Broadcast Date: Thursday, June 16, 2016 On Demand available until: Thursday, June 15, 2017 Duration: 60 minutes + time for Q&A Sponsor:u-blox
Connected cars and V2X — connectivity between vehicles and infrastructure — lie around the next bend in the road. Extensive research and development have prepared these revolutionary concepts for implementation very soon.
Join GPS World and our panel of expert presenters as we discuss:
Recent developments in – and the potential safety impact of – V2X technology.
The role of GNSS, and potential challenges in accuracy, reliability, jamming and spoofing.
How radar, lidar, cameras, dedicated short range communications (DSRC) and V2X will combine to create advanced Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Potential regulations and aftermarket devices.
Speakers: Chaminda Basnayake, Principal Engineer, V2X Systems, Renesas Electronics; John Kenney, Director and Principal Researcher, Network Division Toyota InfoTechnology Center; Nikolaos Papadopoulos, President, u-blox America, Inc.; and Roger Berg, Vice President, Wireless Technologies DENSO North American Research and Development Laboratories.
Moderator: Alan Cameron, Editor-In-Chief, GPS World
CEE HydroSystems has released a new single beam echo sounder survey system designed for shallow water unmanned surface vehicle (USV) survey applications, using both commercially available and one-off custom manufactured vessels.
The CEESCOPE-USV is a waterproof echo sounder, GNSS and broadband radio telemetry package that can be installed on remotely-operated crafts. It is a self-contained unit requiring no interface with the USV.
The CEESCOPE-USV uses real time broadband radio telemetry, detailed 20-hertz dual frequency soundings, up to 20 hertz RTK GNSS and a 3,200 sample per ping digital echogram, which are available on shore via the CEE-LINK radio base station. Using software packages such as HYPACK and Eye4Software Hydromagic data from the CEESCOPE-USV telemetry link, the operator can steer the USV along the survey line like in any manned boat survey.
“By removing the requirement for the vehicle to also handle data telemetry, total system costs may be reduced, and the separation of the instrument and vehicle electronics offers advantages for obtaining clean data, our main concern as an instrument manufacturer,” says Adrian McDonald, CEE Hydrosystems. “By giving surveyors a complete data package designed for USV surveying, we have made it a little easier for firms to create their own USV designs as they no longer have to worry about how to handle their data. Additionally, users wishing to add real time video or side scan capability to their USV simply plug the data output from these devices into the CEESCOPE-USV and those data are relayed to the shore with the GNSS and bathymetry data. Similarly, navigation data may be exported from the CEESCOPE-USV to vehicle control systems if needed, such as for waypoint guidance.”
u-blox has released its fourth generation firmware for 3D Automotive Dead Reckoning (ADR) GNSS modules and chip sets, the company announced during TU-Automotive 2016, which is being held June 8-9 in Novi, Michigan.
The Swiss-based company develops GPS technology, chip sets, miniaturized GPS modules, smart antennas and dead reckoning products. Designed for first mount or aftermarket road vehicle applications, such as in-car navigation, infotainment systems, telematics units and fleet management, the upgraded GNSS receiver now offers real-time continuous navigation output with an update rate of 20Hz, enabling low latency for applications such as interactive head-up displays.
The new firmware supports Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS and SBAS. It also supports the Galileo-based eCall European emergency call system, which will be required in new vehicles starting in 2018.
The DR performance has been enhanced, the company says, which improves navigation performance, especially in highly urban environments where satellite signals are heavily blocked by and reflected from buildings. The high performance of the u-blox M8 concurrent positioning engine combined with the latest u-blox 3D ADR technology results in 100 percent coverage and continuous 3D positioning.
The new firmware will be delivered on u-blox NEO-M8L modules and is available for UBX-M8030-Kx-DR dead reckoning chips, including the new automotive grade variant supporting operation up to 105 degrees Celsius.
On May 29 a Soyuz-2.1b with upper stage Fregat and a GLONASS-M satellite (No. 53) successfully lifted off from Plesetsk Space Center. The satellite was placed into its preprogrammed orbit and registered by the facilities of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre. Ground control established communications with it. The stable telemetry link shows that onboard satellite systems are functioning normally.
According to Russian officials, an unexpected issue with the Fregat upper stage caused it to burn longer than planned to inject the satellite into its planed orbit. No further details were provided.
