Australia-based Position Partners has launched MiRTK, an open architecture corrections service for GNSS equipment.
Internet-enabled, MiRTK offers an alternative to UHF radio correction services for high-accuracy GNSS. Unlike UHF radios, MiRTK is not limited by range from the GNSS base station and does not require line of sight with the survey rover or machine.
MiRTK uses a small modem that slides onto the accessory slot of the tripod and connects to the base station via a single cable.
A subscription service is available in locations with the Telstra network, mainly continental Australia.
MiRTK is designed for accurate GNSS positioning in the construction, mining and geospatial industries. It is compatible with all brands and models of GNSS from manufacturers including Topcon, Trimble, Leica Geosystems, Sokkia, Hemisphere and more.
“Until now, users that rely on high-precision GNSS for applications such as surveying and machine control had no option but to use UHF radios or a network RTK solution,” said Cameron Waters, geospatial business manager at Position Partners.
“Anyone that’s had to rely on UHF radio frequencies will have experienced problems, including interference, range limitations, costly licensing and severe penalties for breaching licensing laws. MiRTK offers an alternative that is refreshingly simple: no repeaters, no line of sight issues and no complex licensing,” he added.
The Galaxy lithium mine in Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. (Photo: jasonbennee/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
Another benefit, according to Waters, is the ability to utilise a single correction protocol across all GNSS equipment on site. This dramatically reduces complexity and potential connectivity issues. “MiRTK uses NTRIP and a user selectable format such as RTCM3 or CMR, that can be used universally regardless of the brand or model of equipment,” he said. “Users enjoy full speed, full constellation connectivity without the complex radio settings, baud rates, bandwidth or scrambling problems that you get when trying to utilize different GNSS systems with UHF radios.”
To set up the unit, users simply connect the modem to the base station, power the modem on and MiRTK will work for up to 20 hours continuously without charge. Each unit can connect with up to 10 devices such as survey rovers or machine systems as standard, with unlimited potential to scale up connections as required.
“The future of UHF is limited with lower bandwidth, higher density areas, increased governance, rising costs and little flexibility,” Waters said. “MiRTK gives customers a new approach to receive reliable correction data in a simple and hassle-free way, whilst utilizing their existing GNSS hardware.”
Draganfly Inc., a leading North American-based commercial drone company, is partnering with Windfall Geotek to develop drone-based solutions for landmine detection.
Windfall Geotek is a Quebec-based technology services company and a leader in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced knowledge-extraction techniques in the mining sector.
The companies will work to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) driven unmanned aerial systems solution for landmine detection in the defense, humanitarian and other sectors in which the companies have expertise.
While landmines have been used since World War I, their deployment proliferated from the 1960s onwards. To this day, many unexploded devices are killing and maiming people who step on or trigger the bombs unintentionally.
About 60 countries and territories are still contaminated with anti-personnel mines, and more than 120,000 people were killed or injured by landmines between 1999-2017, according to research by Landmine Monitor.
Terms of the agreement include joint research, development and engineering support, drones and equipment o further commercialize an AI driven drone solution for the detection and elimination of landmines, unexploded ordnance and.improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
In 2018, governments and nonprofits allocated nearly US$700 million in combined international
and national support for mine action in 2018. The economic impact of landmines is estimated at $100 billion.
“We have been evaluating drone solutions for nearly a year, and after an exhaustive analysis of the market and providers, it is exciting to select Draganfly as our first drone systems partner for this worthwhile initiative,” said Dinesh Kandanchatha, chairman of Windfall Geotek.
“Windfall Geotek is the industry leader in AI-based digital exploration for mining. When they approached us on this project, it seemed like a natural fit to partner our engineering and drone capabilities, with their proven software and AI expertise,” sid Cameron Chell, CEO, Draganfly. “The two companies share a mission of saving lives through technology. We expect this partnership to generate new and expanded revenue streams for both companies in the defense sector, public safety and other markets where both companies have expertise.”
Mountainous areas present special problems for surveyors, overcome by the expanded availability of multi-GNSS. (Photo: Trimble)
Today’s GNSS satellites transmit on three or more carrier frequencies. The quality of the data in these signals from GPS, BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS and QZSS reveals the expected measurement precisions. This article explores the noise of the range residual and ionospheric residual to indicate the oncoming capabilities.
Today, four GNSSs transmit various codes on various carrier frequencies: the USA’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS, Europe’s Galileo and China’s BeiDou. Most of the carrier phase and pseudorange data are available using civilian GNSS receivers. Improvements in signal quality as well as reliability of the satellites are foreseen through the generations, as well as the introduction of new signals, such as L1C, L2C, L5 carrier and codes, and M-codes, on top of the existing L1-C/A code and the P(Y) code on both L1 and L2. Improvements are also seen in boosting the transmitting power.
This article investigates the use of two approaches to analyze the relative noise in the various carrier phase and pseudorange observable for GPS, BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS and Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) augmentation. Two approaches analyze the relative noise in the observables: the range residual and the ionospheric residual. Both techniques can also be used to detect cycle slips.
Range Residual
UAV survey operations benefit from multi-GNSS receivers. (Photo: Septentrio)
The range residual is simply the change from one epoch to the next in the difference in the range calculated using the pseudorange and the range calculated by the carrier phase on a specific frequency. The pseudorange values are scaled using the wavelength to an equivalent range in units of the carrier’s cycles rather than meters. Equation 1 illustrates the range residual between the pseudorange ρ on a specific carrier frequency and the carrier phase observable φ, using the wavelength λ of the carrier to scale the pseudorange. The values of these observables are compared between adjacent epochs.
RR = (p/λ) – φ (1)
Two adjacent epochs are used, as then the integer ambiguity value, as well as the ionospheric and tropospheric errors, and satellite and receiver clock errors are the same, or negligibly different at such small (<1 s) epoch intervals. Therefore, these are all canceled out, and the resulting value is the measurement receiver and observable noise. The pseudorange observable will be significantly noisier than the carrier phase observable, therefore this method is a good way to calculate the measurement noise for the pseudoranges.
Ionospheric Residual
Surveyors work the Berezitovy mine in the North Amur region of Russia. (Photo: Javad GNSS)
If the carrier waves traveled only through a vacuum, then a phase observation from a specific satellite to a specific GNSS receiver could be scaled and converted to an equivalent phase measurement on another frequency using the frequencies of the carrier waves. However, as the signal passes through the ionosphere, systematic errors that are frequency dependent are introduced, so it is not possible to directly convert from one carrier phase value to another for a specific range measurement. The error is known as the ionospheric residual, and this will change slowly over time as the satellite passes overhead and the ionosphere being passed through changes, and also as the ionosphere slowly changes its characteristics over time, mainly due to the sun’s activities.
Equation 2 shows the calculation, using L1 and L2 carrier phase readings and corresponding frequencies, used to calculate the ionospheric residual. Again, the difference in the ionospheric residual values between adjacent epochs is used, as in the same way as the range residual values, external noise sources are eliminated.
