Mobile GIS Services (MGISS) has equipped a team of urban surveyors with new satellite positioning systems to accurately map assets and features such as signage, lighting and landscape features. The technology supplied by MGISS included Leica smart antennas coupled with data management and mapping software.
For this project, MGISS worked with Occam’s Razor Consulting Limited (ORCL), a specialist in data capture for landowners, to achieve centimeter accurate asset mapping for open spaces and park management. ORCL works for local authorities and housing associations and due to the blocking effects of tall buildings and trees, its existing equipment was not capable of achieving the required levels of accuracy, MGISS said.
According to MGISS, ORCL had previously been using the Leica GG03 antennas with Leica rugged tablet computer computers. MGISS then recommended ORCL use the GG04 plus Leica smart antenna. ORCL is now operating its new smart antenna with a Leica controller running Zeno Field (an OEM version of ArcPad 10) software.
According to MGISS, in addition to the ArcPad GIS functionality, Zeno Field provides GNSS raw data logging, easy handling of GNSS configurations, feature accuracy management and an automated workflow between the field and office. ORCL also uses Laser Technology TruPulse rangefinders and Leica Smartnet for its RTK service, all specified and supplied by MGISS. Working with MGISS ORCL will monitor its current workflows as the software develops to support LTI laser rangefinders and will continue to explore new applications, MGISS said.
“We were interested in very high performance equipment capable of achieving centimeter accuracy in difficult urban canyon conditions and under dense tree canopies,” said David Brown, managing director of Occam’s Razor Consulting. “The new MGISS solution has slotted straight into our existing workflows without any issues at all and is a clear improvement on our previous system. The devices track the newer Galileo constellation, as well as the more established American and Russian satellites, reaching centimeter accuracy quickly and holding the signal well overcoming the challenges of tall buildings and trees.”
To prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the world is shifting to a “new normal” in which social distancing is practiced and contact between people is avoided. Due to early evidence suggesting the spread of COVID-19 is much more aggressive indoors than outdoors, many companies have begun efforts to monitor workers’ movements and trace contacts to keep offices and factories from becoming new epicenters of infection.
The Need to Monitor
Keeping a safe distance from others and avoiding contact is essential to prevent getting infected with COVID-19. However, there are many situations where avoiding contact with others at indoor locations such as offices and factories is difficult. Hence, there is a growing need for technologies that monitor contact between workers and their movement histories in real time.
Indoor location information can be obtained using various wireless communication technologies including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ultra-wideband (UWB). For example, Bluetooth beacons have been deployed at commercial facilities to enable services that provide location-relevant information to customers with smartphones. The positioning accuracy of Bluetooth, however, is only around 3 to 10 meters and is dependent on infrastructure installation.
To be useful for contact tracing of infectious diseases, the number of beacons must be increased to achieve an adequate level of accuracy. UWB technology features high positioning accuracy, but deployment in a wide area would require installation of a large number of radio transceivers and repeaters, putting it at a cost disadvantage.
Solution Based on Geomagnetism
Given this background, a solution using geomagnetism is attracting attention. TDK has developed VENUE, which displays the real-time locations of people by utilizing geomagnetic sensors found in today’s smartphones. Each indoor location has a geomagnetic signature that can be used to ascertain the position of the phone.
There are several approaches to indoor positioning, but geomagnetism, tightly coupled with inertial navigation, optimally balances accuracy, reliability and cost of deployment and maintenance.
“The beauty of geomagnetic positioning is that it works in all large venues whose structures interfere with Earth’s magnetic field, making this an infrastructure-free approach to indoor positioning that is accurate to better than 2 meters,” said Chris Goodall, founder and managing director of Trusted Positioning Inc., a TDK Group Company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
VENUE provides a position display with even higher accuracy by combining geomagnetic information with information from accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors inside smartphones.
VENUE requires only the creation of a geomagnetic map that combines an indoor layout map with the geomagnetic data of that particular location acquired through a survey, with no need to install new devices and terminals. This leads to low installation cost. The accuracy of positioning using geomagnetism is better than two meters (6 feet) — sufficient for tracing contact with infected persons. In addition, VENUE provides a position display with even higher accuracy by combining geomagnetic information with information from accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors inside smartphones.
“People may hold their smartphones while walking or put them in their pockets or bags,” Goodall said. “Since the orientation to the user changes constantly, the movements and pedestrian use cases need to be corrected using inertial sensors. Solving these issues was the greatest challenge for practical applications such as tracking, and took our team many years to create, perfect and protect.”