The satellite is destined for a replenishment mission of the GLONASS constellation, currently at 25 operational satellites. Russian plans call for as many as eight satellites to be launched by the end of 2017 to replenish the constellation. As part of that strategy, a Proton-M heavy carrier rocket with three GLONASS satellites aboard may take place by the end of this year.
Iridium Communications Inc. has introduced its Satellite Time and Location (STL) service, an alternative or complement to traditional indoor and outdoor location-based technologies, and declared it ready for use. STL’s position, navigation and timing (PNT) technology is deployed through Iridium’s 66 cross-linked, low-earth orbit satellite constellation.
Through Iridium satellites and in GNSS receivers, STL technology can work to verify GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and other navigation services, and also can serve as an alternative for those services when GPS signals are degraded or unavailable. STL also can provide an alternative source of time when testing GPS signals.
Iridium is working with Satelles, a division of iKare Corporation, as its primary technology partner. Satelles enables Iridium’s paging channels to reach small, low-cost receivers in nearly any environment, the company says in a news release.
“We think STL can help solve an important and growing problem for governments and businesses, and serve as a platform for continued innovation,” says Matt Desch, chief executive officer at Iridium. “With STL, we are introducing a global capability that is already in space, technologically ready for use and is independent of any particular location technology. The team at Satelles has been able to leverage the unique capabilities that our network offers to create a solution that can ultimately be integrated into almost any kind of platform, including other Iridium machine-to-machine devices, heavy machinery, automobiles and even the power grid, to name a few. Once implemented, STL could revolutionize the way the world’s largest, global companies and governments operate and manage cyber security.”
In a chipset about the size of a postage stamp, the technology can be embedded into many devices. STL’s signal strength may make spoofing GPS systems more difficult, the company says. STL transmits its signals through Iridium’s satellite constellation to deliver a unique code to each position on the ground that can be independently authenticated, which allows operation or access only if the user is in the location expected.
“Commercial users are now able to use STL to deliver trustworthy timing solutions for critical infrastructure, such as LTE networks, transactional data centers and the power grid,” says Greg Gutt, president and chief technology officer of Satelles. “Military and government users can also acquire these commercial off-the-shelf solutions for the Department of Defense and other government applications. In addition to enhancing the security and resiliency of GPS, STL technology can be embedded into servers anywhere in the world to geo-fence data and applications, providing trusted time and location data as an independent factor for end-point authentication.”
The STL solution has been successfully demonstrated across multiple sectors, including military, academia and commercial applications. The technology is available today and will be supported by Iridium NEXT, the Iridium’s next-generation global satellite constellation, which is scheduled for completion by late 2017, the company says.
“Even the best technology has a bad day,” Charles Schue told the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which relies very heavily on the best technology to keep the world’s financial edifice afloat. Vulnerabilities in the stock market were pointed up during a demonstration on April 19, showcasing how one positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system can cover the chinks in another. Respectively, eLoran and GPS in this case.
Schue is CEO of UrsaNav, a company that has been developing complementary PNT solutions, specifically the high-power, low-frequency (LF), ground-wave technology that is eLoran, which UrsaNav calls “the most reliable, scalable, and future-proof available.” Schue spoke at the NYSE along with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Coast Guard, Juniper Networks and Harris Corporation.
“2014 was a very bad year for GNSS,” Schue continued, citing the GLONASS full-system outage for 11 hours and Galileo’s wrong-orbit launch of two satellites. “This year, GPS, the gold standard, had an ‘oops’ and slipped from gold to silver, when one satellite kind of wigged out, a 13.7 microsecond error that contaminated 15 other satellites.” He ran a simulation that showed how, at one point, six GPS satellites were communicating bad timing to the Eastern seaboard, where the NYSE is located.
2016 has also seen renewed GPS jamming from North Korea.
The stock exchange, along with other global financial markets, relies on microsecond timing to properly execute all transactions. The U.S. air traffic management system likewise relies on high-precision aspects of GPS that are vulnerable to interference, jamming, and even occasional system failure. Many other industries, telecommunications principally among them, are also building infrastructures and applications that rely on GPS for precise timing, thus making them vulnerable as well.