(2)
Results
The results presented here are a subset of a much larger set. Figure 1 illustrates the range residuals for L1 and L2 as well as the L1L2 ionospheric residual for PRN32 (Block IIA satellite).
Figure 1. L1 range residual (left) L2 range residual (center) and L1L2 ionospheric residual (right) for GPS PRN32 (Block IIA) satellite. (Charts: Authors)
Figure 2 illustrates the L1 and L5 range residuals and the L2 (C-code) L5 ionospheric residual for PRN01 (Block IIF satellite).Both figures’ data are for the complete passing of the satellites from horizon over and back down again.The data for PRN32 is all that exists in the datafile, as this satellite only transmits L1 CA code and P(Y) code, as well as L2 P(Y) code, and corresponding carrier values.
Figure 2. L1 range residual (left) L5 range residual (center) and L2 (C code) L5 ionospheric residual (right) for GPS PRN01 (Block IIF) satellite. (Charts: Authors)
PRN01 is a block IIF satellite, and data for L1 CA code, L2 P(Y) code as well as L2 C-code, L5 code, and corresponding carrier phase values are recorded in the datafile.The block IIF satellites can result in four range residual values and five ionospheric residual combinations.Figure 2 only illustrates three of these combinations.The data were obtained from the Curtin University GNSS repository on Sept. 1, 2015, gathered at a 1-Hz epoch interval; 29,908 epoch of data were gathered for PRN32, and 26,073 epochs for PRN01.
It can be seen from these figures that the L1 range residuals are similar in characteristics for both PRN01 and PRN32.The values are noisy at the start and the end of the time series, indicating that the CA code is more prone to noise at low elevations.Comparing these to the L2 (PRN32) and L5 (PRN01) range residuals, we can see that both the L2 and L5 range residuals are not as prone to low elevation noise. Also, the two L2 and L5 range residuals are visually similar in characteristcs.By comparing the L1L2 and L2L5 ionospheric residuals (Figure 1, right, and Figure 2, right), we can see that the L1L2 combination is slightly noisier than the L2L5, in particular at low elevation angles.
If we compare BeiDou ionospheric residual results, we can see the comparison of noise on the three ionospheric residual combinations, B1B2, B1B3 and B2B3, as well as the results from the three types of satellite orbits, ie MEO, IGSO and GEO. Figure 3 illustrates the ionospheric residual results for PRN07 (IGSO) for the three frequency combinations, from data gathered on a static pillar located on top of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China’s Science and Engineering Building.
Figure 3. Ionospheric residual results for BeiDou PRN07 (IGSO) for combinations B1B2 (left), B1B3 (center), B2B3 (right). (Chart: Authors)
Figure 4 illustrates the ionospheric residual results for PRN01 (GEO) for the three frequency combinations.
Figure 4. Ionospheric residual results for BeiDou PRN01 (GEO) for combinations B1B2 (left), B1B3 (center), B2B3 (right). (Chart: Authors)
Figure 5 illustrates the ionospheric residual results for PRN12 (MEO) for the three frequency combinations. Here it can be seen that the B2B3 combination is generally less noisy than the B1B2 and B1B3. In addition to this, it can be seen that when the MEO and IGSO satellites are at lower elevation angles, the observables also become noisier. The GEO satellites have a constant elevation angle, and do not experience this phenomenon.
Figure 5. Ionospheric residual results for BeiDou PRN12 (MEO) for combinations B1B2 (left), B1B3 (center), B2B3 (right). (Charts: Authors)
Detailed Results
The data, gathered on a single GNSS receiver located at the University of Curtin’s GNSS research center, was downloaded in BINEX format and converted into RINEX 3.02 format using RTKLIB software. Software was developed by the authors in Matlab in order to interrogate the data files and implement the range residual and ionospheric residual algorithms. RINEX 3.02 format was chosen due to its compatibility with multi-GNSS and multi-frequencies.
Industrial UAV applications such as construction draw benefits from multi-GNSS receivers’ capabilities. (Photo: Skycatch, Swift Navigation)
Results are presented for both ionospheric residual and range residual results for various GNSS. These results have been calculated with varying elevation mask angles, ranging from 0° to 55° at 5° intervals. The RMS values of the resulting ionospheric residuals and range residuals were calculated and plotted against the respective elevation mask angle for each satellite and frequency combinations. This illustrates the influence of the elevation mask angle used on the results.
Typically, tens of thousands of epochs of data were used for every plotted point in the following figures. Further to this, not only are the results for the various frequencies and frequency combinations for the various GNSS illustrated, but also the various satellite types, MEO, GEO and IGSO, and various satellite Blocks for GNSS. GPS Block IIA (PRN04 and PRN32), Block IIR (PRN14), Block IIR-M (PRN31) and Block IIF (PRN01, PRN26, PRN25) data were all analyzed. Thus, the comparison of the various frequencies within each satellite system are illustrated, as well as the variations by comparing the various satellite constellation types and the various generations of GPS satellites.
Surveying accuracy is critical to roadway construction. (Photo: Leica Geosystems)
The BeiDou data illustrated are MEO (C12, C14, C11), IGSO (C09, C10, C07) and GEO (C01, C02). The data used were gathered on Sept. 1, 2015, in order to include GPS Block IIA satellites (PRN04 and PRN32). PRN32 was retired in June 2016, and PRN04 was taken out of active service in November 2015, but the satellite was reactivated in March 2018, this time broadcasting PRN18.
Figure 6 illustrates RMS of the range residual results for GPS (a), BeiDou (b), Galileo (c), GLONASS (d) and QZSS (e) respectively. These figures have been drawn so that the y-axis ranges are the same for each, hence illustrating the relative values.
Figure 6A illustrates the range residual results for GPS. It can be seen that the L1 CA code results are the noisiest, with PRN14 being the noisiest, followed by PRN31, PRN26, PRN01, PRN04, PRN25 and PRN32. It can also be seen with these results that lower elevation angle mask increases the noise level. Both the L2 and L5 code results are less noisy.
Figure 6A. RMS range residual results for GPS. (Chart: Authors)
Looking at the detail, the L5 code results is less noisy than the L2 and affected less than the L1 results by the changes in elevation mask angles used. Interestingly enough, the data file includes both the L2 P(Y) code and L2C code results. L2C only exists on the Block IIR-M and Block IIF satellites. The L2C code results are generally noisier than the L2 P(Y) code.
Figure 6B illustrates the results for the range residuals for the BeiDou satellites. Here it can be seen that the B1 code is affected more by low elevation mask angles than B2 and B3. It can also be seen that both the geostationary satellites’ B1 results stand out, with satellite C02 being noisier than C01. The B2 and B3 values for both these GEO satellites are bunched up with the majority of the other results towards the middle of the figure. The pairs of B2 and B3 results for the GEO satellites are close to each other in values, and the pairs of B2 and B3 results for the other satellites are also close to each other.
