GPS World

Tag: partnership

  • Airbus and Planet bring new geospatial products to market

    (From left) Francois Lombard and Dirk Hoke, Airbus, sign agreement with Will Marshall, Planet.

    Airbus and Planet have entered into a partnership to facilitate access to each other’s data and the co-development of new geospatial solutions.

    The companies are establishing a framework agreement to explore opportunities for joint cooperation in new and existing markets, product offerings, sales and marketing efforts.

    Both companies aim to provide a comprehensive suite of global satellite data at multiple temporal and spatial resolutions, and develop new analytic products for a wide range of applications to benefit their customers.

    Benefitting from both companies’ constellations, customers will have access to the entire Earth’s landmass every day at 3m resolution with PlanetScope satellites, as well as to intra-daily sub-meter resolution imagery with Pléiades and SkySat constellations.

    In addition, they will also have the capability to order images with resolutions of 1.5m (SPOT 6/7), 5m (Rapideye) and 22m (DMC Constellation).

    Lastly, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and PAZ radar satellites will allow the acquisition of images regardless of weather and daylight conditions, ensuring access to any place on Earth independent of cloud coverage.

    “By combining our strengths, we will provide a key capability to address all market needs, both in terms of data and value-added products, and to best serve our clients, whatever their industry and their requirements,” said François Lombard, director of the Intelligence Business at Airbus Defence and Space.

    “Airbus and Planet are truly complementary partners. Airbus brings long-standing success in serving reliable, high resolution remote sensing, and Planet brings its unique global coverage and temporal cadence, as well as agile aerospace iteration to get sensors quickly to space,” said Will Marshall, CEO and co-founder of Planet. “Together we will be able to deliver sophisticated offerings to fit customer needs across international markets.”

  • Aspen and Sensurion team on commercial UAV avionics

    Aspen Avionics and Sensurion Aerospace have entered a co-development partnership to bring certified avionics to the burgeoning UAS and unmanned air-taxi marketplace.

    The companies are focusing on U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified autopilots, communications, navigation and surveillance systems for small, medium and large UAS, including future cargo and passenger carrying aircraft.

    With revenue estimates for commercial drone operations exceeding $100B in the next 10 years, and the demand for UAS with certified avionics filling a large gap between hobby drones and military platforms, this partnership will create jobs and fill the void in commercial UAS avionics.

    The current UAS operational environment needs to evolve to meet, what experts believe, is the next great global innovation — unmanned air-taxi and personal vehicles.

    Initial product development from the team will include an autopilot/flight controller, FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) authorized GPS/GNSS and surveillance systems, including ADS-B.

    “The real winners in this partnership are the UAS users, system integrators and manufacturers,” said Aspen President and CEO John Uczekaj, a 30-year veteran of the certified avionics industry. “Our consumers demand adaptability and a certifiable pedigree that can help get them to market quickly, operate with an extreme level of safety and include innovative architectures that combine certified avionics with today’s flying drone service/IoT data platforms, and near future cargo movers and people haulers.”

    “Our UAS customer’s return on investment calculations turn profitable most quickly when they can operate beyond visual line of sight,” said Sensurion CEO Captain Joe Burns. “What they are asking for are proven systems that do not cost a fortune, meet governing authority standards, are able to evolve with the pace of global digitization, and most importantly offer a safer integration path into our airspace. Our roadmap is clear. We are combining the talents, agility and pedigree from two industry leaders, to bring UAS consumers what they want, with a value proposition that puts safe drone technology to work across many industries.”

  • Sygic adopts what3words address system for fleets

    Sygic-screenshot-what3words-WSygic is partnering with innovative addressing system what3words.

    According to Sygic, its business solutions and consumer apps are used by more than 200 million drivers and 2,000 fleets worldwide including Amazon. Sygic is also the first GPS app to partner with Ford.

    The partnership will initially focus on Sygic’s business solutions for taxi, public transport, delivery and construction clients with the aim of a wider integration into Sygic’s commercial products. Clients will be able to turn on three-word addressing within their existing solutions in the coming months.

    what3words is a location reference system that has divided the world into 57 trillion 3 x 3-meter squares, each with a unique three-word address. For example, “///droplet.outings.panel” will take you to the front door of Sygic’s headquarters in Bratislava.

