The full GNSS User Technology Report 2020 is available for download. (Cover: GSA)
News from the European GNSS Agency
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has released its latest GNSS User Technology Report, providing a comprehensive analysis of GNSS trends and developments.
With four GNSS available and more than 100 satellites in operation broadcasting multiple frequencies, the GNSS industry is shifting towards the wide adoption of multifrequency receivers across market segments to meet the diverging user needs of emerging applications.
The report includes contributions from leading GNSS receiver, chipset manufacturers and service providers, and serves as a valuable tool to support planning and decision-making with regards to developing, purchasing and using GNSS technology.
Published biennially since 2016, the User Technology Report has become a point of reference for the GNSS industry, research and policy-makers.
Rapid Evolution
‘’The GNSS industry is evolving at a rapid pace and is shaped by the dynamics of emerging applications and user needs as well as the upgrade of existing and new GNSS and Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS),” said Rodrigo da Costa, GSA executive director. “The industry has understood the potential of Galileo’s unique features.”
The third edition of the report begins with a chapter devoted to technology trends common to all segments: receiver design, position processing and signal processing. It also discusses protection measures against GNSS jamming and spoofing, such as authentication, including what 5G and other technologies and sensors can do, in combination with GNSS.
With multi-constellation now being the norm, the industry is moving towards the wide adoption of multi-frequency receivers even for usually power- and cost-constrained consumer solutions. The Galileo E5 is becoming the preferred frequency with about 20% of all receiver models in the market already using it.
The report is built around four macro segments defined on the basis of commonalities from a technology point of view:
high volume
safety- and liability-critical
high-accuracy
timing devices and solutions (a new-entry in this edition)
Each chapter starts with the macrosegment characteristics and receiver capabilities, depicts the industry landscape and typical receiver form factor, it then delves into the key current and future drivers and trends, and finishes with the added value of the EGNSS, Galileo and EGNOS, for the macrosegment at stake.
Space Data for Europe
This year editor’s special “Space Data for Europe” sheds light on the role that Copernicus and Galileo play within the European Space Programme in the data management and use, now and in the future. It also provides a vision of major transformations underway within our society and our economy and the benefits expected from this digital transformation, paving the way towards the European Data Strategy and Green Deal.
“Today, Galileo and EGNOS already provide increased capabilities which are being used across a broad range of applications, and are already igniting the next generation of location-based applications. In the future, new services — the Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS), Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) and Commercial Augmentation Service (CAS) — will raise the accuracy and reliability bar even higher, and dramatically enhance positioning, navigation and timing solutions for businesses and citizens.
By bringing insight and understanding into the evolutions of GNSS technology, we are creating opportunities for innovation,” concluded da Costa.
Feature image: Smithsonian; Charlie Trimble provides the 4000A GPS Locator to the Smithsonian Museum. Introduced in 1984, the Trimble 4000A was the first commercial GPS positioning product.
GPS World is conducting a short survey to shed light on the impact of COVID-19 on the GNSS/PNT industry.
The short survey covers topics such as
changes in daily work habits
communication methods with staff, technology partners and clients
how each core sector is responding to the coronavirus pandemic
how we are all trying to remain productive despite social-distancing directives.
GPS World is committed to providing the most up-to-date coronavirus resources for the GNSS/PNT industry. We value your thoughts and opinions and would love to include your thoughts on the subject through our survey.
Results of the survey will be shared in the June issue of GPS World magazine.
With impacts related to the coronavirus developing on a daily basis, GPS World may reach out again in the near future to hear how you’re doing. As always, thank you for your continued support.
Social distancing and stay-at-home orders are affecting every sector of our economy. How are companies in our industry rising to this enormous challenge? What are they doing to keep their staffs, customers, and communities safe and to help slow down the spread of the pandemic? What are they learning in the process?
We asked our marketing partners, Editorial Advisory Board members and “Innovation” Editor Richard Langley the questions below so that we could share their collective wisdom with you, our readers. The advertisers’ responses appear in alphabetical order by company, followed by the responses by EAB members.
We will continue to publish these responses here as we receive them; we will also publish a selection of them in the May print issue of GPS World.