One Back-Up Transmitter in Place
An eLoran transmitter in Wildwood, New Jersey, relies on three primary reference standards, three atomic clocks, just as each GPS satellite carries three or four atomic clocks. “The signals coming from space, the signals coming from ground, they’re very similar.” ELoran also has monitoring and control sites on the ground, just like the satellite system; it has differential reference stations, and of course eLoran receivers, playing the same role as GPS receivers.
Schue asserted that the cost of launching one GPS satellite into space would fund an eLoran system for the continental United States for 20 years. Also, that a lot of industries in addition to the financial community are building infrastructures and applications that rely on GPS for precise timing, and so are equally vulnerable.
The eLoran demonstration showed how the Wildwood station sent a timing signal 130 miles to the NYSE, deep within several urban canyons and enveloped in several layers of concrete, steel and glass. A GPS receiver in the room did not pick up anything. The eLoran receiver showed precise time, to the standard of NYSE requirements.
Equipment utilized included a Spectracom SecureSync providing time to the network, once it received it from eLoran.
On a screen display showing plus or minus 500 nanoseconds relative to Coordinated Universal Time, “that red line is us receiving eLoran timing at that antenna, 130 miles away, through the urban canyons, inside this building, right now at minus 14 nanoseconds.” The eLoran equipment transmitted and received two signals, with a data channel on one of the signals. “We could put the data channel on both signals, and we could put multiple data channels on both on there as well.”
Schue said another demo inside a downtown Boston hotel, 305 miles from the New Jersey transmitter, obtained 83-nanosecond accuracy. A 2015 test to an outdoor receiver in Bangor, Maine, 500 miles from the transmitter, logged 68-nanosecond accuracy.
Plus or minus 100 nanoseconds is the typical GPS performance. “We can do far better, and GPS often does far better than that.”
Initial operating capability for a wide-area eLoran service providing precise time for the continental United States would require four transmitter sites across the middle of the country. The corporate and government partners hope to use some repurposed Loran-C assets and turn them into eLoran stations. Wildwood is transmitting at 360 kilowatts; if transmitting at 1 million watts, or 1 megawatt, the signal could penetrate even further inside buildings. The cost difference between the two powers of transmitter is not significant.
Bringing six more continental eLoran transmitter sites online, for a total of ten, would add a back-up positioning capability in addition to timing. “This is very important, because with positioning, you get mobile time — a co-primary solution for position, navigation, and timing.”
Using a differential receiver would yield even better local-area accuracy for about 35 miles around a selected site, for high-priority locations. Such a higher-precision system for the nation’s top 50 metropolitan areas, top 50 airports, and top 50 harbors could be accomplished with 71 differential sites.
Concurrence from Government and Other Industry Partners
Spokespersons from the DHS, Coast Guard, Juniper Networks and Harris Corporation preceded Schue at the NYSE presentation, all giving similar perspectives on U.S. vulnerability in many aspects, due to reliance on GPS as a sole, unsupported source of precision PNT. “Of the 16 critical infrastructure / key resource sectors in the United States, 15 use GPS for timing. GPS timing is deemed essential for 11 of these sectors,” stressed DHS.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — both their design and their many applications — are the topic of GPS World‘s May webinar. The free webinar is scheduled for Thursday, May 19, at 1 p.m. EDT. Register here.
The webinar, sponsored by Septentrio, will engage you in discussions involving:
Read the full details of each of the speakers’ presentations below.
Dennis Akos, Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder
Subtopic 1: GNSS Robustness for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Presented by Dennis Akos, professor, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Joshua Stubbs, Ph.D. candidate
When siting the antenna of a GNSS receiver or designing a GNSS-based navigation system, electromagnetic compatibility is an important concern. This is particularly true for airborne platforms. Akos discusses how radio-frequency interference can impact GNSS equipment on unmanned aircraft systems and how robustly the equipment can navigate those systems.
Joshua Stubbs, Ph.D. candidate
Subtopic 2: Autonomous Relative Navigation Presented by Dr. Jeff Fayman, CTO, Geodetics
Future UAVS will require relative navigation capability to fulfill a broad range of assisted manned and unmanned missions. A new approach, demonstrated in application to aerial refueling, provides access to accurate relative time-space positioning information (R-TSPI) between platforms.