Figure 6B. RMS range residual results for BeiDou. (Chart: Authors)
It can also be seen that the range residual results for BeiDou are generally less noisy than than GPS, in units of cycles.
Similarly, for Galileo, Figure 6C, the E1 results are worst, and affected more by low elevation masks. Again, generally the Galileo results are seen to be improved over GPS. The GLONASS results, Figure 6D, illustrate that the L1C results are generally noisier, and then the L1P, followed by L2C and L2P. PRN09 is also consistently generally noisier than PRN10. Finally, Figure 6E illustrates the results for QZSS. Again, L1C is the noisiest and affected most by low elevation mask angles.
Figure 6C. RMS range residual results for Galileo. (Chart: Authors)Figure 6D. RMS range residual results for GLONASS. (Chart: Authors)Figure 6E. RMS range residual results for QZSS. (Chart: Authors)
Figure 7 illustrates the ionspheric residual results for the same satellites as Figure 6. This time, however, the resulting ionospheric residual values are calculated using pairs of data from the same satellite on different carrier frequencies. The range residual results compare the code and carrier from specific satellites and frequencies.
Figure 7(a) shows that the ionospheric residual results are affected by low elevation masks, and that the L1L2CW (L1 CA code and L2 P(Y) code available on all the satellites) combinations are the noisiest, followed by L2L5WX (L2 P(Y) code and L5 code available on Block IIF satellites, PRN 26, PRN01, PRN25), followed by L1L2CX (L1 CA code and L2 C code available on Block IIF and Block IIR-M satellites, PRN31, PRN26, PRN01 and PRN25), followed by L1L5CX (L1 CA code and L5 code, Block IIF satellites, PRN01, PRN25, PRN26) and finally the least noisy were the L2L5XX results (L2 C code and L5 code available on Block IIF satellites, PRN26, PRN25 and PRN01).
Figure 7A. Ionospheric residual results for GPS. (Chart: Authors)
Figure 7(b) illustrates the BeiDou ionospheric residual plots, illustrating that satellite C14 is much noisier for all three combinations of B1B3, BB1B2 and B2B3 in that order. The B1B2 combinations for the satellites are generally the noisiest, and then the B1B3 and B2B3 combinations are intertwined. The Galileo results again illustrate that the E1 combinations are generally noisier, and again we see the effect of low elevation angle masks, Figure 7(c). Generally, however, the Galileo results are less noisy than GPS, as are the BeiDou results.
Figure 7B. Ionospheric residual results for BeiDou. (Chart: Authors)Figure 7C. Ionospheric residual results for Galileo. (Chart: Authors)
The GLONASS results are again generally the noisiest, and again PRN09 is noisier than PRN10, with the L1P combinations being noisier, Figure 7(d). Figure 7(e) for QZSS shows that there are generally two groups of results. The upper set consists of L1L2ZX, L1L5ZX, L1L2XX, L1L5XX, L1L6ZX and L1L6XX from highest to lowest noise respectively. The lower, less noisy, group consists of L1L2CX, L1L5CX, L2L5XX, L2L6XX, L1L6CX and L5L6XX from highest to lowest noise respectively. Further details about the various codes and carrier values can be found in the RINEX 3.02 manual produced by the IGS.
Figure 7D. Ionospheric residual results for GLONASS. (Chart: Authors)Figure 7E. Ionospheric residual results for QZSS.(Chart: Authors)
Conclusions
A surveyor checks an urban construction project. (Photo: Topcon)
These preliminary results illustrate that there are differences in the noise values for various GNSS, frequencies as well as satellite generations and orbit types. It can be seen that generally L1, B1 and E1 have noisier results, and are affected moreso by low elevation mask data, and hence multipath. It can also be seen that newer generations of satellites do indeed produce better quality data.
Some specific satellites produce lower quality data such as GLONASS PRN09 and BeiDou C14. This could be due to multipath produced at the satellite.
Today roughly 100 GNSS transmit data, and typically users can gather data from 30 to 50 at any time. Positioning requires nowhere near this number of satellites, therefore decisions are needed as to which satellites and which data to use in a positioning solution. Our findings imply that our approach could be used in such decision-making in GNSS processing software, helping the software to choose the optimum satellites to draw from in a positioning solution.
Acknowledgments
This work described in this article was first presented at the FIG 2018 conference held in Istanbul, Turkey. The authors acknowledge the use of data supplied from the Curtin University GNSS Centre.
Manufacturers
The GNSS receiver used is a Trimble NET R9, and the antenna is a Trimble TRM 59800.00 SCIS choke ring antenna. A ComNav K508 GNSS receiver supplied some of the BeiDou results.
GETHIN WYN ROBERTS is an associate professor at Fróðskaparsetur, the University of the Faroe Islands. He is past Chairman of the FIG’s Commission 6, Engineering Surveys, and previously held posts at the University of Nottingham both in the UK and in China. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering surveying and geodesy from the University of Nottingham.
CRAIG M. HANCOCK is an associate professor in Geodesy and Surveying Engineering and the head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China as well as the head of the Geospatial and Geohazards Research Group. He holds a PhD from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
XU TANG is a research fellow at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China. He holds a PhD from Nanjing University.
Kespry and DJI are partnering to offer the DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone as part of the Kespry stockpile measurement solution for mining and aggregates companies.
The solution delivers the Kespry autonomous flight and aerial intelligence experience for stockpile measurement using a DJI drone. It enables large aggregates and mining companies to standardize and capture stockpile data across all their sites in the Kespry platform, while continuing to use Kespry 2s drones to support mine and site planning operations, Kespry said.
Integration of data captured from a DJI drone is the next innovation in the development of the Kespry industrial sensor platform.
Kespry provides inventory management and mine planning data to more than 200 mining and aggregates companies. As these customers scale their use of drone data, they are looking to standardize on a single platform to organize and analyze that data across sites, geographies and product divisions — even when those sites are highly distributed, Kespry said.
The addition of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro to the Kespry lineup is designed to enable even more site data to be centralized in the Kespry cloud. It will be available with a new, cost-effective purchase point designed to support using Kespry across more sites.
“Drone data is now the standard approach for measuring stockpiles at mine sites, however, millions of dollars are wasted through reconciling inconsistent data from different platforms and the time involved getting that data ready for analysis,” said George Mathew, CEO and chairman at Kespry. “Our goal with the addition of the Mavic 2 Pro to our solution is to respond to our customers wishing to use the Kespry aerial intelligence platform across all mine sites to standardize how stockpile data is generated — lowering their costs and helping drive the profitability of every site.”
“DJI is excited to have Kespry offering the Mavic 2 Pro as part of its aerial intelligence platform portfolio,” said Jan Gasparic, director of strategic partnerships, DJI. “Pairing the Mavic 2 Pro with Kespry’s industry leading AI, ML, and analytics capabilities will be of enormous benefit to mining companies that are looking to take advantage of drone technology in a portable and powerful package.”