Professor, Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering,
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
“Innovation” Editor and UNB Professor Richard Langley lectures to his students online. (Screenshot: Richard Langley/UNB)
On March 13, the president of the University of New Brunswick announced that as of the following day due to the Coronavirus-19 outbreak in the province of New Brunswick, all in-person classes would be suspended for the remained of the school term, and that starting March 23, classes would resume using alternative methods to support delivery outside the classroom. Faculty members like me had a week to find other ways to deliver our courses to the students. Some of us turned to pre-recorded video presentations and some, like me, to live class sessions using online video conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. I tried both but ended up using Teams on the advice of the university administration.
This term I was teaching GGE 3111: Introduction to Adjustment Calculus. Basically, it’s an introductory course on the mathematical technique of least-squares analysis. Least squares, where one seeks to find the minimum of the sum of the squares of the estimated errors in measurements, is a fundamental technique for analyzing data in many application areas in the sciences and engineering disciplines, including the processing of GNSS data. It was pioneered back in the early 1800s by Gauss, the great German mathematician and father of modern geodesy.
Incidentally, Kalman filtering also widely used for processing GNSS data, is essentially a recursive approach to the least-squares problem. The example I am doing on the board (see screenshot) is how to fit a straight line to data pairs x and y where both the x and y values contain random measurement errors. I have always taught GGE 3111 using the blackboard or, since lecturing from the dining room of my house by video link, a whiteboard.
I recorded my home-delivered lectures and provided these to the students through the Desire to Learn platform that UNB uses for teaching. Not all of the students could attend the live lectures as some had returned home to provinces with several hour time differences from New Brunswick making it inconvenient to attend a morning lecture. Others no longer had a good Internet connection to view real-time video.
The recordings also provided a useful resource to the students for reviewing the course material. When we eventually return to normality, I might continue to record my lectures. They could even form the basis of an online version of my course available to UNB students and non-students alike.
CAST Navigation has overcome many obstacles and challenges to be able to provide our customers with the products and services that are valuable to them during this difficult period. The company has instituted a set of strict policies and procedures that allow us to manage our facility hours and employee “distancing” practices.
We have also enabled employees to work remotely if necessary and we continue to work very closely with our vendor supply chain to minimize delays and impacts to our schedule. These policies and procedures, along with a very focused and devoted staff, have allowed us to continue to provide the superior quality products and services on which our customers rely.
Eos Positioning Systems’ employees are able to work remotely in most cases. In fact, prior to the pandemic, a number of full-time employees worked remotely across Canada, the United States, and the Asia/Pacific region. Now, we’ve transitioned all employees to remote working and transitioned the tasks of individuals whose routine work was directly affected by the virus. We’ve also added a weekly all-staff video Zoom meeting to address everything from company questions to individual wellbeing.
We were already grateful for our ecosystem of staff, partners, and customers, but everyone has shown their positive colors even more in response to this pandemic. Everyone remains responsive across platforms and time zones. The uptick in social media engagements of our customers and partners has been particularly great to see.
In addition, we’ve heard from some customers that they are using our GNSS receivers more during this time. Because our receivers are easy to use for the novice, office workers who would typically not do fieldwork are being trained on field work, which can be a naturally socially distanced, one-person job.
As expected, many of the events we enjoy sponsoring have been postponed or canceled. We’re working with event coordinators and our own team to ensure that when events start up again, we are prepared to go back to business as usual. We are really, truly looking forward to seeing our customers, partners, and colleagues in person again!
At GeoNumerics, we are all OK, including our families. As we are an R&D-intensive company focused on algorithms, software, and consultancy, we are lucky these days. Furthermore, some of our employees —women with young children — were already teleworking most of the time. Therefore, it was easy to extend this to the rest of the company.
Since mid-March, everyone is at his/her place teleworking. This enables us to:
keep the company running
keep our employees busy like in “normal” days
protect our customers by meeting deadlines
protect the economy by not stopping the business
on a case-by-case basis, help our providers/partners who had to stop their business.
Internally, we share a “good morning” short communication via WhatsApp and a daily 20 minute “virtual coffee break” after lunch via Skype.