    “Sygic is committed to exploring the boundaries of navigation, a philosophy that has directly contributed to our enduring reputation as the leader in navigation,” said Martin Strigac, Sygic CEO. “what3words is the simplest way to talk about location and its rapid adoption across sectors means it is quickly becoming a standard. To get from A to B,, you need a map, navigation and to know precisely where A and B are. With what3words, we can now offer a world-class solution across all of these.”

    “In-car navigation relies on an antiquated street and postal address system that is no longer fit-for-purpose,” said Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of what3words. “Poor addressing leaves drivers frustrated and means businesses waste millions every year. We are delighted to partner with Sygic to offer their business customers a more efficient solution to the last-mile challenge.”

    Sygic featuring what3words will be showcased at the Post & Parcel Conference, being held March 20-22 in Berlin.

  • NovAtel partners with Esterline on aviation GNSS receiver

    NovAtel partners with Esterline on aviation GNSS receiver

    Esterline CMC Electronics and NovAtel Inc. have entered a new strategic partnership, extending their collaboration in GNSS positioning technology that started in the late 1990s.

    The partnership will see NovAtel’s GNSS measurement technology integrated into a new Esterline CMC-designed multi-constellation, multi-frequency chipset for certified aviation use.

    The DO-254 Level A certified chipset will allow both companies to develop new GNSS receiver solutions for use in a variety of safety critical applications, including DO-178C Level A certified products designed for commercial aviation, military and unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

    Combining the capabilities of NovAtel’s GNSS expertise with Esterline CMC’s aviation and certification experience will allow the companies to bring innovative solutions to the market, meeting the requirements of new and evolving industry standards as the modern age of multi-constellation, multi-frequency GNSS positioning in aviation is ushered in, the companies said.

    NovAtel and Esterline CMC plan to combine their resources to deliver competitive solutions with a new standard for excellence in this application space.

    “Esterline CMC and NovAtel have a highly successful and growing relationship built on the strengths of both companies often described as ‘1+1 yields 3,’” said John Studenny, director, aviation GPS products at Esterline CMC. “While Esterline CMC Electronics is an acknowledged industry leader with its reliable, dependable, DAL-A certified CMA-5024 and CMA-6024 landing system receivers, our company will usher in a new generation of high-performance Multi-Constellation-Multi-Frequency (MCMF) GNSS products certified to the highest levels, supporting current and new aircraft GNSS precision approach.”

    “We are proud to extend our long-standing and successful collaboration with Esterline CMC Electronics,” said Jonathan Auld, vice president of engineering and safety critical systems at NovAtel. “We believe that this partnership will strengthen the technology portfolio of both companies. NovAtel is a major supplier of precise GNSS technology to mission-critical military and civilian UAS, for example, and with this new, certified chipset we will extend our solution portfolio with assured positioning solutions to meet the emerging industry standards.”

  • VTOL drone company Wingtra partners with Pix4D

    VTOL drone company Wingtra partners with Pix4D

    Wingtra One in the air. (Photo: Wingtra)

    Professional drone company Wingtra is partnering with photogrammetry company Pix4D. Pix4D’s software suite is now available to WingtraOne users, both directly and via Wingtra’s distributors.

    WingtraOne, Wingtra’s main product, is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV that enables data collection for a variety of industries. The partnership with Pix4D aims to augment its status with an end-to-end solution including 2D map and 3D model construction from aerial data.

    The WingtraOne drone bridges the gap between traditional multi-rotors and fixed-wing drones, the company said. It takes off and lands vertically like conventional multirotors, but once in flight, the drone tilts forward to fly like a fixed-wing aircraft.

    Being able to carry heavy payload such as the Sony RX1RII, the drone offers high mapping accuracy, while covering an area of 980 acres (400 Ha) at 3 cm/px (1.2 in/px) GSD or the equivalent of 570 football fields.

    The WingtraOne is available in use in Europe, China, the United States and Australia for applications ranging from surveying and precision agriculture to glacier monitoring.

    Wingtra (booth 109) and Pix4D (booth 415) are exhibiting at Commercial UAV Expo Americas, which takes place Oct. 24-26 in Las Vegas.

