U-blox has received PTCRB certification of its TOBY-R202 and TOBY-R200 LTE Cat 1 modules for T-Mobile’s U.S. 4G LTE network.
The u-blox Toby module. Photo: uBlox
Both modules will be available for both of T-Mobile’s IoT Access packs, which offer simple IoT pricing with a Cat 1 module and support a broad range of industrial internet of things (IIoT) applications, reducing the cost for product makers to introduce new LTE devices on the network.
The TOBY-R202 and TOBY-R200 modules deliver true industrial performance. They are robust and reliable with extended temperature range of negative 40 degrees Celcius to 85 degrees Celcius and manufacturing in ISO/TS 16949 certified production sites.
LTE Cat 1 provides efficient power consumption with battery life lasting up to five years, depending on the application. In addition, TOBY-R200 includes a wider supply voltage input that allows for less expensive design and further lowers power consumption.
“U-blox is a global leader in developing cellular modules designed for IoT and M2M applications,” said Drazen Drinic, product manager of cellular at u-blox. “We are excited to now have two LTE Cat 1 modules available to IoT product makers as part of T-Mobile’s IoT Access packs.”
The u-blox modules will now be included in T-Mobile’s IoT Access packs, which provide product makers with a simplified launchpad for their IoT devices. For a limited time, customers can get unlimited data at 64 kbps for $20 per year per device, with up to $16 per certified module covered via a bill credit from T-Mobile upon activation.
“T-Mobile’s low-cost IoT access packs give our customers industry-leading Category 1 chipset options to quickly launch their devices on the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network,” said Doug Chartier, senior vice president at T-Mobile.
The two u-blox TOBY-R2 LTE Cat 1 modules support many IoT and M2M applications and are specifically targeted at those markets requiring industrial performance, such as smart metering, alarm and security systems, connected health, automotive and transportation, as well as smart payment solutions.
They come in a compact 24.8 millimeter by 35.6 millimeter form factor and operate on LTE bands 2, 4, 5 and 12. TOBY-R202 provides fallback on 3G bands 2 and 5, while TOBY-R200 provides global 2G and 3G fallback. Thanks to u-blox nested design, migration between the TOBY-R2 modules and other u-blox 2G, 3G and 4G modules is easy, while enabling future-proof, seamless mechanical scalability across technologies.
TerraGo is partnering with CompassTools, a provider of integrated GIS, GPS and wireless solutions for field data collection across numerous industries, including government, utility, natural resources, transportation, architecture and construction.
“We help our customers build the best bundled solution for their GIS and GPS goals, whatever they may be, and TerraGo’s mobile solutions give us the flexibility we need for the wide spectrum of accuracy, workflow and data collection requirements,” said Andrew Carey, manager of Geospatial Solutions at CompassTools. “TerraGo provides out-of-the-box integration for all the leading platforms, while enabling customizable precision, basemaps, forms and workflows, which fits well with our customer-focused approach.”
“CompassTools helps organizations identify and implement the best combination of GPS receivers, hardware and software to meet their unique requirements,” said John Timar, vice president, Worldwide Sales, TerraGo. “TerraGo Edge and TerraGo Magic were designed from the ground up to support that type of customization; which makes it easy for customers to get the benefit of CompassTools’ expertise to help them deploy a solution tailored to their mission.”
TerraGo is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 12 p.m. ET with a live demonstration of mobile GIS and GPS solutions available from TerraGo and CompassTools.
The government of India has warned domestic airlines of “consequences” if they do not use GAGAN, the state’s GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation system, reports the Mumbai Mirror.
The warning came during a meeting called by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in December with all stakeholders, including the airlines. Most aircraft registered in India are still not equipped with the technology two years after its launch.
While smaller aircraft such as ATRs and Bombardiers in the Indian carriers’ fleet are already equipped with the GAGAN system, bigger planes need to be retrofitted at the airlines’ expense, including Airbus A320, A330, Boeing 737, B777 and B 787. Eight major domestic carriers — Air India, Air India Express, Jet Airways, JetLite, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia — have 427 such planes in service, Mumbai Mirror reports.
The National Civil Aviation Policy, announced by the government in June, makes it mandatory for all aircraft registered in India to be GAGAN-enabled by Jan. 1, 2019.
Jointly developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), the GAGAN system was officially launched by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in July 2016. It is said to make airline operations more efficient and cut down costs as it reduces separation between aircraft, increases air safety and fuel efficiency.
GAGAN’s footprint extends from Africa to Australia and has expansion capability for seamless navigation services across the region. The system is inter-operable with other international satellite based tracking systems such as the WAAS (US), EGNOS (Europe) and MSAD (Japan).
LandWorks Inc., a developer of innovative land management solutions, has improved its Web AutoMapper online service that translates land legal descriptions into GIS-ready map polygons.
The updated Web AutoMapper features a new interface that is easier to use, including a job detail webpage that lets users review and edit polygons before purchase. Clients can now have their property polygons mapped against USLandGrid’s national land base, with the option of buying land grid townships containing the mapped property.
“These changes make the Web AutoMapper even easier and more cost effective to use,” said LandWorks President Jerry Bramwell. “Anyone with a need to create land maps can do so in just a few minutes at minimal cost.”
For about 20 percent of the cost of manual mapping, Web AutoMapper has simplified land records mapping in the oil and gas, renewable energy, mining, banking, utility, pipeline, state/local government, telecommunications, transportation, water and real estate sectors. The cost to map a legal parcel description with Web AutoMapper is $2 per polygon with the USLandGrid offered at $7 per PLSS Township.
“The USLandGrid data provides the tie between a legal description and the geography of that parcel of land,” said USLandGrid Vice President of Sales Anthony Ford. “Producing polygons this way allows you to get your land positions on a map for critical analysis using the GIS.”
“LandWorks selected USLandGrid for inclusion in Web AutoMapper because it is the best basemap available for any industry or profession to use in mapping property legal descriptions,” said Bramwell. “An important benefit of the USLandGrid is that its data layers are continuously updated as more accurate survey data becomes available.”
LandWorks first introduced Web AutoMapper in 2013 as an inexpensive, fast and easy method of processing many types of standard property descriptions and converting them into digital map polygons. Legal descriptions that would take days or weeks to map manually can be processed in minutes with this online software-as-a-service application.
A customer simply logs onto Web AutoMapper and creates an account. The user then submits an Excel spreadsheet containing one or hundreds of legal descriptions in Jeffersonian Township/Range or Texas Survey/Abstract formats. Within seconds, Web AutoMapper provides an onscreen report detailing which polygons can be generated, which cannot, and shows an overview of the mapped polygons aligned to the USLandGrid.