According to the companies, the integration of DJI’s drone and sensors into the Kespry platform is the latest innovation in the delivery of an industrial sensor network, closely following Kespry’s recently announced high-resolution thermal capabilities for industrial inspection.
This expansion in the range of data that can be explored and analyzed in the Kespry platform further enables customers to protect and maximize their assets across industrial sites.
The Kespry platform is now capable of processing and analyzing a wide range of sensor data, enabling the future creation of industry-specific applications, including those under current development with leaders in the energy sector.
“We have sites in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland, so with the Kespry platform and DJI drone, we’ll be able to fly multiple sites at one time,” said Justin Dermont, accounting manager at Russell Standard. “I could be flying in Erie while my partners fly in North Carolina, but still be able to get the data in real time to the Kespry cloud.”
“Having DJI as part of the Kespry system will help with the flexibility and the timeliness of us being able to take inventory at multiple locations, especially when we have to take inventory at the end of production, or month end, to make sure we have accurate readings,” said Craig Schiebel, controller at Russell Standard. “Being able to take inventory simultaneously at multiple locations is huge.”
“We’re growing our business and recently acquired some new sites,” said Kyla Jungclaus, senior accountant at Brannan Companies. “We need all of our inventory to be done in just a couple days, so introducing the DJI drone to have another pilot surveying at some of our other locations will get inventory done even faster. I know that our measurements will be consistent and accurate even if I don’t do them myself, and I can manage them all in a single account in the Kespry cloud.”
Kespry is offering the Mavic 2 Pro as part of its fully-managed, end-to-end annual subscription model. Kespry customers that choose the Mavic 2 Pro for stockpile measurement will benefit from the full Kespry experience, including its acclaimed support, training, customer success team, and drone up-time guarantee.
The Kespry stockpile measurement solution with DJI will be available Q1 2019.
Propeller Aero, a cloud-based drone analytics company, is partnering with DJI to create the Propeller PPK Solution leveraging the DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone.
The solution provides customers in the civil, mining, aggregates and waste management industries with a reliable and fully integrated drone mapping system, helping them collect highly accurate data from any worksite without the challenges of traditional workflows, the companies said.
The DJI Phantom 4 gathers data at a construction site. (Photo: DJI)
According to Propeller Aero, Propeller PPK Solution is a fully integrated software and hardware system that reliably provides photogrammetric model outputs in geodetic, projected or local coordinate systems.
The solution provides accuracy of 1/10 feet (3 cm) from independent checkpoints across small and large survey areas (checkpoints up to 1 km from GCPs). To capture surveys of this accuracy, all that is needed is one AeroPoint on the ground (over a known point if working in local coordinates).
The Propeller PPK Solution has been shown to reduce the time required to complete a drone survey by 70 percent as compared to a traditional workflow using multiple GCPs across a worksite, Propeller Aero said.
“DJI has led the drone market with their reliable and innovative products, and quickly demonstrated the ability for these machines to become useful tools in the heavy civil and natural resource industries,” said Rory San Miguel, CEO of Propeller Aero. “Globally, these industries are seeing real cost savings and efficiencies through cloud-based analytics and using innovative new technologies like PPK drones combined with AeroPoints. Accurate data is paramount to worksite analytics and Propeller has always been obsessed with helping teams achieve this. We introduced the world’s first smart ground control point, AeroPoints, and now we’ve partnered up with DJI to build an end-to-end PPK solution.”
On today’s construction sites, lack of project data costs businesses more than $177 billion annually. To help solve this problem, Propeller developed a tightly integrated PPK workflow across the DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone, an AeroPoint, and Propeller’s cloud processing platform that visualizes real-time site data. Surveyors and contractors can Propeller PPK solution to gather verifiable, trustworthy data to help make data-driven decisions and prevent costly mistakes, the companies added.
“Propeller’s deep expertise in aerial mapping and analytics coupled with DJI’s industry-leading open-platform drone hardware creates a highly accurate turnkey solution,” said Jan Gasparic, director of strategic partnerships at DJI. “We are excited about this partnership because it broadens the use of DJI drones to deliver accurate data at a cost-efficient price point, helping teams better answer questions about site progress and productivity.”
The complete PPK solution will be distributed through channel partners, including Trimble’s SITECH distribution network. Trimble Stratus, a 3D cloud-based visualization platform developed by Propeller, along with AeroPoints, is already integrated with Trimble Connected Site solutions.
“The advent of drones in the construction industry has improved efficiencies, and Trimble Stratus users are already benefiting from the ease-of-use and scalability of drone-based surveys,” said Scott Crozier, general manager, Trimble Civil Engineering and Construction. “With the new Propeller PPK Solution and Trimble Stratus software, we’ve seen first-hand how surveyors and contractors can collect aerial survey data in a fraction of the time it used to take, and get repeatable and reliable results.”
The UAV inspection industry continues to grow, as evidenced by these photos of actual end-user application. Unmanned systems follow precise flight paths to gather the data needed for inspection missions in the fields of insurance (home roof inspection), mining, construction and the pulp paper industry.
A free webinar on Thursday, Oct. 25 will show more of these applications and cover the requirements and challenges for positioning technology in commercial applications in urban and remote areas, including those generated by concerns about interference and spoofing.
Latest trends and challenges for drone-based aerial intelligence platforms for insurance and roofing applications
GNSS technology requirements for safe UAV BVLOS operations and a view of the regulatory frameworks
Importance of UAS traffic management systems (UTM)
Use cases in linear infrastructure inspection (railways, roads, power lines and others)
Challenges for GNSS systems in autonomous aerial vehicles and growing concerns about safety
Robustness of multi-GNSS receivers to jamming and spoofing
Latest innovation in GNSS technology concerning inspection applications and real-time accuracy/reliability
Earthworks contractors use this drone technology to perform detailed topographic surveys of project sites throughout all phases of construction. The new survey tool is reducing costs and time, allowing earthworks contractors to increase their profitability and ensure project success. (Photo: Paul Ross/Kespry)
In addition to a tailored application for roof inspections, targeted at insurance companies, UAV manufacturer Kespry provides a complete solution for construction and engineering companies to manage proposed and active earthwork operations. Without using multiple, cumbersome ground control points, survey-grade field data can be collected for an entire site in as little as 30 minutes.
In the webinar, attendees will learn how drone technology is being used to:
Validate proposed earthwork – reduce rework and extra earthmoving costs before the job begins
Safely measure earthwork activity – ensure subcontractor work and delivered material are constantly measured
Further application examples in construction projects will show how drones are providing construction companies with a new method for accurate survey work throughout their entire worksite that can:
Reduce up to 20 percent of total project costs by eliminating rework through regular cut and fill analysis of drone data
Eliminate up to 10 percent of earth moving costs through more accurate volumetric analysis
Perform more frequent surveys in-house with drones, reducing traditional survey equipment and service costs.