Miguel Amor, Chief Marketing Officer, Autonomy & Positioning Division
Editorial Advisory Board Member
Miguel Armor
COVID-19 is affecting everyone on a global scale, which means that we all must work together to limit the spread of the virus and protect the people at risk. At Hexagon, our priority is keeping our employees and customers safe, and we are following all guidelines and recommendations set up at national, regional and local levels to do so.
Through all of this, we recognize that our employees and our customers are relying on Hexagon more than ever. Rest assured that we are taking all necessary steps to protect our employees and to minimize risk to the supply of our products and our services to our customers.
At Hexagon | NovAtel, we believe our size, reach, and position not only provide great opportunities but also carry great responsibilities. We understand that the GNSS community in general is relying on NovAtel more than ever and we are taking all the necessary steps to support the community and our customers.
Just like many of you, we at JAVAD GNSS are quickly and actively adapting to the changing times caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize that JAVAD plays an important role in many of your operations and in supporting the critical missions of our customers. To that end, we are following best practices to curtail the spread of this virus and protect the well-being of our employees and partners, while ensuring we meet the commitments to you that you have come to expect.
Our primary message today is JAVAD GNSS is Open for Business! Our support team is here and ready to assist you as it always has. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
While there was a short pause in March when news broke in the U.S. about COVID, much of this now seems to be subsiding. At the same time, the value for instantly accessible aerial maps is more obvious than it ever was. As teams work from home and push to keep projects on track, the need for remote access to aerial photography remains strong at a time when travel and remote site inspection is lower than it ordinarily would be. Judging from very recent activity (all April 2020), there’s high interest from city government, engineering, construction, solar/energy and land development.
For Orolia, this crisis has highlighted the importance of the word “resilient.” As a leader in resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and as an essential business, we need a resilient organization that can keep delivering the critical solutions that our customers need. We can’t let our customers down because they support defense and critical infrastructure programs worldwide. Now more than ever, we recognize the essential nature of what we provide, and we must keep supporting our customers, even in times like this.
Orolia plays an essential role in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) in the Critical Infrastructure Sector, as defined in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response and the DHS Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response.
Many global companies need to continue operating as normally as possible to provide much needed capabilities in order to help governments, members of the armed forces and critical infrastructure to stay operational.
Our Supply Chain/Sourcing team conducts regular risk assessments to ensure that Orolia partners can continue to provide uninterrupted service by securing materials and products. Our service, support, business development. and engineering teams also remain ready to respond to requests.
We use Skype extensively, to keep in touch with our customers and partners but also for internal conference calls and meetings. There isn’t really a substitute for face-to-face meetings, but Skype is as close as you can get. In terms of communicating with our partners we have very much moved into the digital space. We have instead held webinars using WebEx which have been very well received. We have more planned so watch this space!
We have learned that we can work very well under pressure! With COVID-19 postponing some of our favorite shows we didn’t want to sit back and do nothing. We had to act very quickly and look at other ways of communicating our message. Not only have we as a business been agile enough to do this, despite working remotely, our channel partners have really taken on board what we’ve been trying to achieve and helped us exceed our goals.
Don’t use COVID-19 as an excuse to rest on your laurels. Take it as an opportunity to do some of the things that you otherwise wouldn’t have done.
To collaborate remotely, a safe distance from each other, we use video messaging (MS Teams) with team(s) daily, as well as Confluence (engineering documentation) and Jira (task management) for remote collaboration.
Much of our team is able to continue efficient operations while working remotely. Collaborating with our customers has always been a service we offer – which, we believe, leads to better product performance and reliability. This pandemic has pushed the majority of the country/world into remote working. While we aren’t able to be in person with customers, accessible remote tools and collaboration help us continue to provide hands-on customer service, without actually using our hands.
Parker LORD designs and produces MicroStrain inertial sensors that are used in robots that aid in delivery, mapping, and surveillance activities. Our inertial measurement units (IMU) and inertial navigation systems (INS) are designed to allow quick time-to-market development. We offer IMU/INS integration with our recently updated Robot Operating System (ROS) drivers for ease of use. By using our sensors, we have reduced development time while also offering top performance and competitive pricing. There are different levels of inertial sensors based on the performances available depending on the application being used.