If the customer decides to proceed, a credit card is provided. For customers who don’t already own the Grid, they have the option of buying it by the township along with their mapped polygons.
Web AutoMapper generates a zip file of the purchased polygons and USLandGrid townships either in Esri shapefile or file geodatabase format in NAD 83 or 27 for direct download into Esri ArcGIS software as well as other popular mapping systems, such as IHS Petra, IHS Kingdom and LMKR GeoGraphix.
As a cloud-based application, Web AutoMapper brings the full power of the standalone LandWorks AutoMapper software to every level of digital map user via the Internet. Introduced in 2002, the onsite AutoMapper package is purchased by an organization and sits behind their firewall as a production-grade GIS mapping tool. The software is used extensively by organizations that own or lease many land rights and must keep their property records up to date, such as local governments, energy companies and natural resource management entities.
The VP6300 is a triple-band antenna for reception of GPS L1/L2/L5, GLONASS G1/G2/G3, BeiDou B1/B2 and Galileo E1/E5a+b (1165MHz to 1254MHz + 1560MHz to 1610MHz). The VP6200 is a dual-band antenna for reception of GPS L1/L2, GLONASS G1/G2, BeiDou B1/B2, Galileo E1 and the L-Band correction services (1195 MHz to 1254 MHz + 1525 MHz to 1610 MHz). Both antennas have been calibrated by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey and are designed for high-precision applications such as real-time kinematic, precise point positioning and other applications where precision matters. The antennas feature an available, uncommitted printed circuit board for integration of custom electronics such as precision GNSS receivers. Both antennas feature the VeraPhase technology used in the VP6000 all-band reference antenna.
The Altus APS3G is a real-time kinematic (RTK) receiver that brings technology from scientific receivers into the field for professional surveyors. The new multi-constellation APS3G addresses major concerns about compatibility with new satellite constellations, as well as interference and jamming. Built on Septentrio’s AsteRx4 engine, the APS3G tracks all-in-view GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, IRNSS, SBAS, Galileo and QZSS, including E6/L6 and all other signals known to be available in the medium term. The APS3G incorporates Septentrio’s AIM technology with three notch filters for in-band jamming and chirp jammer resistance, ensuring the highest possible levels of accuracy and resilience under all conditions. It provides optimum GSM signal reception, as well as a built-in advanced UHF receiver for reliable performance on longer baselines, yielding real-time 25-Hz RTK.
CHC’s N72 GNSS series offers high-end receivers for GNSS applications including offshore surveys and machine control, national geodetic networks, crustal deformation monitoring and bathymetry. It was designed to provide all the necessary technical features required for geodetic surveying and demanding applications such as Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), on-board machine control and disaster monitoring. Embedded battery supports 15 working hours without external power supply; 32-GB internal memory integrated and 1TB+ external memory supported; Eight threads of logging with circulating storage and FTP push functions; Wi-Fi, LAN, Bluetooth and serial ports for data communications; and LCD display and function buttons for direct configuration.
The GAJT-AE-N anti-jam antenna is designed for size- and weight-constrained applications such as small airborne and ground unmanned platforms where it is preferable to mount the antenna electronics inside the vehicle. Users can select from a variety of four-element Controlled Reception Pattern Antennas (CRPA) and cabling lengths to meet the form factor requirements of their installation. Interference mitigation is achieved by applying proprietary digital beamforming algorithms to the signals, creating dynamic nulls to give protection against narrowband and broadband interference sources. GAJT-AE-N comes in variants that protect L1 and L2 signals in wide or narrow band. The wide bandwidth version ensures future compatibility with M-code GPS.
The NEO-M8Q-01A and the NEO-M8L-01A positioning modules provide concurrent reception of GPS, GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo. The NEO-M8L-01A is suited to providing 100 percent dead-reckoning positioning coverage even in areas of weak signal such as in tunnels or multi-story car parks or those experiencing poor signal quality such as caused by multipath reflections. This module is qualified to operate in the -40 to +85 degrees temperature range. The NEO-M8Q-01 GNSS module is the first GNSS module able to operate across the extended automotive temperature range from -40 to + 105 degrees Celsius.
Simplifies integration of advanced connectivity technologies into new vehicles
The Qualcomm Connected Car Reference Platform is aimed at accelerating the adoption of advanced and complex connectivity into the next-generation of connected cars. The product is designed to maintain pace with an ever-increasing set of automotive use cases facilitated by the latest advances in 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. The platform is also designed to solve for challenges such as wireless coexistence, future-proofing and support for a large number of in-car hardware architectures. The Connected Car Reference Platform is built upon Qualcomm Technologies’ broad automotive product and technology portfolio, including quad-constellation GNSS, Snapdragon X12 and X5 LTE modems, and 2D/3D dead-reckoning location solutions, Qualcomm VIVE Wi-Fi technology, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) for V2X, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and broadcast capabilities such as analog and digital tuner support using software-defined radio via Qualcomm tuneX chips. In addition, the platform features in-vehicle networking technologies such as Gigabit (OABR) Ethernet with Automotive Audio Bus (A2B) and Controller Area Network (CAN) interfaces.
Total Station Survey helps land surveyors and civil engineers view and inspect on any Android device the information gathered by the total station. It connects to the total station using Bluetooth or a USB-serial adapter/converter cable. It can measure horizontal and vertical angle, slope and horizontal distance, and set the horizontal angle on the total station. The app is available free on Google Play.
Collect survey-grade accuracy with an Android device
The TruPoint 300 is a lightweight, compact point-and-shoot laser with survey-grade accuracy. It measures the distance between two remote points and has onboard solutions for volume, heights and 2D and 3D areas. Users can collect 3D measurements from a single location using a personal smart device and capture a photo of every shot taken, using LTI’s MapSmart on Android software. MapSmart combines sophisticated technology typically required to collect field data and puts it into a straightforward app for smart devices. It simplifies the mapping process by allowing users to establish an origin quickly and begin mapping in just minutes. Users can integrate location data using the GPS from a smart device or improve accuracy with an external antenna.
Laser Technology, www.lasertech.com
GPS Fields Area Measure Pro is easy, intuitive, app to manage area, distance, perimeter. It enables fast area/distance marking, and ha a Smart Marker Mode for accurate pin placement. Its GPS tracking enables auto measurement while walking or driving around a boundary. Users can share an auto-generated link with boundary/selected area/ direction/route. GPS Field Area Measure useful as map measurement tool for outdoor activities, sports, range finder applications, bike tour planning, or run tour planning, explore golf area, land survey, golf distance meter, field pasture area measure, garden and farm work and planning, area records, construction, agricultural fencing, solar panel installation – roof area estimation, trip planning.