Subtopic 3: UAV Operation in Industrial Environments Presented by Roy Jeunen, founder, AiRobot
The distance from an in-flight UAV to the industrial asset that it is observing or inspecting obviously has critical importance for safety, data precision and cost-effectiveness. The AiRobot Ranger counters this problem by displaying the distance between the UAV and the object of interest on multiple smart phones or tablets, ensuring the extra situational awareness that is crucial for professional UAV operations.
Jan Leyssens, Product Manager, Septentrio
Subtopic 4: Practical Tips on How to Avoid Problems While Integrating High-Accuracy GNSS Receivers Aboard UAVs Presented by Jan Leyssens, product manager, Septentrio
Register today.If you can’t attend the live event, you are invited to still register — you will be sent the on-demand version 24 hours after the event concludes. The on-demand version will be available until May 19, 2017.
The VN-360 OEM GPS-Compass module provides an accurate, True North heading solution for systems integrators seeking a reliable alternative to magnetic-based sensors to improve the capabilities and performance of next-generation manned and unmanned systems. Unlike digital magnetometers that can be affected by ferrous materials, the VN-360 heading solution provides a cost-effective GPS-based alternative. With two onboard GNSS receivers, the VN-360 calculates the relative position between its two GNSS antennas to derive a heading solution an order of magnitude more accurate than a magnetic compass. It supports a variety of GNSS antennas that can be mounted on the host platform with a separation distance from a few centimeters to several meters. Applications include antenna pointing, multirotor UAVs and aerostats, automated agriculture, heavy machinery, ground robots, weapons training, warfare simulation and direct surveying.
The SDX software-defined GNSS simulator is now available in version 16.2. For real-time kinematic application, it is now possible to synchronize multiple simulators using a 10-MHz reference and pulse-per-second (PPS) signal. Users can modify pseudorange from the graphical user interface or the application program interface (API) in real time. Each satellite can be controlled individually or together. Trajectories can be imported from CSV files, and raw datalogging is improved. The navigation message can be changed in real time during the simulation. There is now an alternative to python API with the C++ open source API (other programming languages, such as C#, will be supported in the future.)
Designed for hydrographic tasks from shallow to deep water
The Apogee-M motion reference unit and the Apogee-U inertial navigation system (INS) are both made of titanium and have a depth rating of 200 meters. The Apogee Series is an accurate INS based on robust micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology with a high degree of precision — 0.008 degrees in roll and pitch in real time — while delivering a robust and accurate heading from the continuous fusion of GNSS and IMU data. Apogee-M and Apogee-U are designed to mount close to the sonar head for hydrographic tasks in shallow or deep water. They provide a real-time heave accurate to 5 centimeters, which automatically detects the wave frequency and constantly adjusts to it. When wave frequency is erratic or in case of long-period swell, the delayed heave feature can allow survey in rough conditions with a more extensive calculation, resulting in a heave accurate to 2 cm displayed in real-time with a short delay. Apogee sensors can be paired with any survey-grade GNSS receiver or with one offered by SBG Systems.
The Piksi is a high-performance GPS receiver with real-time kinematic (RTK) functionality for centimeter-level relative positioning accuracy. Designed for integration into autonomous vehicles and portable surveying equipment, it has a fast position-solution update rate and low-power consumption in a small form factor. An open-source architecture with a high-performance digital signal processor on board and a flexible correlation accelerator make it suitable for GNSS research. Features include centimeter-accurate relative positioning (carrier-phase RTK); GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and SBAS signals; 50-Hz position/velocity/time solutions; and integrated patch antenna and external antenna input.
BYOD program offers a range of configurations for a variety of jobs
Anatum Field Solutions (AFS) has launched a nationwide Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) submeter GNSS and centimeter real-time kinematic (RTK ) GNSS receiver rental program. AFS rentals target high-accuracy users in GIS, UAV, environmental, engineering, surveying, agriculture, electric/gas/water utilities, pipeline, forestry, mining, transportation, construction, architecture and government markets. AFS offers all mobile GIS devices including Apple iOS, Android, Windows and Windows Mobile/EHH. It also stocks various GNSS receivers such as Eos Arrow (submeter and centimeter), SXBlue (submeter and centimeter), Trimble R1 (1 meter) and BadElf (1–3 meters) in a variety of configurations.