Kespry provides a complete solution for construction and engineering companies to better manage proposed and active earthwork operations. Without using multiple, cumbersome ground control points, survey-grade field data can be collected for an entire site in as little as 30 minutes. (Photo: Nathan Stump/Kespry)
In the first example show above, insurance claims for roof damage, the fully-autonomous system improves safety, reduces loss adjustment expenses, and delivers more accurate risk assessments, while reducing overall costs. For commercial property, the UAV solution helps prevent losses and informs underwriting decisions with high-resolution aerial and thermal imagery to identify exposures. Accurate, unbiased reports are easily prepared and shared with all parties. Mobile tools are provided to review inspection quality imagery within minutes of flight; artificial intelligence (AI) technology generates fully-dimensioned wireframes and 3D roof models
Drones for the pulp and paper industry
The drone and analytics platform enables companies to improve profitability through quick, cost-effective, and accurate surveying of chip and roundwood sites.
UAV applications in pulp and paper industry will be demo’d in the Oct 25 webinar (Photo: Jason Nichols/Kespry)
Kespry enables production plant and production managers to analyze stockpile inventories, better manage supply chain activity, and improve site operations — maximizing profitability across production and supply chain operations.
The company also supplies a drone-based AI platform for the aggregates and mining industry supplies accurate inventory management and mine planning. It will be demonstrated in the free October 25 webinar.
Special section, October 2018 GPS World. Cover photo: PrecisionHawk
If you blink, you might miss something! The examples here represent only a fraction of this booming field, but they show how diverse drone use has become. Interspersed among them, this article offers further insights on technology integration, the regulatory outlook and the economic future of this fast-moving industry.
By Tony Murfin, Contributing Editor, UAV & Professional OEM
Capturing where the drone industry has been this year and where it is headed in 2019 resembles trying to describe a Florida thunderstorm: how can there be so much rain so quickly, how long will it last, and what will the landscape look like afterwards? (I’m writing this during just such a deluge near Venice on the Gulf Coast.)
The UAV/UAS industry has grown at such an amazing rate, it’s almost impossible to count or describe all the applications that have become normal practice, not to mention the number of companies involved in either making drone platforms or supplying drone integrators with sensors: GNSS, inertial, lidar, cameras photographic, thermal, infrared, video and more.
From accident reporting to crop monitoring to infrastructure inspections, drones are, so to speak, on the rise. This year we have seen substantial increases in investments by equipment suppliers, continuing funding for military businesses, prototype systems for remotely identifying and even taking down drones, and vastly expanded use in mapping and survey.
As precision guidance, autonomous operations, high-definition geocoded images and high-volume data processing all improve, drone usage will continue to increase. OEM receiver manufacturers, sensor suppliers and data-handling companies play key roles in development, and stand to profit thereby.
The Delair Septentrio UX11 mapping UAV. (Image: Septentrio)
In particular, use of drones is growing in land management, construction, mining and farming. An open-pit mine operation can be supported through detailed drone inspection producing high-resolution images. Processed images and data enable keeping tabs on inventory, site changes over time, identifying best areas for further extraction, and monitoring and managing vehicle movement. These tasks required huge amounts of time in the past. Drone overflight and processing tools condense all the effort as well as producing enhanced results to enable faster and clearer decision-making.
Surveillance and reconnaissance are probably the biggest military drone applications. Carrying payloads that include color video cameras and infrared night vision cameras, more than 19,000 drones are now in the arsenal of the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marines and Special Ops, and more have gone to other nations’ militaries. Some fly at relatively low altitude, with limited range and powered by a single quiet electric motor; these drones have become essential in gathering forward-situation intelligence.
The following examples represent only a small part of the industry. I selected them here to show how diverse drone use has become. Interspersed among them, I’ll offer further observations on technology integration, the regulatory outlook and the economic future of this fast-moving industry. If you blink, you might miss something!
Accident Investigations
In the past, when police arrived at a serious traffic accident, investigators had to use tape measures and roller wheels to construct an accurate physical record of the incident. More recently, police have used laser measuring tools but this still entails time-consuming procedures and produces traffic back-ups. Now police departments have started to collect highly accurate aerial images of traffic incidents using drones, and it’s proving quicker and more efficient.
UAVs collect photos and videos, and software then stitches multiple high-resolution images together into a 2D or 3D map. With geolocation annotation provided by the drone, investigators can then take measurements directly from visual accident records.
Previously, an investigation could take up to three hours gathering information manually, but with a drone overflying and documenting an accident this might be reduced to around 45 minutes. This clearly saves time and money for the police as well as drivers who suffer shorter traffic delays. With an investment of about $15,000 in drone hardware and training, payback can happen pretty quickly.
Overall UAV Market Growth
What is the killer app for drones? What professional UAV market sector will most powerfully drive adoption and influence new regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles? (Source: GPS World 2018 State of the GNSS Industry survey)
The drone logistics and transportation market was estimated to be valued at US $11.20 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $29.06 billion by 2027, at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.01%, according to India-based MarketsAndMarkets Research, in its May 2018 report.
The logistics and transportation market was defined to include warehousing, shipping, infrastructure, software, military, freight, and even passenger and ambulance drones. “The increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles in civil and commercial applications for faster delivery of goods is one of the most significant factors expected to drive the growth of the drone logistics market,” stated the report.
The shipping segment is indeed projected to grow at the highest CAGR, as drones will see increasing use to transport a range of products from small packages to medical supplies and food. Venture capitalist investment in this market has been substantial as well as significant commitments by companies such as Amazon, Google, and Walmart in research and development to commercialize drone delivery services.
Couple that with another report from the same company report on the drone analytics market, valued at $1.17 billion in 2016 and projected to reach $5.41 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 28.11% from 2017 to 2022. The drone analytics market was considered to encompass agriculture and forestry, construction, insurance, mining, utilities, telecommunications, oil and gas, and scientific research.
Both reports note that “The imposition of restrictions by various government agencies on the use of UAVs in civil and commercial applications is one of the major challenges faced by the drone logistics and transportation market.”
In February of this year, MarketsandMarkets estimated that the overall UAV market was valued at $18.14 billion in 2017 and projected to reach $52.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 14.15%.
Agriculture
Results of a survey of 269 farmers by Munich Reinsurance America indicate that three quarters of all farmers in the U.S.— from those with less than 100 acres to those with more than 5,000 — have either begun to use drones for precision agriculture, and monitoring crops, livestock and soil conditions, or are thinking about using drones. Roughly half of these farmers contract out the work to drone service suppliers and most use drones either daily or more than once a week.
Sensor Integration
What is the biggest challenge for the UAV industry? (Source: GPS World 2018 State of the GNSS Industry survey)
As the size, weight and power (SWAP) and the accuracy of sensors continue to improve, drone use will continue increasing steadily. OEM receiver manufacturers, sensor suppliers and data-handling companies play key roles in this vital and ongoing development, and stand to profit thereby.