The EyesMap tablet is a versatile instrument for modeling 3D scenes indoors and outdoors. It provides results while working in the field with real-time measurements. The tablet has a stereocamera, depth sensor scanner, GPS and inertial measureent unit. It also supports external cameras and other topographic instruments. Applications include crime scene investigation, archaeology and architecture documentation, as-built measurements and inspections, industrial and civil maintenance.
The TDC100 handheld data collector is an entry-level GNSS device for a variety of geographic information system (GIS) applications. It combines both smartphone and ruggedized data collection capabilities in a single, mobile device. The Android-based TDC100 can run commercially available or in-house developed applications on a professional, IP-67 ruggedized platform with a sunlight readable display and user replaceable batteries. The built-in GNSS receiver also provides real-time accuracy. It supports GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou, as well as satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) capabilities.
The Digital Mapping Reconnaissance Toolkit (DMRT) provides real-time reconnaissance for disaster relief and other time-sensitive situations. . It is a custom configuration of cameras, laser rangefinder, GPS unit and software all linked through the Red Hen VMS-333 multiplexing system. Users can create up-to-date orthomosaic maps and 3D models, as well as geotag reference points in impacted areas without a time lag. Users can create search patterns and map with situational awareness. Both modular aerial and land-based solutions are available
The Typhoon H UAV with Intel RealSense Technology comes with a factory installed Intel RealSense R200 Camera and quadcore Intel Atom processor, an ST16 controller with a Wizard controller for dual operator mode, two batteries and extra propellers, all packed in a custom designed backpack. RealSense Technology enables Typhoon H to fly autonomously, intelligently navigating around objects. The Intel RealSense R200 Camera and the Atom processor work seamlessly with the flight-control firmware to add intelligent obstacle navigation. With a combination of specialized cameras and sensors, this Intel system maps and learns its environment in 3D, recognizing each obstacle, planning an alternative route, and safely navigating around it — an advancement over ultrasonic collision prevention, which automatically stops short of obstacles but cannot model the environment or intelligently reroute around obstacles. The module also adds downward facing sensors to improve stability, enabling flight indoors or outdoors close to the ground, even with poor GPS reception.
Mission Insight provides UAS operators in deployed situations with a common operating picture in a customized graphical interface. The commercial off-the-shelf application processes and analyzes large streams of data from disparate sources in real-time. It ensures real-time, in-depth data access for mission-critical events even in remote environments or low-bandwidth situations. Complex data filtering, advanced processing and timing techniques enable Mission Insight to prioritize data and allow transmission as low as 2400 baud. The complete information management solution —including archival and replay capabilities in addition to the correlation, fusion and analytical tools — aid in training, post-operation analysis, incident investigation and review of operational effectiveness.
Sequoia is a small, light multispectral UAS sensor that captures images of crops across four highly defined, visible and non-visible spectral bands, plus RGB imagery. Sequoia is fully compatible with the eBee Ag and other eBee platforms via senseFly’s proprietary Integration Kit. It has four 1.2 megapixel sensors (near-infrared, red-edge, red and green) plus one 16 megapixel RGB sensor, providing multispectral and RGB imagery from a single flight. An upward-facing Sunshine Sensor automatically calibrates Sequoia’s multispectral sensors for accurate imagery, whatever the light conditions. The camera unit can be configured over Wi-Fi and has 64-GB of built-in storage; the Sunshine Sensor has GPS, an IMU, a magnetometer and SD card slot
Chaminda Basnayake, Principal Engineer, V2X Systems, Renesas Electronics
In the basic V2X concept of operation, everybody will be talking to each other, will be aware of each other. Any car will be broadcasting BSMs, pedestrian or personal devices will be broadcasting an equivalent message, called personal safety messages (PSM), and then all the control devices like traffic control will broadcast signal-based timing information, SPAT messages, intersection maps and GPS correction data.
The expectation in the system design is that all vehicles will provide position information and location accuracy, and the vehicle should be able to get this from itself and from others.
The idea is that every vehicle should be able to relatively position everyone else, and then with the onboard device, the vehicle should be able to position itself with respect to the roadway.
A lot of applications are out there. A good source of further information on these is put together by the Connected Vehicle Reference Implementation Architecture, a U.S. Department of Transportation initiative.
Connected Car Gateway for applications such as emergency calling, telematics, infotainment data distribution and usage-based insurance. (Image: u-blox)
John Kenney, Director and Principal Researcher, Network Division, Toyota InfoTechnology Center
A couple of issues are hot today with regard to spectrum and how we’re going to use it: what kinds of technology to use to support V2X, in the United States and around the world, and also whether that spectrum can be shared by other technologies for other purposes.
V2X is an inherently ad hoc network, and that makes evolution across generations a much more challenging task than we are used to seeing in the cellular environment.
Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) technology is now mature, and it’s entering the deployment phase. The cellular V2X technology that’s in the initial standardization is interesting; it offers benefits by complementing DSRC, but we don’t want to see it positioned as a competitor. The auto industry wants to remove uncertainty (regarding spectrum sharing) but only in a way that does not threaten DSRC’s safety-of-life mission.
Nikolaos Papadopoulos, President, u-blox America
The adjacent figure shows an in-vehicle module for emergency calling, other positioning applications and infotainment. The blue boxes show the components that we supply: the GNSS with three-dimensional dead reckoning, and in the future with lane-level accuracy, the TOBY 4000 with the customer application, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and near-field communications.
I have shown examples in this webinar where we can clearly identify lane changes with a combination of GNSS technologies.
We very much encourage both Tier Ones and OEMs to keep the cellular technology, the short-range communication technology, and the GNSS positioning technology separate. The advances in GNSS and positioning for autonomous vehicles are truly extraordinary, and can only be done in the separate GNSS technology.
How to put the car on a nap? Positioning technology options. (Image: Renesas Electronics)
Roger Berg, Vice President, Wireless Technologies, DENSO North American R&D Laboratories
The video example that I showed here, of advance warning of a braking car hidden from your line of sight ahead of you, used a Toyota vehicle, a u-blox positional element, and a Renesas V2V component.
We’ve learned through experience that one company can’t do it all. This is an ecosystem that requires connectivity and cooperation. No longer is a vehicle its own entity; it does not operate separate from infrastructure and other road users. And finally, we can’t necessarily predict how connected and automated drivers interact with so-called regular vehicles, those controlled by human drivers. It’s going to take a lot of collaboration between industry, academia and government to be effective.