The FC-5000 field controller, with its 7-inch sunlight-readable display, is designed to provide operators a larger, more versatile and faster handheld computer for the modern construction site. The display has a capacitive touch interface — with finger, glove, small-tip stylus and water-capable options — that is optically bonded to increase visibility. With the press of a key, a user can change the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape to increase visibility when viewing maps or drawings. The controller is compatible with all Topcon GNSS receivers and total stations, operating MAGNET Field, Site and Layout software. It has two built-in cameras: an 8-MP camera with autofocus and LED flash for field photography, and a 2-MP camera on the front for video meetings. Additional features include 64 GB of flash storage, an optional 4G LTE cellular modem, internal GPS navigation, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a battery life of 10-plus hours.
Phantom 4 features obstacle avoidance, active tracking
The Phantom 4 quadcopter uses advanced computer vision and sensing technology to make professional aerial imaging easier. Its onboard intelligence makes piloting and shooting images easier through features such as its Obstacle Sensing System and ActiveTrack functionality. The Obstacle Sensing System features two forward-facing optical sensors that scan for obstacles and automatically direct the aircraft around impediments, reducing risk of collision, while ensuring flight direction remains constant. Obstacle avoidance also engages if the user triggers the drone’s “Return to Home” function to reduce the risk of collision when automatically flying back to its takeoff point. With ActiveTrack, the user can keep the camera centered on a subject. ActiveTrack allows users running the DJI Go app on iOS and Android devices to follow and keep the camera centered on the subject as it moves by tapping the subject on their smartphone or tablet.
The Pteryx UAV is a photomapping tool designed to help with photogrammetry, land property surveillance, environmental survey, search and rescue, precision agriculture, research, and in the energy sector. With a two-hour flight time, missions can be planned with the endurance reserve needed to overcome the large distances and worst-case changing weather conditions. Pteryx is designed to fly at speeds of about 50 km/h in light or medium wind speeds. The Pteryx can lift up to 1 kilogram of cargo: cameras, camcorders or other research equipment. The payload is housed in a roll-stabilized head on the front of the fuselage. The Pteryx can also accommodate a wide variety of sensors, which are installed in an easy to replace camera head. The Pteryx is delivered with a 16 MPx APS-C (crop sensor) daylight camera and wide lens, with other sensor options available.
The M2-D is a miniature stabilized gyro with electro optical (EO) and infrared imagers. The system is designed for mobile, marine and aerial unmanned applications. The M2-D is compact at 3 inches tall and 2 inches in diameter. The gimbal is fully gyro stabilized and packs sensor technologies previously only available in much larger payloads. The infrared FLIR brand pan-tilt-zoom thermal imaging camera has an optical telephoto zoom in a lightweight 160-gram payload. The high-resolution thermal imaging sensor with digital zoom integration lets users capture stable video in total darkness. For daytime operations, the gimbal has a full-color visual camera with optical 6x zoom to ~4 degrees. The optical zoom is then enhanced with digial zoom integration for stable long-range imaging.
Surveys large areas or objects to generate fast, precise data
Version 2 of the AibotX6 hexacopter features high-precision (HP) GNSS for surveyors. The system also can be installed in existing AibotX6 hexacopters. With Version 2, the precision and quality of surveying data is significantly improved with RTK technology based on the Leica Geosystems SmartNet correction data service. Post-processing is also possible. The new AibotX6 HP GNSS workflow guarantees precision of up to 2-centimeter position accuracy. Besides allowing the use of existing surveying hexacopters, continuing generation and processing of data can be done with the fully integrated software Aibotix AiProFlight. The Aibot X6 can carry a variety of sensors weighing up to 2 kilograms.
Integrates GNSS for challenging maritime positioning
The new DPS 432 combines full decimeter accuracy with high integrity and availability of GNSS data, supporting the safety and efficiency of offshore operations that rely on advanced dynamic positioning (DP) systems. It integrates signals from GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo, and regional correction signals including SBAS and G4 services from Fugro, to ensure high flexibility for DP operations globally. Suited to complex operations, the system increases satellite availability, improves integrity monitoring and enables more precision under challenging signal tracking conditions. The DPS 432 features a sophisticated engine that runs in a safe mode protected from unintended user operations.