As the need for measurement and navigation solutions increase with the demand for delivery, safety and automated robotic monitoring, our new 3DMGQ7-GNSS/INS dual antenna RTK-enabled INS provides next level performance with integrated custom IMU, dual integrated RTK-capable multi-constellation GNSS receivers, integrated barometric pressure sensor, and magnetometer. Beyond the integrated sensors the GQ7 offers hardware support for wheel odometry and API support for external velocity sensor measurements. This sensor has been designed for use in markets such as beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned vehicle navigation, legged robots, and autonomous vehicles. It’s an all-in-one system solution (GNSS-INS + RTK + SensorCloud RTK).
Get ready for the robot revolution. There was momentum in that direction before, in areas such as delivery, recon and mapping. Acceptance of these technologies will only increase now and in the future.
Racelogic, the company behind LabSat GNSS simulators, is based in Buckingham, UK. Like many companies, we are adjusting to new ways of working and remote collaboration. With the majority of our 100 staff now working from home, I have few concerns about their ability to adapt and am confident that the outcome will be one of success. However, I am also aware that the paths taken over the coming weeks or months are unlikely to be without a few bumps in the road.
I am hearing reports from all corners of Racelogic about how staff are dealing with these unprecedented circumstances. For example, Katie Harland, our LabSat Support and Applications Technician, is continuing to support our customers from home. However, without a rooftop antenna on her building she has had to be a little inventive about how she gains a live satellite feed to record test scenarios. Her solution was to mount an antenna on a ground plate devised from the lid of a biscuit tin and set it on her garden wall. An effective solution, but one that is not straight forward when you are 5’2” and the garden wall is 7’ tall.
I am also noticing changes to what a “normal” day at work now looks like. With so many staff working remotely I find myself walking through the office and instead of checking on project progress I am rebooting computers, connecting equipment, accessing server files, and generally servicing those who are working remotely. I think it is easy to fall into the trap of obsessing about perfecting remote working. I don’t think you can go too far wrong if you focus on the things you can do, even if you need a ladder to get there.
During these challenging times, Septentrio continues to be operational and to serve its customers. We have taken measures to ensure health and safety within the company. Most of my colleagues and I are working from home, while manufacturing has been divided into two shifts to guarantee continuity and provide the safest possible working conditions. Although international travel is suspended for the moment, we continue to have regular meetings via phone or web with our partners, customers and prospective clients.
This virus is forcing us to rethink the way we work and interact. As we adjust to the new situation, we are finding ways to continue working with as little disruption as possible, leveraging the efficient communication networks and remote-control solutions available to us today. Along the way we might even discover new more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of working.
In addition to ensuring employee safety, Septentrio is also dedicated to help fight the virus by providing reliable high-accuracy positioning solutions to technologies that are making a difference. For example, aerial drones have been used by police in Europe to announce new government regulations in public places and to scope out large areas for public gatherings. To ensure public safety it is vital that the sensors aboard these aerial drones, such as their positioning receivers, are robust and reliable even in challenging conditions.
Other delivery drones such as Zipline and Wing are expected to ramp up speed with the increase of automation required to fight the coronavirus. In the European Union and the United States regulations around drone use are stricter than in China and thus the full potential of drones is not yet realized to its maximum.
Since our inception, a few of our employees have worked from home due to traffic issues, work/home responsibilities, or simply geographical location issues. Over the years, we decided as a company not only that this was working very well, but that everyone who could work from home should be allowed to have the same privileges. In the past two years, we have allowed everyone to work from home, only requiring to come into the company offices those who must be in a lab or for security reasons. Everyone has a laptop computer and remote access to files. We use Zoom, email, and cell phones to communicate with each other and our customers.
When the recommendations from the CDC and the President of the United States were issued to work from home, we were already doing this, so there were no adjustments needed. Those that must work in the lab are practicing social distancing and working on alternate days in some cases.
When we first contacted our customers to attempt visits, we were told that they were not receiving visitors and that it was going to take a few days or weeks to get everyone outfitted with laptops and other technology to continue working from home. We were a bit surprised to learn that others were going through this as we were not having any of these issues.