All-in-one time-and-frequency master time and clock server
Spectracom’s VelaSync time server and grandmaster clock.
When the VelaSync time server platform was introduced in 2014, it met the needs of financial trading networks’ move to 10 gigabit-per-second networking. Now available with 40-GbE network interfaces, it offers high-performance synchronization for time-sensitive networks. Matching network speeds between timing and data on a single low-latency high-throughput network enhances synchronization accuracy and eliminates queuing delays and hidden time errors caused by slower connections. The availability of a network timing appliance with 40-GbE interfaces benefits any deployment of critical network infrastructure at high data rates.
The TW3970 / TW3965 antennas have superior cross polarization rejection to enhance multi path signal rejection, tight phase center variation and an excellent axial ratio. The TW3970 is a pole mount or through-hole mount antenna; the TW3965 is an embeddable form. Bothemploy Tallysman’s Accutenna technology and are capable of receiving GPS L1/L2/L5, GLONASS G1/G2/G5, BeiDou B1/B2, Galileo E1/E5a+b plus L-band correction services (1164 MHz to 1254 MHz + 1525MHz to 1606 MHz). The antennas are designed for precision agriculture, autonomous vehicles and other precision applications. The ability of the antennas to access L-band correction services extends its utility to a wider range of applications.
The Tactical Series of inertial navigation systems (INS) is a next-generation family for high performance. Built on a common tactical-grade proprietary micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) inertial sensing core, the Tactical Series includes the VN-110 inertial measurement unit and attitude heading reference system (IMU/AHRS), the VN-210 GPS-aided INS (GPS/INS), and the VN-310 dual-antenna GPS/INS. The Tactical Series offers the same functionality and features as the Industrial Series for integrators of SWaP-C (size, weight, power and cost) constrained manned and unmanned systems. The Tactical Series takes advantage of the latest developments in solid-state MEMS technology to incorporate a three-axis gyro with <1°/hour in-run bias stability, leading to an attitude accuracy of 1 to 2 milliradian. In addition to the improved IMU core, the Tactical Series enclosure is designed to DO-160G airborne standards and rated IP68 for deployment in harsh and extreme environments.
Plug n’ fly control system for UAV, UAS, USV and UGV systems
Veronte Autopilot is a miniaturized fail-safe avionics system with an embedded suite of sensors and processors for advanced control of unmanned systems. The OEM version weighs 90 grams, and the version with an aluminum enclosure weighs 200 grams. Both versions include a datalink radio. The control system is fully configurable — payload, platform layout, control phases, control channels and the user interface layout can be user defined, making it cost effective for a wide range of professional applications. The embedded GPS module offers RTK-like positioning with centimeter precision. It meets DO-178C / ED-12, DO-254 and DO-160G aircract regulations.
Critical coverage for autonomous driving development
TomTom’s HD (high-definition) Map and RoadDNA are highly accurate digital map products helping automated vehicles precisely locate themselves on the road and plan maneuvers, even when traveling at high speeds. These technologies are being rolled out in strategic geographies and are the subject of key partnerships with other automotive suppliers. TomTom now offers more than 122,000 kilometers of HD Map coverage globally, including Interstates in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont; Interstates and highways in California, Michigan and Nevada; and the Autobahn network in Germany.
Applications range from infrastructure to infotainment
Smart Antennas by Laird Technologies combine antenna elements and radio receivers in the same robust package. Compared to traditional architectures, the Smart Antenna provides signifcant performance improvement and system-wide cost savings. Custom solutions are available, including 4G LTE cellular, GNSS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as the emerging dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) technology with a 1,000-meter range for V2X. Applications include navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication,vehicle to infrastructure communication and infotainment. Operating temperature range is –40 C to 85° C.
The CEESCOPE-USV is a waterproof one-box echo sounder, GNSS and broadband radio telemetry package that can be installed on practically any remotely operated unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The self-contained unit requires no interface with the USV, eliminating challenges of instrument data integration on the vehicle. Using real-time broadband radio telemetry, detailed 20-Hz dual-frequency soundings, up to 20-Hz RTK GNSS and a 3200-sample-per-ping digital echogram are available to the USV operator on shore via the CEE-LINK radio base station. Data from the CEESCOPE-USV telemetry link allows the operator to steer the USV along the survey line like in any manned boat survey. The CEESCOPE-USV offers users a range to their vehicle of more than 1,000 meters.
The new ALS80-UP airborne sensor enables even more flexible data acquisition with extended range measurement capability. It takes advantage of the dual-output optical system pioneered in the ALS70 and enhanced in the originl ALS80. The AL80-UP has higher Multiple Pulse in Air (MPiA) operation settings, enabling data collection in extreme terrains with minimal variation in swath width due to terrain elevation variations. The ALS80-UP works perfectly in a wide variety of scenarios, including wide-area mapping, detail mapping from high-flying heights and detail mapping over mountainous terrain. With its expanded maximum range, the system has demonstrated good results at up to 6,000 meters above terrain and with terrain relief of up to 2,300 meters.
The Settop Repeater allows rover-RTK network users in areas of low or no GSM coverage to receive differential corrections via radio. It can connect to any external radio model on the market for precision agriculture systems or machine control. Repeater field application versatility is managed by an intuitive software controlled using a touchscreen. It can also be used for land surveying and marine work. It reduces the need for an RTK base station and offers flexible field configuration.
Expanded toolsets and capabilities for speed and accuracy
FieldGenius 8 software takes advantage of the high-power processors, high-definition displays and larger memory in modern Windows Mobile powered data collectors and Windows 7 powered tablets. It provides tight control through expanded toolsets. Features include easy GNSS local transformation with the ability to export and import localization files; enhanced DXF support; advanced point averaging, which allows users to take multiple GNSS measurements and calculate an averaged position; support for integrated inertial sensors; native unicode support;and simplified GIS mapping. FieldGenius 8 also has improved road alignments, an onboard basic measurement mode, dynamic screen rotation and expanded ASCII export options. Supported coordinate systems, geoids, instruments and data collectors have been expanded, making it easier to integrate into existing survey operations.