Making it all work is a combination of sensor payloads gathering inertial and GNSS location, stills and video, lidar, thermal and hyperspectral data; the secret sauce lies in how the data is processed and presented to users. All these areas show significant growth. The following are only a few key examples.
Lidar. Light detection and ranging (lidar) detects and measure the distance of an object or surface from an optical source, in this case a hovering or cruising UAV. GPS and inertial provide geo–referencing per each scan point.
Lidar has seen increasing application in surveying and engineering, GIS mapping, accident scene reconstruction, topographic and coastline mapping, digital elevation model and digital surface model generation, mining and quarries, gas and oil pipelines, railroads and other infrastructure. As hardware costs decline, software begins to play more and more of a major role, becoming a larger part of the solution in every way.
The M200 Snoopy series lidar package from LidarUSA is designed specifically for integration aboard the DJI M200 UAV. The laser scanning has a 100-meter maximum range, yielding 4-5 cm accuracy. It carries a tactical grade L1/L2 GPS/IMU unit and weighs 1.63 kg.
Inertial Miniaturization. UAVs are driving even further size-downs of other navigation sensors as well.
As just one example, the miniature μIMU from Inertial Sense incorporates a magnetometer, barometric pressure sensor, and L1 GPS (GNSS) receiver. Angular rate, linear acceleration, magnetic field, barometric altitude, and GPS location outputs are at 1 KHz with UTC time synchronization.
ADS-B.Aerobits in Poland has developed a high-speed, miniaturized (23.0 x 18.0 x 2.5mm & weighing 2 grams) Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) module which provides detect-and-avoid for small UAVs. The module accepts external GNSS position inputs and has high speed on-chip processing which enables processing of thousands of ADS-B signals/second from other aircraft/drones. Aerobits claims a reception range of over 200 miles due to a high-sensitivity RF front-end. With FAA-mandated equipage coming for aircraft in 2020, this potentially offers a detect-and-avoid option for even small drones.
Regulatory Outlook
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International has been an industry voice for more than 40 years. AUVSI president Brian Wynne recently told Congress what needs to be done to fully integrate UAS into the National Airspace System — a critical step in further drone development and growth.
Initial regulations governing civil and commercial UAS operations are now in place. The FAA’s small UAS rule, known as Part 107, established a flexible, risk-based approach to regulating UAS and reduced many barriers to low-risk civil and commercial UAS operations. Since its enactment in 2016, however, demand for commercial UAS has exploded.
“As of March 2018,” Wynne stated, “more than 150,000 platforms have been registered for commercial use. The FAA expects more than 450,000 UAS to be flying for commercial purposes over the next five years.” That’s three times as many as today!
Waivers to Part 107 permit their holders to operate at night, as well as in certain restricted airspaces, beyond line of sight and over people. More than 1,700 operators across the U.S. have received these waivers.
Continued adoption of unmanned flight will require an expanded regulatory framework that extends the waiver provisions much more widely. There are many challenges to this, particularly security concerns. A key step will be “implementing a remote ID system that identifies any UAS flying in the airspace, in real time.” according to Wynne.
The FAA reauthorization bill recently passed by the House of Representatives calls for rulemaking concerning carriage of property, a necessary step for allowing UAS package deliveries — the next big thing.
Military UAV Business Strong
French MQ-9 Reaper. (Photo: DoD press release/UAS Vision)
Military business remains a major source of revenue for the UAV/UAS industry, as demonstrated by the recent award of several contracts to various drone suppliers.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command recently awarded Insitu a ~$54 million fixed-price contract for four production RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems and eight attrition air vehicles: seven for the Marine Corps and one for the government of Poland. The contract includes ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, shipboard equipment kits as well as systems engineering and program management support.
U.S. Army Contracting Command recently awarded General Atomics Aeronautical System Inc. (GA-ASI) a Grey Eagle engineering support contract worth ~$11m. Work will be undertaken at the GA-ASI facilities in Poway, CA and will run through to Sept 30, 2019.
GA-ASI has also just won an FMS (Foreign Military Sales) contract worth $123 million for MQ-9 Reaper systems for France – deliveries are expected to be completed by May 2020. An FMS contract is normally how a foreign government procures U.S. government military equipment. The foreign government contracts with a U.S. agency, and the U.S. agency awards a back-to-back contract to the U.S. supplier. In this case, the U.S. contracting authority is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS), San Diego, California, a contract worth up to ~$134 million to develop, integrate, and flight test an advanced sensor into the MQ-9 UAV. The work will be performed in San Diego, California from August 2018 through October 2021 with realistic flight testing scenarios taking place both within the U.S. and elsewhere.
At the end of August, Boeing won the contest for the U.S. Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker with an $805 million contract award. The award covers the development and manufacturing of an initial four air vehicles. The future MQ-25 Stingray will be the first UAV to operate from U.S. aircraft carriers to refuel and extend the range of several combat aircraft.
L3 Technologies has won a U.S. Army $454M contract to build, deliver and support an electro-optical infrared laser designator for the RQ-7Bv2 tactical UAS. The drone mounted payload will help the Army manage battlespace situational awareness, increase UAS survivability and obtain imagery for target/threat detection.
Counter-UAS Systems
DroneShield out of Australia markets a drone detection and mitigation system, known for its DroneGun, a point-and-shoot device able to disrupt multiple RF frequency bands simultaneously (433MHz, 915MHz, 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz), taking out the communication link to a drone operator — and also GNSS signals when so equipped — up to 1km away.
The full DroneSentry detection system integrates a suite of sensors and countermeasures including radar, optical, RF listening, acoustic, thermal and an RF countermeasure transmitter with greater power/range than the portable DroneGun.
Survey and Mapping
SenseFly recently completed work on a three-year construction project in Northern Ireland to build the new A6 highway. A senseFly eBee Plus drone provided detailed aerial coverage and minimize interruptions with road traffic and ongoing quarry operations.
Adopting an integrated aerial approach enabled the construction contractor to quickly obtain detailed, accurate, professional-grade data, and has helped save time and resources. Reducing the time required in the field and proximity to dangerous quarry sites optimized the mapping task
High-Precision Survey Drone. The TRIUMPH-F1 UAV is built around the JAVAD GNSS TRIUMPH-1M receiver, the company’s high-precision geodetic GNSS receiver with 864 channels to track all current and future GNSS signals.
When used on the ground, the TRIUMPH-F1 can function as a TRIUMPH-1M base or rover. The four motor arms (for eight motors) are detachable. Four screw inserts in the bottom to attach the TRIUMPH-F1 to a pole mount for field use.
The TRIUMPH-F1 features user-friendly mission programming. The four lithium polymer batteries that power the eight propeller motors, arranged in a stacked quad formation.
The TRIUMPH-F1 also has two micro-SD slots for image storage, a SIM card slot, a USB connector for uploading flight plans and downloading collected images, and indicators for satellite tracking and communications. Other indicators are dedicated to flight status and gyro.