This crisis has taught us that being prepared and trusting our team to work independently pays off when we really need it. Everyone is being a little extra patient, kind, and understanding. We are seeing this general compassion outside of the office as well and we hope that this has a lasting effect on the world.
Jackie Ferreira, Director of Corporate Communications
Jackie Ferreira, Topcon
We are fortunate in that our team is well-versed in online collaboration software, including teleconferencing and online digital asset management systems. We are leveraging tools such as those to keep productive in this crisis.
We are working very well together via safe distancing practices. Our employees around the world are staying active with ongoing conference calls across multiple time zones. Our primary concern is the health and safety of everyone we interact with and we continue to be impressed with how all involved have responded.
Topcon operates with a primary goal of the health and safety of its employees, customers, and suppliers and in accordance with applicable state and local orders, including social distancing requirements. To this end, we provide on-going guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) to our employees to support their health in these critical times.
We encourage compliance with applicable governmental orders concerning their ability to continue to operate, with the understanding of roles within the critical infrastructure supply chain.
We are dedicated to supporting our customers at this critical time and have specific teams working to meet demands to the best of our ability.
Our relationships with our customers and partners are important to us. Topcon strives to work closely together with our partners to protect the industries we serve and accelerate the economic recovery needed in light of the current world crisis. Together we can serve as a beacon of cooperation and commitment to successfully weather these unusual times.
The outbreak of COVID-19 started around the Spring Festival, and strict control measures to stop the spread of the virus were taken even before the holiday ended. Unicore postponed the return-to-job date by one week and encouraged working from home, except for the key R&D and ST engineers, who cannot perform verification, testing, or debugging outside the labs. However, even then strict social distancing measures were guaranteed. As of February 10, Unicore’s return-to-work rate was more than 80%, with nearly 40% of the employees doing it from the office, while now nearly 90% of Unicore’s labor force is back to normal working mode. Thanks to the 4G networks, fast mobile and Web communications, as well as cloud computing technologies, we were able to easily organize video conferencing, online meetings and group messaging.
Our R&D and product delivery were slightly affected by the COVID-19 due to the delays at some supply plants. However, Unicore has a well-run and organized inventory management system, so most of the orders can be fulfilled on time.
Some of Unicore’s clients use drones to perform disinfectant spraying and logistics transportation, which help to ensure an uninterrupted supply of food and goods. Other clients make intelligent and autonomous sweepers that reduce the need for manual labor and keep the workers safely at home. In order to avoid personal injury, infection and transmission in epidemic areas, drones and/or unmanned vehicles with GNSS high-precision positioning technology have been used for cleaning and disinfection, supplies delivery, and aerial photography in engineering construction.
The Harris-supplied navigation payload before integration into the second GPS III SV. (Photo: Harris)
L3Harris Technologies announced the successful completion of the all-stock merger between Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies on June 29. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, L3Harris becomes the sixth largest defense company in the U.S., and a top 10 defense company worldwide, with approximately $17 billion in revenue and 50,000 employees, including 20,000 engineers and scientists.
Both companies have long been dominant presences in the U.S. GPS industry: Harris as a provider of the GPS satellite navigation payloads and geospatial intelligence software products, and L3 as a provider of military GPS user equipment and guided munitions. Both companies supply a wide range of other geospatially-related products as well.
L3Harris has organized its operating businesses into four segments to best meet customers’ mission requirements and leverage the combined company’s broad technical capabilities:
Integrated Mission Systems — headquartered in Palm Bay, Florida, with approximately $4.9 billion in revenue. Includes intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; advanced electro optical and infrared solutions; and maritime power and navigation
Space and Airborne Systems — headquartered in Palm Bay, Florida, with approximately $4.0 billion in revenue. Includes space payloads, sensors and full-mission solutions; classified intelligence and cyber defense; avionics; and electronic warfare
Communication Systems — headquartered in Rochester, New York, with approximately $3.8 billion in revenue. Includes tactical communications; broadband communications; night vision; and public safety
Aviation Systems — headquartered in Arlington, Texas, with approximately $3.8 billion in revenue. Includes defense aviation products; security, detection and other commercial aviation products; air traffic management; and commercial and military pilot training
Shares of Harris common stock, which traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “HRS,” began trading on July 2 under the ticker symbol “LHX.” L3 Technologies shares ceased trading upon market close on June 28 and have converted into 1.3 L3Harris shares for each L3 share.