The FLIR Vue Pro R adds radiometric functionality to the Vue Pro camera, giving drone operators the ability to save pictures for post-flight image analysis and accurately measure the temperatures of individual image pixels. Calibrated radiometric imaging allows it to capture the temperature data of every pixel in an image. When saved in Radiometric JPEG format, still images can be imported into FLIR Tools software for detailed analysis and reporting. FLIR Tools, a free download on FLIR.com, lets drone operators adjust settings including object emissivity, background temperature, target distance, relative humidity and thermal sensitivity, as well as assigning various color palettes for each image. The Vue Pro R records digital thermal video, along with radiometric thermal still images, to an on-board micro-SD card. For applications such as electrical inspection, infrastructure assessment and precision mapping, the onboard recording allows operators to capture high-quality thermal data for post processing and analysis.
Reconnaissance for disaster relief, time sensitive situations
The Digital Mapping Reconnaissance Toolkit (DMRT) creates up-to-date orthomosaic maps and 3D models. Users can fly a drone to survey the landscape for real-time solutions, and geotag reference points in impacted areas without a time lag. Seeing what the drone sees, pilots can create search patterns and map with situational awareness. Modular aerial and land-based solutions are available.
TU-Automotive announced the 2016 winners of the TU-Automotive Awards at a reception in Novi, Michigan, held before the June 8-9 TU-Automotive Detroit trade show. The 10 winners were selected by 30 expert judges in 10 categories.
The award categories showcase specific aspects of the connected-car industry. The winners were selected by 30 top industry experts and judged based on the following criteria: innovation, industry engagement, user experience and market update.
“We launched the TU-Automotive Awards in December of last year with the objective of recognizing innovation and success across the globe from companies established and new,” said Ruthana Foulkes, managing director at TU-Automotive. “We received a record number of nominations this year — over 400 in total. And we would like to thank and congratulate every company for taking part in this process. The quality of entries as always was incredibly high.”
The 2016 TU-Automotive Awards winners are:
OEM of the year – Joint winners: Volvo Car Group and Ford Motor Company
Telematics Service Provider of the year – Wireless Car
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is offering a $500 rebate for aircraft to install Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) surveillance technology ahead of a 2020 deadline.
Today on a national press call, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Deputy Administrator Michael G. Whitaker announced the $500 rebate incentive for General Aviation (GA) aircraft owners who equip their aircraft with required avionics technology.
Accelerating compliance is critical to ensuring that pilots, manufacturers and retail facilities have adequate time and capacity to equip aircraft ahead of a 2020 regulatory deadline, the FAA said.
ADS-B is a foundational element of the FAA’s NextGen program, which consists of a suite of technologies that are modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system. ADS-B transforms aircraft surveillance using satellite-based positioning.
“This announcement signals our commitment to NextGen, which has played an important role in ensuring that our airspace is safe and efficient for the American people,” Secretary Foxx said. “We are focused on achieving its full potential, and by working with our General Aviation community, I’m confident we can successfully integrate aircraft and technology into the national airspace system.”
The rebates will be available this fall, and the FAA will announce the specific date soon.
In the meantime, the FAA has published information regarding the goals and structure of the program and is encouraging aircraft owners to look at the available equipment on the market and to schedule an installation appointment with a qualified installer starting in the fall of 2016. Aircraft owners will only qualify for the rebate if the installation is scheduled after the FAA begins offering the rebates.
The FAA published a final rule in May 2010 mandating that aircraft flying in certain controlled airspace be equipped with ADS-B by Jan. 1, 2020. That airspace is generally the same busy airspace where transponders are required. Aircraft that fly only in uncontrolled airspace where no transponders are required, and aircraft without electrical systems, such as balloons and gliders, are exempt from the mandate.
“We’re calling on all aircraft owners who plan to fly in busy airspace to equip with ADS-B before the deadline,” Administrator Huerta said. “Owners who wait too long to equip may not be able to get an installation appointment before the deadline. This limited-time rebate provides an incentive for early retrofitting, and will help draw attention for the urgent need for owners to comply so that they can continue to fly their aircraft in 2020.”
The $500 rebate will help offset an owner’s cost to equip U.S.-registered, fixed-wing, single-engine piston aircraft with avionics that comply with FAA technical standard orders and meet the rule requirements. The FAA is not offering rebates for software upgrades for aircraft already equipped, for new aircraft or for aircraft for which the FAA already has paid or committed to upgrade.
The FAA will be able to distribute 20,000 rebates — one rebate per aircraft owner. The FAA is encouraging owners of fixed-wing, single-engine piston aircraft to apply as soon as the program is launched this fall because the rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis for one year, or until all 20,000 rebates are claimed, whichever comes first. The FAA estimates that as many as 160,000 aircraft need to be equipped by the deadline.
“ADS-B provides the General Aviation community with increased safety, efficiency, and situational awareness,” said Whitaker. “We’re getting closer to the 2020 deadline, and we need 100 percent equipage in the required airspace to realize the full benefits of this NextGen technology.”
General aviation and air taxi aircraft equipped with ADS-B Out enjoy more efficient spacing and optimal routing in some non-radar environments, including busy airspace in the Gulf of Mexico, mountainous regions of Colorado, and some areas in Alaska. ADS-B improves life-saving search-and-rescue with accurate and timely last-reported positions. General aviation pilots may also benefit from air traffic control services outside radar coverage.
The FAA is continuing to work with stakeholders such as the Aircraft Electronics Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, and others to inform and educate the aviation community about the ADS-B requirements.
Aircraft are required to be equipped with ADS-B by January 2020 as part of the agency’s effort to implement the satellite-based NextGen system to improve the nation’s air traffic control.
ADS-B technology, which costs around $2,000 to install, can save lives because it improves situational awareness, allows real time weather and traffic updates and improves communication where radar is limited. It also has the ability to improve route efficiency and air traffic.
Recent progress with Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) brings connected cars or V2X — connectivity between vehicles, infrastructure and all road users — closer to reality than ever before. If all goes well, an NHTSA mandate on DSRC in new light vehicles is expected to start around 2020 as a phase-in plan, with completion around 2025.
Regulations for aftermarket devices are expected to come soon after. The mandate is expected to leave auto OEMs to choose the applications and human-machine interface (HMI). This will be the culmination of more than a decade of technology development and standardization by U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), automotive OEMs and other industry partners.
Significance of V2X. According to USDOT, V2X technology can positively impact more than 80% of non-impaired vehicle crash types that result in over 30,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. A report by the Federal Highway Administration to Congress states that V2X technology is ready to be deployed in the near future and is expected to yield significant safety and efficiency benefits.