Vertical Landing.WingtraOne’s vertical landing technology enables touchdown in confined areas as small as 2 m x 2 m like boats or forest lanes. Combined with a flight range of up to 50 km, this makes large-coverage mapping missions feasible
The vertical-take-off-and landing (VTOL) drone WingtraOne is designed to safeguard its valuable sensors and eliminate wear and tear of the equipment. Instead of broken wings or damaged cameras from belly landings and parachute touchdowns, the WingtraOne lands gently. During the vertical descent, laser sensor data enables the WingtraOne to sense the ground and land safely even on rocky or hilly hilly terrain.
In case of a changing landing environment like a drifting boat or recently parked cars, the landing spot can be adjusted easily.
The WingtraOne works truly autonomously during its entire mission, including take-off and landing. Instead of catapult or hand launches that can cause injuries or damage equipment, the WingtraOne takes off vertically without any human interaction.
Shipping and Logistics
Matternet, based in Switzerland, is testing deliveries using drones under a 3-year program run by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The NC program is one of 10 authorized by the FAA to evaluate the commercial use of drones.
The objective is to transport small items like blood samples, but initially vials of water will take the ride from a medical office building before landing on a hospital roof. In March, the company was authorized to operate drones over populated areas in Switzerland, carrying samples to hospitals in Lugano.
Items can be securely deposited into the drone station for pick up or retrieved following delivery. A smartphone application is used to authorize pick up and delivery. The item is then scanned for pick up, the station automatically installs the item into the drone for transport, the drone then departs for the assigned destination and on arrival, scanning is required to retrieve the delivered item at the other end.
Conclusion
These examples just skim the surface of an exploding industry which just keeps on keeping on, constantly developing new solutions and applications. High-altitude pseudo satellite drones, drone delivery of goods within minutes of placing an internet order, automated drone facility inspections, power via wireless to keep drones airborne, parachute safety systems for drones….the list goes on and on.
Clearly the UAV/UAS industry has only begun its journey. There are many unexpected places we can look forward to it visiting in coming months and years.
GEO Business, the United Kingdom’s largest geospatial exhibition and conference, has announced that registration is now open.
The GEO Business show has grown every year since its inception, and the 2018 show looks set to be the most successful show to date with more exhibition space and a brand new seminar program. The event will return to the Business Design Centre, in London, UK, May 22-23.
Since its record-breaking 2017 event last year, which welcomed 2,386 geomatics and geospatial professionals from around the world (a 48 percent increase since the launch in 2014), the exhibition has expanded onto the upper level. Exhibitors span the entire geospatial industry, showcasing cutting-edge technology and solutions that will mold the future of the industry.
The 2018 GEO Business show will expand to the second level of the Business Design Center. (Photo: GEO Business)
Confirmed exhibitors for 2018 include Survey Solutions Scotland, Land Registry, GAP Group, Phase One, Viametris, Surphaser/ MD3D, DHF Satellite and Ordnance Survey Ireland.
New for 2018 is a free-to-attend seminar program designed to demonstrate the remarkable impact geospatial technologies and solutions on the global environment. The program will feature case studies from companies demonstrating how they are reducing costs and risk while increasing productivity.
The 2017 GEO Business exhibit. (Photo: GEO Business)
The latest in augmented reality, building information management (BIM), geospatial information systems (GIS) and big data, laser scanning, mobile mapping, remote sensing and satellites, smart cities, surveying, UAVs, virtual reality and visualization will feature within the fields of architecture and construction, commercial property, environmental, equipment theft, floods, forestry, heritage, highways, hydrography, mining, rail and tunneling.
With geospatial technology now impacting on more and more industries, GEO Business is attracting visitors from a wider range of industry sectors than ever before.
“The geospatial industry is experiencing a huge transformation, everywhere you look at the moment you bare witness to the term ‘geospatial,’” Show Director Caroline Hobden said. “Innovative technology is steadily making its presence known in everyday life, whether it is through the revolutionary capabilities of augmented/virtual reality or the extraordinary data recorded by drones to name just a few, the world is sitting up and taking notice.
“Even the U.K. government budget made mention of geospatial at the end of last year and as a result we excitedly await further announcements about the Geospatial Commission whose focus will be on location aware technologies revolutionising the digital economy.”
The exhibition and seminar program will run alongside a strategic senior-level conference of invited speakers presenting and debating the role of geospatial in powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, said GEO Business. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing how we live, work and communicate. It is reshaping government, education, healthcare and commerce — almost every aspect of life. The conference will celebrate, challenge and develop the role that geospatial has to play in maximizing the digital economy as part of this revolution.
Visitors will also have the unique opportunity to attend the well-established commercial workshop program hosted by exhibitors demonstrating their latest products and services and a full line-up of innovative social activities designed for informal networking with colleagues old and new.
The exhibition, workshops and seminars are free to attend. There is a fee-to-attend the conference with an early-bird discounted rate for registrations before April 16. Public sector, association members and student discounts are also available. Visitors are encouraged to register online in advance to beat the queues onsite.
For more information on stand sales or visitor registration, contact Caroline Hobden at [email protected] or call +44 (0)1453 836363.
The Kenyan government will be using SimActive’s Correlator3D to map mining activities. The software will be used to generate orthomosaics, contour lines and digital terrain models of fluorspar mines in the Kerio valley in Kenya.
The Directorate of Resource Surveys & Remote Sensing (DRSRS) under the Ministry of Mining in Kenya chose the software.
“The DRSRS provides the Ministry of Mining with spatial information, processing hundreds of images to visualize settlements affected by mining activities to advise the Government of Kenya on compensation plans,” said Charles Situma, deputy director of the project. “SimActive’s availability of experts internally allows us to receive tailored solutions to our requests, further expediting our processing.”
“We are proud to have Kenya as another of our many government users,” said Dr Philippe Simard, President of SimActive. “Correlator3D provides the diverse tools and processing power required for intensive mining applications.”
The JPS (Jigsaw Positioning System) is a radiolocation technology that replicates a highly accurate positioning network system, augmenting GNSS satellites with a ground-based positioning network.
Created in partnership with Locata, JPS provides the same positioning accuracy of GNSS, but without the signal drop-out in deep pits and against high walls.
LocaLites. Using a combination of fixed-position and movable LocataLites, a high-precision positioning network can be created where needed, complimenting or replacing traditional GPS. The LocataLites are solar-powered and contain an RTK GNSS receiver. They also have TimeLoc synchronization technology. Multiple signals are transmitted for redundancy and to mitigate multipath in the pit.
Module. One JPS receiver module contains two receivers. It has Ethernet and RS232 connections, and support for external GNSS corrections. A co-located antenna receives both GNSS and Locata signals.
Operations. Once the system is set up, users can monitor network health via an in-built web interface or reporting of the LocataNet status in the Jigsaw fleet management software, Jmineops. A web-based diagnostic tool is provided.