    Map made by Pix4D pictures taken by WingtraOne with RX1RII camera. (image: Wingtra)

    Turning Information into Insight. Wingtra’s diverse user base is complemented by Pix4D, whose product range is aimed at the surveying and agriculture industry, among others.

    Pix4D has allows professionals to generate high-quality point clouds, orthomosaics, surface and terrain models from aerial imagery. Some of its popular offerings include Pix4Dmapper for precisely georeferenced 2D maps and 3D models, and Pix4Dag for accurate reflectance and index maps (NDVI, NDRE).

    With WingtraOne’s autonomous aerial data collection and Pix4D’s advanced data-analysis capabilities offered as a single bundle, professional users can now expect a plug-and-play solution. “We are keen on collaborating strongly in our upcoming events. Actually we are meeting very soon at UAV Expo in Las Vegas,” Bailey said.

    “The bond between the companies was established some time ago, since realizing the potential of pairing high-resolution aerial images with cutting-edge photogrammetry modeling software,” said Caroline Bailey, Pix4D regional sales manager for Europe. “We are very happy to announce the decision to become official partners.”

    Leopold Flechsenberger, sales manager at Wingtra, added, “We have always aimed at providing the best survey-grade aerial imagery to our users, so Pix4D was an obvious choice from the start. From now on, Wingtra is offering a reduced price on WingtraOne drones, when bundled with Pix4Dmapper.”

  • TerraGo partners with Western Data Systems for data collection

    terrago-logoTerraGo partnered with Western Data Systems (WDS), a provider of field data collection solutions to the surveying, construction and other infrastructure industries.

    In alignment with the partnership, WDS will launch P.L.A.N.I.T. (Points, Lines, Areas, Navigation, Information, Tasks), a mobile data collection platform built entirely using TerraGo Magic.

    “WDS has the experience and expertise to give customers the smartest, most cost-effective solution to meet their needs,” said John Timar, vice president of worldwide sales for TerraGo. “The combination of the best positioning technology and a fully customizable app will help their customers get field work done faster, better and cheaper than ever before.”

    Earlier this year, TerraGo released a new version of Magic. In addition, TerraGo will be hosting a webinar on Aug. 30, where the company will provide a live demonstration of the WDS P.L.A.N.I.T. mobile data collection platform.

  • Harris providing industry training to NGA employees

    Harris Corporation and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) are partnering to provide industry training for NGA employees, including skills in industrial practices and procedures which are not available through military or civil education programs.

    Participants in the Training with Industry (TWI) program spend a year at Harris learning its business practices — such as workflows, innovative technologies and commercial processes — and then execute an assignment directly related to the training they received.

  • Harris providing industry training to NGA employees

    Harris Corporation and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) are partnering to provide industry training for NGA employees, including skills in industrial practices and procedures which are not available through military or civil education programs.

    Participants in the Training with Industry (TWI) program spend a year at Harris learning its business practices — such as workflows, innovative technologies and commercial processes — and then execute an assignment directly related to the training they received.

  • Bluesky, Bird.i partner for online, instant aerial imagery

    Aerial mapping company Bluesky has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Bird.i to provide online, instantaneous visualization of its high-resolution aerial imagery.

    Bluesky has created and maintains a high-resolution, up-to-date and accurate archive of aerial images in the United Kingdom. Established in 2016, Bird.i has developed a platform for accessing satellite, airborne and UAV imagery with a plug-and-play API that works within mapping and location-based applications.

    “The partnership with Bluesky will allow businesses across multiple industry sectors to exploit location information more accurately and efficiently,” said Corentin Guillo, founder and CEO of Bird.i. “Our commitment is to serve the most accurate and recent images available, such as those on offer from Bluesky, to our clients for mass consumption of instantaneously accessible ‘image views’. Working in partnership with Bluesky, we will streamline the overall process of image consumption and open new markets”.

    “We are delighted to partner with Bird.i because we believe that instant visualization of our detailed and accurate aerial images offers great benefits to businesses,” said Rachel Tidmarsh, managing director of Bluesky. “We see in Bird.i an innovative way forward, simplifying online access and accelerating the visualization of our images for many applications that rely on evidence-based information.”