From a consumer’s perspective, V2X will be a part of a vehicle ADAS (Active Safety Driver Assistance System). Initial systems will provide information only, and these systems are expected to evolve into warning and control capabilities. In a future vehicle, information from multiple sensors including V2X will be combined/fused to generate a view of the surrounding environment. Figure 1 gives an example of such sensors including long- and short-range radar, lidar, cameras and V2X. V2X offers unique advantages over other sensors that depend on direct line-of-sight. Information can be received from vehicles not visible to other sensors, giving a much larger field of view. V2X can transmit information directly from traffic control devices, instead of inferring information from camera observations.
Figure 1. Example of a vehicle sensor configuration.
Figure 2 depicts the sensor fusion screen from an ADAS development platform by Renesas Electronics America. Such a platform offers the flexibility to implement an ADAS using all available sensors, for example blind-spot warning from radar, forward collision warnings from combined radar, camera and V2X, surround object detection from combined radar, lidar, vision and V2X, with information presented via an OEM-specific HMI.
Figure 2. Renesas ADAS development platform.
GNSS role and challenges
V2X is built on the assumption that vehicles, infrastructure elements, and other road users are location-aware and can communicate critical information to others around them. As seen in Figure 3, the system will position all communicating V2X entities with respect to the host vehicle and security interface, which validates all relevant DSRC messages. A control area network (CAN) or a similar interface will be needed for direct access to vehicle information such as brake and turn-light status and odometer. Interfaces to long-range connectivity such as cellular networks and other data sources such as maps may also be included. The system will connect to an HMI to display information, and future systems will likely evolve to vehicle control functions.
Figure 3. Components of a V2X system.
Looking at the components of an over-the-air (OTA) V2X basic safety message (BSM), this includes a UTC-based time marker, WGS84-based position, and an estimated position error — all critical data that primarily depend on GNSS. RTCM-formatted data may also be sent as optional attachments. A BSM-like personal safety message (PSM) is also defined for pedestrians with V2X-enabled devices.
As per current Minimum Performance Requirements (MPR), a UTC time source with better than 1 millisecond accuracy is required in a V2X device. While almost all current prototypes use GNSS as source of time, others, such as NTP, may also be used. Accurate time reference is a critical prerequisite for basic DSRC functionality. MPR requires time-marked position estimates with 2D and elevation accuracy of 1.5 and 3 meters or better (1 sigma) under open-sky conditions. The automotive industry has opted to define open sky as unobstructed sky view above 5-degree elevation with seven or more satellites visible with HDOP and VDOP limits. The industry expectation is to use this criteria to select GNSS devices that could eventually support lane-level applications (better than 1.5-meter accuracy).
MPR does not put any requirements on the accuracy of the position error estimate in the BSM. It does require that a vehicle stop transmitting BSM whenever the aforementioned time and position accuracy requirements are not met. This implies that a V2X-enabled vehicle may disappear from the V2X view of others in a dense urban canyon or similar environments, leaving at least two questions for system designers from a GNSS perspective alone. First, how to reliably declare that the system cannot meet time and position accuracy requirements, and second, how to deal with the vehicle itself and other V2X entities that may cease to function or broadcast due to GNSS or other limitations. V2X systems are assumed to include inertial and vehicle sensor integration.
Road Ahead. Starting in 2017, connected vehicle pilots (CVP) in New York, Tampa, Florida, and Wyoming will be the next major milestone for V2X. These deployments will be limited to commercial fleets (taxis, public transit, city/road crews and delivery trucks) and some limited road-user categories.
Among the automotive OEMs, Toyota was the first to offer V2X-based driver-assistance technology as ITS Connect in Japan in 2015. General Motors is the first to announce a V2X technology offering in a passenger vehicle in the U.S. with an initial rollout in select 2017 models. The first phase of V2X deployments will only provide driver assistance information while subsequent iterations are expected to bring in safety-focused functions leading to control capabilities.
There is a growing interest in the cellular industry to support V2X-like communication in an upcoming release of the 3GPP standards commonly referenced as 5G. This would enable low latency, peer-to-peer communication with the advantage of an existing device provisioning/authentication infrastructure, something that needs to be built up for DSRC. However, 5G is still a concept, and judging by the lifecycle of LTE, a 5G deployment will take several years to start and several more years to fully deploy while still leaving some rural areas with legacy technology. A framework to manage commercial traffic vs. likely free safety traffic will also be required. These raise the question as to how 5G alone can support vehicle safety applications nationwide.
The FCC has recently proposed a rule to potentially open up the DSRC band for unlicensed Wi-Fi devices, provided Wi-Fi users do not interfere with the primary safety use. Automotive and wireless industry and other stakeholders are investigating the feasibility of possible co-existence in the future. Among the proposed solutions are the rechannelization of DSRC to use a smaller bandwidth and a mechanism for Wi-Fi devices to Detect-and-Vacate the DSRC band when a safety user is detected.
From a technology point of view, V2X has reached a significant milestone with R&D in various technology areas converging and critical standards being adopted recently. With Toyota V2X offering in Japan and GM V2X commitment in the U.S., customers will have V2X as an option this year, further proof that V2X will be on the roads soon. However, significant further work is needed to address the GNSS accuracy and reliability needed for next-generation systems and to address GNSS-specific vulnerabilities such as jamming or spoofing. The New York CVP, which includes deep urban canyons, will probably be a great opportunity for GNSS and V2X communicates to work together on some of these limitations.
Context-dependent scan matching for aided navigation
By Jyh-Ching Juang, Shang-Lin Yu and Shun-Hung Chen
Context-dependent scan matching for aided navigation — finding the rotation and translation that best align two consecutive scans — provides laser-ranging data that can be blended into a GNSS navigation system. A quality index based on analysis of intra-frame point clouds assesses the scan context, accounting for variations in feature richness, to yield a robust aided navigation solution.
For robust and autonomous navigation, many different sensors have been incorporated and, indeed, fused to form a navigation suite that typically includes a GNSS receiver, inertial measurement unit, vision sensor, laser rangefinder, odometer and others. Recently, driven by the goal to achieve autonomous driving, laser range data and image data have been widely adopted in the establishment of vehicle safety and autonomy functions. Laser range data can facilitate navigation and guidance. Through the use of scan matching, vehicle motion can be detected and used in dead reckoning. The surroundings of a vehicle can also be built based on point clouds, so that a feasible path can be generated for obstacle avoidance and vehicle guidance. To some extent, the image data can also be exploited in a similar manner. The use of a visual odometry technique attempts to estimate the relative motion between two consecutive images for dead-reckoning navigation.
This article addresses a limitation in scan matching for vehicular navigation and proposes a context-dependent scheme to account for the variation of the richness of features in scan-matching-based navigation. Environmental context in terms of the richness of features is known to affect the quality of the resulting navigation performance. Thus, in scan matching, we seek to establish a quality index to quantify the quality of the resulting estimates on rotation and translation. In this manner, after fusion with other sensors, a robust positioning solution can be obtained.