The merger comes at approximately the same time that two other leading GPS companies, Raytheon and United Technologies, itself a merger including the former Rockwell Collins, now Collins Aerospace, also merged.
What technical and business challenges are getting your attention this year?
What are the most important benefits of, and the key challenges posed by, new modernized GNSS signals? How are you driving business in today’s economy?
What issues are you concerned about? What solutions hold the most promise for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in challenged and indoor environments — regardless of which technology provides them?
We want to know, and so does the rest of the industry.
GPS World is asking PNT professionals about the developing technology frontiers, the state of their business, the economic climate for products and services, driving market factors, the effects of jamming, the Issue of the Year — and more! Please give us your opinions in the 2019 State of the Industry survey. It should take less than 10 minutes, and your responses are confidential.
A handful of lucky participants drawn at random will win TWO $100 gift cards good (virtually) anywhere.
Complete the survey by June 30. Then look for a complete report of our findings in the September issue of GPS World.
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and help us improve our magazine content, industry awareness — and your own business!
While asking questions that have appeared in past State of the Industry surveys, to reveal industry changes that have taken place over the last five years, the 2019 Survey presents these new issues for your consideration:
• With multiple constellations, signals and services now beginning to emerge, what are the challenges to keeping open and seamless access to these in the international marketplace ?
• Among the many benefits of modernized signals, which is the most important in your field of work?
• Among the key challenges in utilizing modernized signals, which gets most of your attention?
The question above offers such answer choices as: increases die size without ability to increase chip cost; longer code sequences are difficult to acquire; increases RAM/ROM; increases number of RF channels; increases number of digital channels; higher CPU processing required; and software complexity with many signal types.
What one word would you use to describe your company’s No. 1 opportunity to grow in 2020?
What one word would you use to describe your company’s No. 1 obstacle to growth in 2020?
Overall, the 2019 Survey covers such topics as:
Technology Trends. PNT is rapidly diversifying among a number of complementary technologies, as GNSS looks to inertial, lidar, laser, cellular, WiFi and other beacons, signals of opportunity, low-Earth orbit satellite constellations and more. Different market sectors have, naturally, different requirements, and these lead to different integration combinations. Where do you see the most promise?
The Global Economy and how it affects business in your sector. Customers’ availability of capital to invest is top-of-mind for most industry professionals, whether designers, manufacturers, integrators, suppliers/dealers, or end users.
Industry Confidence in the road ahead. Sound business navigation requires a fluid, responsive combination of technology, capital, investment, and often most important, human capital. .
Issues of Concern. To what extent do industry leaders take into account the following as well as further factors?
Pricing and competitive issues;
GNSS jamming, spoofing, other RF interference;
Developing compatibility and interoperability of GNSS: GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo;
Advantages and drawbacks of other positioning and navigation technologies.
The survey report, complete with insightful articles and infographics, will appear in the September issue. Look for it!
A series of documentary videos on automation and technology in the construction and agriculture industries covers drone inspection of infrastructure among other new trends. Filmed in the U.S., the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany, the series of brief films produced by Topcon Positioning Group emphasizes how technological advancements have changed infrastructure — how it is designed, built and maintained — and what to expect going forward.
“The infrastructure industry is changing quickly, and this video series highlights how this advancement is part of a larger story of technology changing the paradigm everywhere. To stay on top, businesses will need to adopt automation and new technology,” according to Topcon spokesperson Jackie Ferreira.
A spokesperson from Intel describes how drone inspection facilitated data gathering and project planning for a complex restoration project on the Great Wall of China, in an area with very difficult access.
Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Representatives Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) in launching the Congressional GPS Caucus in March. This bipartisan, bicameral caucus will elevate the ever-increasing importance of GPS technologies to the U.S. economy and infrastructure. As evidence of that, today more than 3.3 million jobs in the United States rely heavily on GPS.