JPS can be customized and scaled to be any size needed, with LocataLites added or removed from a network as needed. JPS is interoperable with any Wi-Fi network.
No additional correction network means base stations, atomic clocks, data links, and differential corrections are not needed, reducing errors and infrastructure costs.
Geoscience Australia, an agency of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Lockheed Martin have entered into a collaborative research project to show how augmenting signals from multiple GNSS constellations can enhance positioning, navigation and timing for a range of applications.
The research project aims to demonstrate how a second-generation Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) testbed can — for the first time — use signals from both GPS and the Galileo constellation, as well as dual frequencies, to achieve greater GNSS integrity and accuracy.
Over two years, the testbed will validate applications in nine industry sectors: agriculture, aviation, construction, maritime, mining, rail, road, spatial and utilities.
To improve precision navigation, a second-generation SBAS will use signals from both GPS and Galileo, and dual frequencies, to achieve even greater GNSS integrity and accuracy. (Graphic: Lockheed Martin)
“Many industries rely on GNSS signals for accurate, safe navigation. Users must be confident in the position solutions calculated by GNSS receivers. The term ‘integrity’ defines the confidence in the position solutions provided by GNSS,” says Vince Di Pietro, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand. “Industries where safety-of-life navigation is crucial want assured GNSS integrity.”
Ultimately, the second-generation SBAS testbed will broaden understanding of how this technology can benefit safety, productivity, efficiency and innovation in Australia’s industrial and research sectors, according to Lockheed.
“We are excited to have an opportunity to work with Geoscience Australia and Australian industry to demonstrate the best possible GNSS performance and proud that Australia will be leading the way to enhance space-based navigation and industry safety,” Di Pietro adds.
Basic GNSS signals are accurate enough for many civil positioning, navigation and timing users. However, these signals require augmentation to meet higher safety-of-life navigation requirements. The second-generation SBAS will mitigate that issue.
Once the SBAS testbed is operational, basic GNSS signals will be monitored by widely-distributed reference stations operated by Geoscience Australia. An SBAS testbed master station, installed by teammate GMV of Spain, will collect that reference station data, compute corrections and integrity bounds for each GNSS satellite signal, and generate augmentation messages.
“A Lockheed Martin uplink antenna at Uralla, New South Wales, will send these augmentation messages to an SBAS payload hosted aboard a geostationary Earth orbit satellite, owned by Inmarsat,” says Rod Drury, director of international strategy and business development for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. “This satellite rebroadcasts the augmentation messages containing corrections and integrity data to the end users. The whole process takes less than six seconds.”
By augmenting signals from multiple GNSS constellations — both Galileo and GPS — second-generation SBAS is not dependent on one GNSS. It will also use signals on two frequencies — the L1 and L5 GPS signals, and their companion E1 and E5a Galileo signals — to provide integrity data and enhanced accuracy for industries that need it.
Research partners
Lockheed Martin will provide systems integration expertise in addition to the Uralla radio frequency uplink. GMV-Spain will provide its magicGNSS processors. Inmarsat will provide the navigation payload hosted on the 4F1 geostationary satellite. The Australia and New Zealand Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information will coordinate the demonstrator projects that test the SBAS infrastructure.
Lockheed Martin has significant experience with space-based navigation systems. The company developed and produced 20 GPS IIR and IIR-M satellites. It also maintains the GPS Architecture Evolution Plan ground control system, which operates the entire 31-satellite constellation.
As part of an ongoing commitment to transform the way mines manage their business, Caterpillar Inc. and Trimble are extending their collaboration to bring mining customers improved operational decision-making capabilities.
The collaboration will leverage Caterpillar Global Mining’s industry expertise and combine its in-pit operational execution system, Cat MineStar, with Trimble’s portfolio of technology-enabled mining information solutions.
This expanded collaboration in mining will include product integration and development, marketing, distribution and support of Trimble Connected Mine solutions.
The companies have signed an agreement that outlines areas for increased engagement to begin in early 2017. Caterpillar Global Mining is anticipated to become the primary sales, marketing, distribution and support channel for Trimble’s Connected Mine platform.
In addition, Cat MineStar and Trimble’s Connected Mine platform will be integrated and collaboratively developed. The expanded Caterpillar-Trimble collaboration will enhance both companies’ efforts to serve global customers with technologies and services across a mine?s entire operation and equipment fleet, regardless of brand, language or location.
“Caterpillar and Trimble have enjoyed a very successful relationship for decades and we are pleased to be working more closely to better leverage the products and capabilities in both companies for our mining customers,” said Tom Bluth, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for the Surface Mining & Technology Division. “Whether it’s the mining pit supervisor or a corporate operational analytics teams, Caterpillar Global Mining continues to go beyond the iron by providing the technologies and expertise to help customers improve productivity and lower their cost per ton.”
“This collaboration demonstrates our mutual commitment to provide mine professionals with complete visibility from the mine to the mill,” said Bryn Fosburgh, vice president at Trimble. “As a result, mine operations can leverage accurate production, fleet and spatial data to optimize their workflow and control costs.”
Cat MineStar is a mining operational execution system purpose built to help miners boost productivity, enhance safety and improve equipment availability, regardless of equipment manufacturer. The system consists of five capability sets: Fleet, Terrain, Detect, Health & Command, which can be configured to suit the unique needs and capabilities of any mine, both surface and underground.
Cat MineStar has been a critical part of the digital transformation in mining since 1996 when it was first introduced. Today it is installed at more than 200 mine sites around the world. Utilizing improved interoperability, the Cat MineStar platform is uniquely positioned to help customers connect data and decision-making across the mining value chain, from the mine plan to plant processing or from an individual machine to across an enterprise.
Trimble Connected Mine provides an integrated and complete view of mine data to improve and accelerate operational and strategic decision making. Visual Intelligence is an optional module that enables the 3D visualization of Trimble Connected Mine data.
With a proven track record of enterprise-level implementations in some of the largest mines worldwide, Trimble is transforming the way mines work by combining mining expertise, spatial technology, business analytics, visualization and decision support tools to enable mining companies to fully optimize their resources for safe, productive and profitable mining.
Collaborating Since 1996. Caterpillar and Trimble have been collaborating in mining since 1996, when the two companies jointly developed a best-in-class machine control and guidance product, known today in the marketplace as Terrain. Today, Terrain is a leading guidance system for mining, with many of the world’s largest mining companies improving their productivity through use of this technology.
The companies’ first collaboration evolved into a joint venture in 2002 with the formation of Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies (CTCT). Today CTCT develops machine control and guidance products for both the mining and construction industries, for any make or model of equipment regardless of manufacturer. Trimble positioning technologies, such as GPS and inertial navigation systems, are also used in many of Caterpillar’s semi-autonomous and autonomous systems.
Australia-based Position Partners has launched MiRTK, an open architecture corrections service for GNSS equipment.