Comparison of indoor location information technologies. (Chart: Trusted Positioning)
Real-World Trial Under Way
Beginning in August, a contact tracing trial among workers is being conducted at TDK’s headquarters in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, using VENUE. Employees carry smartphones with a special app installed, and their positions and movement histories on the floor are combined with anonymous identification information. If an employee is found to be infected, the data will be analyzed to identify people who had contact with that employee within the preceding two weeks, and measures such as stay-at-home instruction will be taken.
This solution not only can identify those who were in close contact with the infected person as primary contacts, but also trace those who stayed in areas where the infected person had been shortly before as potential “area contacts.” Analysis that combines location and elapsed time enables more effective contact tracing by improving primary contact tracing indoors and enabling area-based contact tracing over time.
Ongoing Trial at TDK Headquarters: VENUE displays an individual worker’s tracking data on the dashboard. (Conceptual illustration: Trusted Positioning)Ongoing Trial at TDK Headquarters: A worker’s durations of stay and positions can be visualized in the form of a heat map. (Conceptual illustration: Trusted Positioning)
New Possibilities Opened
Because VENUE can display the positions and histories of people and objects using not only workers’ smartphones but special tags containing geomagnetic and inertial sensors (under development), it can be deployed for a wide range of applications beyond contact-tracing of infectious diseases. Possible uses include monitoring the flow of employees to improve operational efficiency or tracking positions of equipment to manage their operational statuses. TDK is working with a number of companies on solutions to improve business efficiencies using location information.
Many offices have introduced open seating, so maintaining a “real-time seating chart” using VENUE is a real advantage so staff can more easily find one another in large office settings, encouraging more collaboration between staff and departments.
Companies have been using Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) beacons to manage the movement of workers, materials and equipment indoors in warehouses, factories and construction sites. VENUE can reduce the installation and maintenance costs of such systems, especially in large-scale facilities.
VENUE is also useful for other contact-tracing applications that do not focus on viral transmission, such as human-to-machine, human-to-vehicle and human-to-robot contacts. The future work environment will undoubtedly change with more automation, and the interaction of humans and machines poses safety concerns. VENUE’s designers hope it can improve safety in many types of contact-tracing applications.
Similar to the expansion of GPS for outdoor positioning applications, indoor positioning technologies will likely grow in our everyday lives. VENUE is one indoor location information solution that enables highly accurate location information to be obtained while keeping infrastructure costs down.
Advanced Navigation’s plug-and-play GNSS Compass was selected by Nortek for its new survey package. Nortek’s scientific instruments apply the Doppler principle to underwater acoustics to measure water in motion, such as currents and waves. The instruments are used by scientists, researchers and engineers worldwide, employed in demanding environments that require state-of-the-art instrumentation that is reliable and easy to use.
A vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measures the velocity of currents beneath a moving vessel. To correct the measured values for vessel speed and direction, ADCP measurements require accurate velocity and heading information. Besides the use of bottom track within the ADCP itself, such information can be provided externally using a GNSS receiver and a non-magnetic heading source such as a gyro compass.
Nortek’s ADCP package — Signature VM — offers operational convenience and reduced complexity. As part of the package, Advanced Navigation’s GNSS Compass provides accurate dual-antenna GNSS-based heading that is not subject to magnetic interference. Its inertial navigation system (INS) can maintain accurate heading during GNSS outages of up to 20 minutes. “By making use of today’s modern Ethernet instruments, such as the Signature ADCP and the GNSS Compass, we can guarantee nanosecond time synchronization with Ethernet PTP protocol,” said Herman Huitema, VM product manager at Nortek. “Data from the ADCP can be exactly aligned with the GNSS Compass information.”
GIS Manager Kenny Ratliff, Oldham County Water District, collects utility data. (Photo: Eos Positioning)
Across North America, the use of high-accuracy GNSS technology has proliferated among water and wastewater service providers. Water utilities are saving time, cutting operational expenses, and definitively improving the accuracy of their asset management systems by capturing survey-grade location data.
Oldham County Water District serves more than 8,300 residences with 369 miles of pipeline in rural Kentucky. In 2001, the utility digitized its assets for the first time. In 2016, they decided it was time to improve the assets’ accuracy. GIS Manager Kenny Ratliff deployed ArcGIS Collector, iPad 2 mobile devices, and the Arrow Gold GNSS receiver by Eos Positioning Systems. As a result, OCWD was able to more quickly arrive exactly at the location where meters were to be replaced. With the savings of time, labor and fuel, OCWD cut the cost of installing each water meter by half, from $212 to $111.