Agriculture is front and center in the states and districts these policymakers represent, and the cost savings as well as jobs and family incomes are noteworthy. Nationwide, GPS has led to $8.2 billion in savings through precision agriculture, while yielding increases in grain production across the country. Further, GPS has become an indispensable and reliable part of the country’s national infrastructure. Public and private investment in GPS-based technologies and services have produced a steady stream of innovations, making the U.S. a global leader in the sector.
The GPS Caucus will prioritize ensuring GPS signals remain continuously available, accurate, reliable and resilient. To better support the long-term health and future of GPS, the caucus plans to host educational briefings and technology demonstrations, in addition to advocating for policies that keep GPS at the forefront. On April 2, these efforts will kickoff with a “GPS 101” educational briefing on the Hill featuring remarks from Senator Duckworth, Representative Loebsack, Colonel Curtis Hernandez, US Air Force Director National Security Space Policy, National Space Council and industry leaders from Deere & Company, Garmin and Trimble.
To further reaffirm the critical importance of GPS, the GPS Caucus introduced concurrent resolutions in both the Senate and House. The resolutions outline the economic benefits of GPS, totaling more than $68 billion to the U.S. economy each year, and the sectors GPS technology supports, none of which would be possible without the contributions made by the men and women of the Air Force who maintain the GPS constellation.
As efforts to advance 5G, precision agriculture and smart cities continue, GPS will only become more valuable to modern-day operations and it remains critical that policymakers, companies and industry leaders alike, foster policy that keeps GPS at the forefront.
Conducted online in July 2018, the GPS World State of the GNSS Industry survey compiled detailed answers to 30 key questions from 273 respondents, spread across six continents.
Prominent insights gained, and outlined in these pages: the PNT sector is booming, as opportunities outnumber obstacles; well-trained engineers are at a premium; and the Internet of Things is the newest market driver, perhaps the most powerful yet.
As precision guidance, autonomous operations, high-definition geocoded images and high-volume data processing all improve, drone use will continue to increase. OEM receiver manufacturers, sensor suppliers and data-handling companies play key roles in development, and stand to profit thereby.
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.
What is the biggest challenge for the UAV industry? (Source: GPS World 2018 State of the Industry survey)
Defense. 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.
Flying at relatively low altitude, with somewhat limited range and powered by a single quiet electric motor, these drones have become essential in gathering forward-situation intelligence.
Other UAV craft provide higher altitude, longer-duration surveillance and reconnaissance over wider range: up to 20 hours, up to 15,000 feet, more than 60 miles afield. Civilian versions of these craft are in development.
Delivery. Respondents to our survey thought delivery will be a breakthrough application for drones. Amazon has several trials running globably. National civil aviation authorities need to move forward with plans to integrate drones into civilian airspace for this initiative to graduate to full-scale operations and achieve their objective of 30 minutes from order to delivery.
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 Industry survey)
Precision Agriculture. One of the most significant applications which seems to be missing from survey responses is agriculture. Both quadcopters and hybrid fixed-wing/copter drones are in widespread use to capture image data overflying crops, and then process the data and build crop analytics. Graphic results point to how crops can be managed to increase yield.
Making this work is a combination of sensor payloads gathering visual, video, lidar, thermal and hyperspectral data; the secret sauce lies in how the data is processed and presented to farmers. Emphasis is placed on exactly how “green” crops appear when inspected by the various sensors. A number of companies offer services for farmers to optimize crop management.
All these areas are show significant drone growth. Let’s not forget facility, transmission line and pipeline inspection — tasks where drones excel at increasing efficiency and decreasing costs.
For more results from the 2018 State of the GNSS Industry, see this page.
Tony Murfin is a GNSS aerospace consultant with several decades experience at leading companies in the GPS/aviation and OEM sectors.
With 106 operational GNSS satellites flying today (or was that yesterday’s number?) satnav’s backbone is robust, variegated, supportive of growth across many industries — and poised to leverage even more prosperity. I’ve seen forecasts of as many as 400 satellites, well beyond GNSS proper and involving low-Earth orbit telcomm constellations, constantly patrolling space above us and beaming down positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) intelligence.
