

    Lidar acquisition. GM announced Oct. 9 that it has acquired lidar technology company Strobe. Strobe’s engineering talent joins GM’s Cruise Automation team to define and develop next-generation lidar solutions for self-driving vehicles.

    In September, Cruise Automation revealed the world’s first mass-producible car designed with the redundancy and safety requirements necessary to operate without a driver. The vehicle will join Cruise’s testing fleets in San Francisco, metropolitan Phoenix and Detroit.

    Lidar uses light to create high-resolution images that provide a more accurate view of the world than cameras or radar alone. As self-driving technology continues to evolve, lidar’s accuracy will play a critical role in its deployment.

     

  • Trimble acquires transportation company 10-4 Systems

    Trimble has acquired privately held 10-4 Systems, a provider of advanced, multimodal shipment visibility solutions and related technologies for shippers and transportation providers.

    10-4 solutions offer real-time shipment visibility, regardless of provider or mode, to shippers, third-party logistics providers and carriers of all sizes, according to the company.

    The acquisition expands Trimble’s portfolio of Transportation Management Systems (TMS) to include an established cloud-based solution for small carriers as well as a shipper RFP platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

    Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, 10-4 Systems offers a comprehensive, highly configurable information platform that provides visibility at the individual shipment level, driving collaboration between shippers and carriers for increased efficiency, improved compliance and reduced transportation costs. The solution includes SKU-level detail, dynamic ETAs and other capabilities needed to provide the detailed shipment visibility that is becoming a standard expectation of shippers and consignees.

    “This acquisition will advance our mission to transform the way the world moves freight by providing innovative transactional, visibility, decision support and optimization solutions that benefit participants at every level of the supply chain,” said David W. Wangler, president of Trimble Transportation Enterprise. “With the addition of 10-4 Systems, Trimble will significantly enhance its ability to help the transportation industry optimize demand and capacity management and improve utilization of long-haul trucking assets.”

    Gartner identified visibility as the “No. 1 supply chain initiative” based on results from its 2016 User Wants and Needs Survey. Demand for end-to-end visibility is being driven by the rise of online-only and omni-channel commerce, which is causing shippers to rethink traditional inventory positions and transportation networks.

    “We are excited to bring the benefits of our advanced enterprise visibility platform to the thousands of supply chain partners that rely on Trimble’s Transportation Enterprise solutions,” said Travis Rhyan, president and CEO at 10-4 Systems. “Trimble has a clear commitment to offering leading-edge technologies and collaborative solutions that enable customers to increase efficiency, profitability and long-term competitiveness.”

    Rhyan will continue to lead 10-4 Systems as executive vice president and general manager. 10-4 Systems’ business will be reported as part of Trimble’s Transportation Segment.

  • Measure acquires Pilatus Unmanned to expand one-stop drone service

    Measure, a U.S. provider of drone solutions for enterprise customers, is expanding its drone engineering and equipment sales capabilities with the acquisition of Pilatus Unmanned.

    Josh Kornoff, Pilatus Unmanned CEO and a pioneer in the commercial drone industry, will head Measure’s engineering team.

    The acquisition marks the latest chapter in Measure’s rapid growth, highlighted by the recent introduction of new solutions and toolkits for the solar and broadcast news industries.

    Pilatus Unmanned (previously known as Allied Drones) specialized in drone customization for commercial customers, leveraging Kornoff’s years of experience in designing and fabricating custom drone and payload solutions. Pilatus Unmanned was one of the first enterprise value-added resellers for commercial drone maker DJI.

    “Measure is at the forefront of the emerging drone-as-a-service industry and is fundamentally changing the way businesses gather information critical to their operations,” said Kornoff, whose career also includes 15 years as a Hollywood special effects and pyrotechnics supervisor for nearly 1,000 commercials, music videos, television shows and films. “I’m excited to continue pushing the envelope in using drone technology to solve business challenges.”

    Kornoff will lead Measure’s drone engineering team out of its new office in Huntington Beach, California, which includes an industrial facility equipped with the machinery, tooling, parts and components for drone customizations.

    Kornoff will also serve as Measure’s lead technical advisor and will oversee support programs for toolkit customers.

    “This acquisition will accelerate growth and allow us to continue to create groundbreaking solutions for our customers in energy, construction, telecommunications and media,” said Measure CEO and co-founder Brandon Torres Declet. “Expanding our engineering capacity and our ability to provide one-stop shopping for equipment and toolkits will help ensure that we can offer our customers solutions that are truly comprehensive.”