The aera 660 features a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display that has been optimized for cockpits and various types of flying. It has a built-in GPS/GLONASS receiver and rich, interactive maps that can be viewed in portrait or landscape modes. Cost-effective database options along with Wi-Fi database updating capabilities allow customers to access up-to-date data, including daily U.S. fuel prices. Bluetooth supports the display of ADS-B in traffic and weather from a variety of sources, including the GDL 39/GDL 39 3D, Flight Stream and the GTX 345 ADS-B transponder. The aera 660 withstands the harshest environments, meeting stringent temperature tests and helicopter vibration standards. Depending on settings and external connections, pilots can receive up to four hours of battery life on a single charge.
The 11-day event is open to graduate students that have studied more than three years; Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers younger than 35 years old; and young engineers and professionals in the industry who are less than 35 years old.
Participants will learn a comprehensive overview of satellite navigation, starting from the GNSS system, its signals, the processing of the observations in a receiver and determining the position-navigation-time solution. They will be able to work hands-on in JRC labs and attend lectures on intellectual property rights, patents, business insights and the future of satellite systems.
There also will be a comprehensive group project, where participants will use their innovative ideas to develop a product or service and create a business plan, technical realization and marketing of that product or service.
GPS and GNSS have changed the world. Of that there can be no doubt. But in terms of sheer change, both qualitative and quantitative — we ain’t seen nothing yet.
We now witness the creation of an industry. This will be very disruptive. We’ve had change instituted by GNSS; we know what that looks like. We haven’t yet seen a true revolution.This is something entirely new, and there are many things about which we don’t yet have a clue .
What happens to that great American institution, the private car? The relationship between the individual and its four-wheeled extension?
And on the industrial side, do automakers disappear as OEMs — do they become Tier 1 suppliers to Google, Uber and Lyft?
Because of the massive impact of this particular rollout of GNSS-enabled capabilities, I am devoting this issue of the GNSS Design & Test e-newsletter to it, even though it is not in itself a system in space. It is the most radical transformation of life on Earth we have seen, driven by our systems in space.
The following are notes jotted during the Driverless Conference, March 23 in San Francisco.
“In the early 90s, when I was part of a government ride-sharing initiative, we used to talk about these new portable devices bringing data communication into … wherever we go. Now they’re here, and they’re well established. Very soon, this is going to change things, and enable many of the things we’ve only talked and dreamed about so far.” Thus spoke Steve Wollenberg of Automatiks, opening the conference.
“We’re at the confluence of great technological developments. We’re seeing great acceleration of all of them.”
Virtually all the speakers, all these driverless enthusiasts, really love cars. Some own up to collecting them, having multiples in their home garage(s). A bit wistfully, Wollenberg foresaw the new control technology taking over public roadways. “In ten years, racetracks may be the only place where you’re allowed to drive your own vehicle.”
Ride Share. “Four years is the entire lifetime of the ridesharing industry,” said Emily Castor of Lyft, who by virtue of her tenure there for that period, can be termed an industry veteran.
“We’ve seen a full-about turn in the regulatory environment. We see ride-sharing as the stepping stone to a world in which people no longer drive vehicles. Getting an autonomous vehicle on demand through a shared network will be much easier and cheaper than owning a private vehicle.”
Lyft talked with General Motors last year, and found a shared vision of shared use.
Amitai Bin-Nun from Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), a non-partisan advocacy organization with business leadership, introduced his organization’s broad mission: reducing U.S. petroleum dependence. Instability in parts of the world is fueled by petroleum dependence.
“This is a hard process. It takes a long time to overturn an established system.” A key obstacle is the lack of compelling new consumer experience, currently. Using connected and autonomous vehicles in a ride-sharing network is an opportunity to get this new experience, and drive the transformative process. Re-order the transportation system.
Mariel Devisa of Travelers Insurance announced that Travelers has launched a ride-share insurance product, live now in 16 states.
In two fairly conservative industries — automotive and insurance — with long-established partners and practices, the efforts to move and change are, frankly, surprising and faster than anticipated, according to moderator Wollenberg. “It’s a fun time.”
Freight and Fleets. Steve Boyd of Peloton made the case that trucking fleets can serve a critical role in pushing the technology forward, because some segments of the transportation industry move faster than others. Getting state approvals without having to go federal is the route pursued now, in terms of full-scale roadtesting of autonomous driving. That will enable early adoption heading into commercial pathways: freight-truck platooning and drafting. Volvo, Intel, Nokia, Denso, UPS and a number of other companies are closely involved.