Where do you see your efforts focusing primarilly over the next decade? (Source: GPS World’s 2018 State of the Industry survey)
A draft headline for the cover of this issue — The Sky’s the Limit! — actually underestimated. Not even the sky is the limit.
Mobile. GNSS-enabled tablets and smartphones provide navigation, traffic and congestion maps to billions. These features will continue to drive demand for GNSS in all electronic equipment. As we move from the internet to the internet of things (IoT) as the dominant paradigm of advanced and developing societies, GNSS will boom louder than we have heretofore known it to do.
What is the industry “Issue of the Year?” (Source: GPS World’s 2018 State of the Industry survey)
Communication and location-enabled transportation services such as Lyft and Uber provide only one example of novel GNSS uses that have become the norm.
Tracking devices, whether personal, vehicular, or affixed to large assets, constitute a quiet though muscular growth market. The GPS tracking device generates high demand from industries such as information technology (IT), transportation, and telecommunication, providing real-time intelligence and advance diagnoses about products, vehicles and people, valued by consumers and businesses, enhancing security and safety — key concerns that will only grow in an increasingly vulnerable world.
What is the key challenge for positioning and navigation in the wireless and consumer space? (Source: GPS World’s 2018 State of the Industry survey)
Volume! The GPS tracking segment alone is expected to reach $2.53 billion by 2023, nearly 12% annual growth. Other mobile segments will increase in parallel. Don’t be deceived by the low-cost of low-accuracy tracking devices. Volume! Volume! Volume! is just as powerful a mantra as Location! Location! Location!
With the wireless carriers and IoT behind it, GNSS will see growth a-plenty and virtually no downside. U.S. cell carriers are now selling access to your real-time phone location data, a key signal that economic giants put high value on the technology.
For more results from the 2018 State of the GNSS Industry, see this page.
What is the greatest threat to GNSS over the next three years? Click to enlarge. (Source: GPS World 2018 State of the GNSS Industry report)
When we designed the survey of the global PNT community for the 2018 State of the GNSS Industry report, we put a couple of new wrinkles into the online questionnaire. We wanted to know, succinctly, what you felt was the number one obstacle to growth for your organization. And, with the same brevity, what you saw as the number one opportunity for growth.
The answers most frequently given within each sector — mobile, OEM, survey, UAV, transportation, machine control, mapping and defense & government — appear on those respective pages in this issue. They weren’t the only answers, by far.
Obstacles to Growth
Other stumbling blocks that were called out included security, competitors (sometimes mentioned by name), politics (sometimes mentioned by party), budgets, funding, understanding, ignorance, management, bureaucracy, age, and that enduring favorite, time.
The most frequently cited obstacles to growth were:
regulation, and
the lack of qualified staff, personnel, engineers.
One ingenious survey-taker somehow found a way to cram 21 words into an answer box meant for only one or two. “In my industry, deep technical talent that addresses the specific issues. Without that, the ‘big picture’ judgments are often just wrong.”
This problem is not new, nor is it particular to the GNSS/PNT industry. The fact that it is with us year after year suggests that it is not getting enough effective attention. Talented engineers can be imported, yes, if the homegrown supply falls short. In the current political climate, this may not be a strategy with legs. Even given a totally benign immigration regulatory landscape, it is far from a panacea. More on this in a moment.
Growth Opportunities
Various flavors of technology integration, both multi-GNSS and non-GNSS, led the pack in nearly every sector. Other popular answers included customization, broadband, autonomous navigation, Galileo, international markets, alt-nav, Brexit, the Cloud, M-code, anti-jamming, connectivity, flexibility, more clients, and, in riposte to the aforementioned obstacle: training, education, or simply engineering.
The great American thinker Margaret Mead said, “We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.”
If your organization encounters this perennial problem, this shortage of qualified staff that stifles innovation, inhibits growth, and causes you to pass on new ventures that are just out of reach, here’s the biggest whopping opportunity of all: get involved with higher education and engineering graduate schools in your area.
The talent is there. If you’re not out actively cultivating, encouraging, training and recruiting it, those bright young engineering people will be drawn instead to Internet ventures or gaming software or other industries that sap the soul but nourish the pocket — and those are your true competitors.