Here, we briefly review the scan-matching technique and discuss the aforementioned limitation using a real-world example. We then investigate a context-dependent weighting concept, and the entropy of a scan is used to quantify the richness of its features. We find that a scan with low entropy may be prone to improper registration and an erroneous navigation result. Thus, a weighting is assigned to the scan-matching result for integrated navigation processing. To verify and demonstrate the proposed context-dependent weighting approach, the method is implemented and tested in a vehicle. The result verifies that the proposed scheme can indeed avoid improper registration and lead to robust navigation performance.
Scan Matching
Scan matching is an enabling technique in vehicle navigation, map building and obstacle avoidance, produced by laser ranging devices. Scan matching finds the rotation and translation that best align two consecutive scans. Given two point sets {pn, n = 1,2,K,N} and {qm, m = 1,2,K,M} at two consecutive instants, the scan-matching problem is to determine a correspondence n → m(n) for the registration of two scans and a rotation matrix R and translation (shift) vector s such that the objective function is minimized:
(1)
Once the mapping m(n) is determined, the optimization of (1) can be solved analytically. The determination of the mapping from n to m(n) is typically accomplished by using an iterative method. This class of methods is termed as iterative closest point (ICP), in which the mapping m(n) is determined by searching for the closest point in the target point cloud. There have been many different variations to the ICP by using a different objective function for minimization, a point-to-plane matching, the removal of boundary and/or low-quality correspondences, and so forth. By repeating the scan-matching process, the rotation matrices and translation vectors can be determined and used in the dead-reckoning navigation process to estimate the position and attitude of the vehicle. In robotics and autonomous vehicles, the scan matching is typically integrated with the map-building process for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).
Figure 1 depicts a representative result when the scan-matching technique is used in the SLAM. In the figure, the vehicle moves from the bottom to the top. As the vehicle moves, the laser rangefinder collects measurements for the determination of the vehicle and the mapping of the environment. The location of the vehicle can be estimated (in green) and the environment can be mapped (in blue) by using the scan-matching and filtering techniques. However, as also depicted in the figure, as the vehicle moves to the end of the corridor the point clouds that are obtained from the laser rangefinder (in red) are constrained, and the change of the pose of the vehicle cannot be accurately determined.
Figure 1. Representative SLAM result.
Figure 2 shows the original scans at two consecutive instants (in blue and gray, respectively) and the matched scan after the scan-matching process (in red) when the vehicle moves along the corridor.
Figure 2. Scan-matching result 1.
At this point, the laser rangefinder obtains measurements that are rich in context. The rotation and translation of the vehicle can be estimated with an acceptable level of accuracy, and the vehicle can be located. In this example, the translation vector is found to be s = [11.07 0.50 –0.58]T mm and the minimal error of the objective function is 3.47. When the vehicle moves to the end of the corridor, the scans at two consecutive instants, together with the matched scan, are depicted in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Scan-matching result 2.
In this case, only the end wall is observed by the laser scanner, and the determination of the rotation and translation based on scan matching is subject to errors due to the lack of features. Indeed, by applying the scan-matching technique, the translation vector is found to be s = [9.18 –2.84 13.22]T , which is obviously incorrect in the z axis component. Also, the minimal error of the objective function is 3.20, which is smaller than the error in Figure 2. Thus, the error may not provide a fair assessment of the scan matching due primarily to the fact that the error in registration is not taken into account in the objective function (1). In short, lack of features in the environment may induce improper registration and lead to navigation error.
To account for the aforementioned limitation, several methods can be adopted. One can resort to some variations of the scan-matching techniques by, for example, using feature extraction and matching. Blending with other sensors can be employed. In this case, the vehicle can be equipped with gyros to give information on the change of attitude so that the change of translation can be better estimated. This research project addressed this issue by using a context-dependent weighting to quantify the scan-matching results.
Context-Dependent Weighting
Scan matching attempts to investigate the relationship between two consecutive scans to explore the inter-frame characteristics. However, as discussed, the quality of the scan-matching result depends on the richness of features in the scan, which is revealed by examining the intra-frame characteristic. Given a scan in 2D or 3D, some quality indices can be established to assess its characteristic. For example, principal component analysis (PCA) is a widely applied technique to quantify a scan and to obtain normal vector in a polygon environment. For vehicle navigation in an outdoor environment, the PCA approach may be limited. Here, we propose the use of entropy to assess the complexity of the environment of a scan (or image).
Given a set of K random variables, the entropy is defined as
,(2)
where pk stands for the probability of the k-th random variable. The entropy is a measure that can be used to probe the randomness of a set of random variables. As each probability is bounded by 1, the entropy in (2) ranges between 0 and log2 K.
To assess the entropy of a scan, which is characterized in terms of a combination of angle and range, the scan is converted through a kernel function to become a density-based map. Several different kernel functions can be used. With the density-based scan, the histogram can be formed to obtain an estimate of the probabilities and, consequently, (2) is used to evaluate the entropy.
Figure 4 and Figure 5 represent the original scan and the density-based scan, respectively. The entropy of the sacn in Figure 4 is evaluated to be 1.17. In contrast, the scan in Figure 6 is found to have an entropy of 0.86. Note that Figure 6 is limited in terms of its features, leading to a smaller entropy.
Figure 4. A representative laser range measurement.Figure 5. A density-based scan.Figure 6. Another scan.
By evaluating the entropy of the scan, the scan-matching result can be quantified. A weighting can indeed be assigned as a function of the entropy for integration with other sensors in the integrated navigation system. A limitation of using laser scan data for the assessment of entropy is the need of the conversion to its corresponding density-based map. In vehicular navigation, a camera is often mounted together with a laser rangefinder. As a result, it is possible to use the image data from the camera for the assessment of entropy.
Figure 7 depicts the navigation system design when the context-dependent weighting is used. The navigation suite uses laser rangefinder, camera and other navigation sensors to estimate the position, velocity and attitude of the vehicle. In this approach, the reference scan is matched with the current reading scan based on the scan-matching technique to produce estimates on the rotation and translation. In the meantime, the current scan is overlaid on the image that is obtained from the camera. The region of interest, which is the image that covers the scan points, is extracted. With respect to the region of interest of the image, the entropy is evaluated. The entropy then serves as an indicator in adjusting the weighting of the rotation and translation. The use of image data is the saving in computational complexity. A potential limitation is that the entropy may be sensitive to the variation of gray scale, or RGB values may affect the result.