Boyd announced a set of fleet trials this year, starting in Texas, “a very truck-friendly state.” Legislative approval for trials has passed or is pending in several other states, as many as a dozen. Prospective customers are already lined up in the freight space.
In Europe, an April 6 EU Platooning Challenge will take place in Rotterdam. The Netherlands is leading the EU in the current cycle to approve truck platooning by early 2018.
There’s “a platooning gap” developing between the U.S. and Europe, according to Boyd. Silicon Valley may lead on the technology, but if this is not matched by activity on the regulatory side, it will lose out to other areas that aggressively pursue approvals as well as technology.
Traditionally, the automotive and trucking OEM industries have been very competitive, but now they are seeing the necessity to collaborate to push the policy side forward. This is happening in the insurance industry, too. Competition will certainly still be there, but to enable vehicle-to-vehicle communication a broad measure of collaboration will be necessary.
The road environment today is very imperfect, with many thousands of fatalities and countless more serious injuries. Trucks drive too close together. Highway safety needs innovation and regulatory change in order to improve.
The Long Vision. An autonomous car can’t count on the ability of the driver to retake control of the vehicle in 5 or 10 seconds. So the vehicle needs to be able to take care of itself — fully. Therefore, an evolutionary approach to installing autonomous capabilities may not work.
Some initiatives, however, continue to bring services into the vehicle one by one, gradually. How engaged will the driver be, and in what timeframe? There’s debate, and a shift in thinking may currently be underway.
Traditionally, a 5- to 7-year product cycle in automotive starts when new features are introduced in upmarket vehicles. Examples: adaptive cruise control (to follow the car in front of you at a set distance), lane-keeping assistance. Gradually, these new features are installed in lower price-point models until they become standard throughout the line. With multiple products and product cycles, it will thus take multiple decades. 220 million vehicles are owned by households. An integrative approach to autonomy will take a long, long time.
There is a rising tide for autonomy may take a different approach: autonomy first, that is, full autonomy will take over the vehicle — and as many vehicles as possible.
(Something that no one has mentioned but I can’t help thinking: Given the longstanding and extremely virulent controversy in this country over private gun ownership… What does this bode for something shaping up as a massive social, structural change, not just a new technological wrinkle? What is more American than a gun? A car.
If you thought the Internet, or smartphones, or for heavensakes even GPS/GNSS have radically altered the world — again, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.)
The report provides a basic overview of the GNSS industry, including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.
The report states the global GNSS market size and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies.
The GNSS market analysis is provided for major regions, including the U.S., Europe, China and Japan. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.
The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. GNSS industry development trends and marketing channels also are analyzed. The feasibility of new investment projects and overall research conclusions also are discussed.
The report also provides major statistics on the state of the industry.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has implemented a GNSS equipment mandate for all aircraft flying in the country, regardless of state of registry. The mandate is designed to align Australian operations with global standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Communications, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM).
The changes include the requirement that all aircraft operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) must now be equipped with GNSS avionics meeting TSO C129, which enables compliance with Required Navigation Performance (RNP) 1 terminal area and RNP 2 continental en route operations that begin May 26.
GNSS is the enabling technology for both performance-based navigation (PBN) and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) in Australia and will affect all IFR aircraft. Applying both PBN and ADS-B over the whole of Australia will permit:
Increased safety as air traffic control surveillance will be available over the whole of Australia at higher levels, and with substantial coverage at lower levels.
Flexi-route—a system that optimizes aircraft routes according to the latest weather and location of other aircraft
Reduced separation distances, greater fuel efficiency, lower flight times and reduced congestion at busy aerodromes.
To help foreign-registered aircraft operators in meeting the new requirements, transition arrangements are available for a two-year period. Operators who need the extension must complete an online form before their first flight in Australia on or after May 26.
To facilitate RNP operations within Australia, CASA has developed an acceptable means of compliance document.
The GNSS mandate will see ground-based navigation capability reduced by about 50 percent, with the decommissioning of about 190 ground-based navaids. The remaining network of navaids will form the GNSS backup navigation network.
GPS and GNSS have changed the world. Of that there can be no doubt. But in terms of sheer change, both qualitative and quantitative — we ain’t seen nothing yet.