    The agreement between the two companies will give subscribers to Bird.i’s API the ability to integrate Bluesky’s high-quality aerial images within its existing mapping applications and location-based services.

  • Omnitracs Partners with Mack Trucks, Volvo for Fleets

    Fleet management company Omnitracs LLC will develop telematics software for Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Fleet Management Services for Mack Trucks. The two separate memorandums of understanding will provide customers of both Volvo and Mack Trucks with fleet management services such as routing and predictive analytics solutions.

    According to Omnitracs, the agreements represent a move toward standardization in the trucking industry, making it easier for fleets to better control costs, safety, vehicle management and diagnostics, driver workflow and compliance. It also paves the way for other strategic partnerships within the OEM network, the company said.

    “This partnership brings together two leading brands in the vehicle and technology space, and addresses the industry’s growing need for high-tech trucks offering improved productivity and compliance. As the Internet of Transportation Things moves beyond concept to reality, Omnitracs will continue to lead and become part of the larger ecosystem of OEMs that are redefining the traditional telematics landscape,” said Rich Glasmann, vice president of OEM strategy, sales and marketing for Omnitracs.

  • Trimble Expands UAS Portfolio with Multirotor Partnership

    Trimble displayed the Multirotor G4 Surveying Robot at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems Show in May.
    Trimble displayed the Multirotor G4 Surveying Robot at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems Show in May.

    Trimble is partnering with unmanned aircraft system (UAS) manufacturer Multirotor service-drone, GmbH. The collaboration will allow Trimble to expand its existing UAS portfolio to provide its customers with additional solutions to choose from based on their aerial imaging project needs.

    Multirotor service-drone, based in Germany, is a manufacturer of multirotor systems. Trimble will be Multirotor service-drone’s exclusive provider of multirotor vehicles for aerial mapping use in surveying, construction, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, and utilities. The combination of Multirotor service-drone’s stable and reliable platforms with Trimble’s industry-leading sensor technology and workflow efficiencies will provide customers with best-in-class solutions for aerial data capture.

    Unmanned multirotor systems are powerful solutions for visually documenting smaller areas, vertical structures or environments where holding position is important. High-resolution imagery, orthophotos, terrain models and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) map deliverables created from multirotor data provide valuable information for the survey, engineering and agriculture industries that Trimble serves, the company said.

    “We are very excited to partner with Multirotor service-drone. At Trimble we’re always looking for ways to meet our customer’s needs and enable them to solve the complex problems they encounter every day,” said Todd Steiner, product marketing director in Trimble’s Geospatial Division. “The collaboration will enable our customers to use a technology rapidly growing in popularity due to its flexibility and productivity.”

    Founded in March 2011, Multirotor service-drone quickly became a market leader in the area of professional unmanned aerial systems. In 2013, service-drone acquired competitor Multirotor and together developed the award-winning fourth-generation flight control system used in its service-drone products today. Multirotor service-drone offers a broad range of commercially used UAS within the 8 to 50 pound (4 to 25 KG) weight class. Designed and manufactured in Germany, Multirotor service-drone products are built to deliver safety, quality and consistency for professional applications, according to the company.

  • Mojio Partners with Dooing to Offer Live Fleet Tracking

    dooing-in-iphone6-171x300Mojio, an open platform for connecting cars, has announced a partnership with Dooing, a new team management platform for businesses that can dispatch jobs and track teams.

    “With Dooing, any business can dispatch jobs and track teams on the move, from three people to thousands,” said David Barton-Grimley, a Mojio developer and co-founder of Dooing. “iOS and Android apps are used to manage field staff, assigning and tracking a job’s life cycle from start to finish with reports on key performance metrics. Enterprises and startups alike can build Dooing into their own products with our API.”

    With the partnership Mojio says businesses can narrow down on fuel consumption, prevent breakdowns with diagnostics insights and track in real time.

    “Mojio is the first platform we’ve integrated into Dooing, enabling Mojio customers to track jobs with live fleet data,” Barton-Grimley said. “Additionally, we’ve added to the ability to track and report on key metrics like fuel consumption and distance traveled down to the specific job.”

    Mojio, the only open-platform connected car device — according to the company — has plans to continue growing its ecosystems of drivers, partners and developers.