Figure 7. Integrated navigation with context-dependent weighting.
Experiments
To verify the applicability of the context-dependent weighting, an experiment is conducted. The vehicle is equipped with the following navigation sensors for the determination of position, velocity and attitude.
laser rangefinder
camera
IMU
GPS receiver
odometer
In addition, a GPS real-time kinematic (RTK) receiver provides ground truth. The RTK solution is only used in the evaluation process. Figure 8 depicts the location of the sensors after installation in the test vehicle Luxgen U7.
Figure 8. Test vehicle and the locations of sensors.
The experiment was conducted at a test track of the Automotive Research and Test Center (ARTC), Taiwan, and Figure 9 depicts the track as well as the RTK result. The starting point is at the right upper corner of the track, and the vehicle moves in a counter-clockwise direction.
Figure 9. Test track at ARTC, Taiwan.
The proposed context-dependent weighting approach is evaluated. To assess the significance of the context-dependent weighting, the navigation system processes the laser rangefinder, IMU and encoder data only as these data are obtained from dead-reckoning sensors. More exactly, the GPS receiver data is not used in the processing to better quantify the contrition of the proposed approach. In practice, the GPS receiver data can be used to account for dead-reckoning sensor errors.
Figure 10 depicts the comparison of the estimated trajectory. In the figure, the RTK result is used as a reference, and the dead-reckoning results with and without the context-dependent weighting are shown. Note that when the context-dependent weighting is not used, the estimated trajectory (in red) is subject to two erroneous turns at the lower left corner and upper right corner, respectively.
Figure 10. Estimated trajectories.
The entropy as a function of time is evaluated and shown in Figure 11. Note that the entropies are relatively low at 240 seconds and 1960 seconds, respectively. These two instants correspond to the moments when the vehicle is at the aforementioned corners. Through the use of entropy-based context-dependent weighting in the dead-reckoning process, the navigation error is significantly reduced, as shown in the estimated trajectory (in blue). Thus, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified.
Figure 11. Entropy as a function of time.
Conclusion
For autonomous vehicle applications, knowledge of the current state (such as position, velocity and attitude) of the host vehicle are needed. For robust and autonomous navigation, many different sensors have been incorporated and fused to form a navigation suite. In fusing different sensor data for better accuracy and integrity, the quality of sensors must be considered. We investigated the use of a scan-matching technique for aided navigation. The context of the environment in terms of the richness of features may affect the quality of the resulting navigation system.
To address the context-dependent issue, we used a context-dependent entropy measure to assess the quality in scan matching. In addition to the increments in translation and rotation, the corresponding quality indices are obtained to better blend the scan-matching result into the navigation system. As a result, anomalous navigation results due to lack of features and improper registration can be better dealt with. The proposed scheme is experimentally verified.
Acknowledgments
The work is supported by the joint NCKU-ARTC research project, Taiwan.
JYH-CHING JUANG received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He was with Lockheed Aeronautical System Company, Burbank, before joining the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. His research interests include sensor networks, GNSS signal processing and software-based receivers.
SHANG-LIN YU is an M.S. student in the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University.
SHUN-HUNG CHEN received a Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University. He is with the Electronic Control Technology Group, Research & Development Division, Automotive Research & Testing Center in Taiwan. His research interests include vehicle navigation and autonomous driving.
The AirMap Digital Notice and Awareness Dashboard(TM) airport manager view.
AirMap and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) have released the Digital Notice and Awareness System (D-NAS), created to allow UAS operators to provide airports with real-time digital information about the location of their flights.
AirMap is a provider of airspace information and services for unmanned aircraft. On April 7, the company announced that it raised a $15 million Series A financing led by General Catalyst Partners to accelerate its global development airspace management tools for drones.
D-NAS works by allowing a UAS operator to send an encrypted digital flight notice to a secure dashboard at an airport’s operations center. Flight information can be submitted through various UAS interfaces, including the flying apps provided by drone manufacturers DJI, Yuneec and 3DRobotics.
These connections facilitate the transmission of important safety-critical information to airports, including the GPS location of the UAS flight. Participating airports will access this information through the AirMap D-NAS dashboard, which provides a map view of flights in proximity to the airport and the option to contact the UAS operator directly.
“Safety has always been a priority for DJI,” said Brendan Schulman, DJI’s vice president of Policy and Legal Affairs. “Providing our customers the capability to easily notify nearby airports of their flights is a huge step forward in convenience and functionality. A high-tech notification system complements the safety features DJI builds into every drone, as well as DJI’s close work with policymakers on practical approaches for drone technology.”
More than 50 airports across America have already joined the D-NAS pilot program, including Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports, Denver International Airport, Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, Charlotte-Douglas Airport in North Carolina, Reno-Tahoe Airport in Nevada, New Castle Airport in Delaware, Cape May Airport in New Jersey, Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska, and the Oxnard and Camarillo Airports in Ventura County, California.
The AirMap Digital Notice and Awareness Dashboard map view.
“Participation in the D-NAS pilot was a no-brainer for us. In the face of growing concerns over UAS operations near airports, AirMap has developed an effective and unique solution,” said Steve Runge, Division Manager for the Houston Airport System. “D-NAS is a game changer for how we will manage low altitude air safety.”
D-NAS not only provides heightened awareness to airports; it also makes it easier for UAS operators to comply with Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which requires notice to be given to airports within five miles of a drone’s flight location.
Ben Marcus, CEO of AirMap and an airline transport rated pilot and flight instructor, said, “Everyone involved in aviation sees the promise and potential of unmanned aircraft. However, we can’t reach the potential of this amazing technology unless we ensure that safety critical information keeps pace with innovation. We are focused on building the tools for unmanned aircraft to safely integrate into the national airspace system.”
“We are excited to work with AirMap to improve the safety features of our products,” said Yuneec CEO Tian Yu. “As an airplane and helicopter pilot myself, I know first-hand how important it is to keep the national airspace system safe.” Yuneec is the manufacturer of the Typhoon and Tornado series of multirotor drones and recently announced a $60M investment from Intel.
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Total Station App
The TDC100 handheld data collector is an entry-level GNSS device for a variety of geographic information system (GIS) applications. It combines both smartphone and ruggedized data collection capabilities in a single, mobile device. The Android-based TDC100 can run commercially available or in-house developed applications on a professional, IP-67 ruggedized platform with a sunlight readable display and user replaceable batteries. The built-in GNSS receiver also provides real-time accuracy. It supports GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou, as well as satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) capabilities.