Other water utilities are using GNSS technology to improve the office-to-field workflow, accelerate deployment of new systems, and map buried pipelines.
Offshore construction company Sulmara Subsea has exclusively used Hexagon | VERIPOS solutions since inception to achieve precise, redundant and reliable vessel positioning for a variety of marine construction projects. Projects involving the precise positioning of offshore vessels and subsea assets and vehicles such as ROVs and trenchers are vital to success — even slight errors or loss of connection in surface navigation can lead to problems and down time that can cost millions.
“Sulmara has set out to be an industry leader in innovation and technology from the start. Key to the success of any project is the ability to achieve accurate and reliable global positioning,” said Cory Goodyear, Sulmara’s Americas business unit director. “The support from Veripos to provide not only a cost-effective but reliable service is vital to our operations.
“2020 has seen an unprecedented decline in the oil and gas market, and a growing demand for renewable energy,” Goodyear said. “This has created an even larger demand for lower costs and increased reliability in our services. As a new-start survey company with a goal of establishing itself as a serious competitor, positioning services supported by Veripos was the obvious choice.”
Veripos offers customers several marine receiver options for hydrographic/offshore surveying, dredging, offshore construction, seismic exploration and dynamic positioning. The LD8 ruggedized compact dual-antenna, multi-constellation receiver is best for short-term projects or where space is limited. The larger LD900 can receive Veripos services through a multi-channel L-band demodulator. The multi-constellation receiver is configurable to allow GNSS heading and inertial positioning. It has an intuitive color display for configuration and monitoring. A kit allows the receiver to be installed within vessel equipment racks.
The U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs YouTube channel is hosting streaming files for virtual meetings of the U.S. Government’s Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC), held Sept. 21-22.
This link leads to the CGSIC page of GPS.gov. On that page are additional links for the Sept. 22 morning and afternoon speakers at the CGSIC Plenary Session as well as links for the three subcommittee sessions held Sept 22. The subcommittees are:
International Information Subcommittee
Timing Subcommittee
Survey, Mapping and Geoscience Subcommittee
Anyone can access the briefings, which include slides, embedded video of the speakers and comments made during the presentations.
The first launch attempt on Oct. 2 from Cape Canaveral was halted due to an “unexpected pressure rise in the turbomachinery gas generator,” said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Twitter, referring to a part in the rocket’s Merlin engines.
SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket for the GPS mission on Saturday at 7 p.m. on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to verify that corrective actions have resolved the issue, according to SpaceX and reported by SpaceFlightNow. The fourth GPS III satellite was not aboard during the test.
GPS III SV04 first rolled out to Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 on Sept. 27. The satellite was originally scheduled for launch Sept. 30, then Oct. 1, but that launch was delayed because of a “traffic jam” at the launchpad caused by launch delays of other rockets.
The satellite was almost launched at 9:43 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2 until the launch was stopped at T– 2 seconds.
The Lockheed Martin-built GPS III SV04 will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — the third National Security Space Launch (NSSL) mission on a Falcon 9 rocket, the second U.S. Space Force (USSF) first-stage booster recovery, and the sixth USSF launch.
A live feed will begin 20 minutes before the launch and conclude approximately 45 minutes afterward. A simulcast of the broadcast can be viewed at www.spacex.com.
GPS III SV04 will be launched to augment the current GPS constellation comprised of 31 operational spacecraft. GPS satellites operate in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (12,550 miles) in six orbital planes. Each satellite circles the earth twice per day.
GPS III brings new capabilities to users such as the new L1C civilian signal, which opens the window for future interoperability with international satellite navigation systems.
GPS III SV04 rests atop a Falcon 9 rocket, waiting to be sent into orbit. (Photo: SpaceX)
NEXTMap digital surface model (Image: Intermap Technologies)
The NEXTMap Elevation Data Suite from Intermap Technologies is now offered on the UP42 developer platform for Earth observation data and analytics. UP42 gives users direct access to extensive Earth observation datasets and advanced processing algorithms, and Intermap Technologies, based in Englewood, Colorado, is a provider of geospatial datasets, solutions and software.
The NEXTMap 3D elevation products are available as digital surface models and digital terrain models at one-, five- and 10-meter resolution. According to Intermap, NEXTMap One offers 1-meter spatial resolution, 1-meter vertical and 3.5-meter horizontal accuracy; NEXTMap 5 offers 5-meter resolution, 1.6-meter vertical and 3.5-meter horizontal accuracy; and NEXTMap 10 offers 10-meter resolution, 8.4-meter vertical and 17.5-meter horizontal accuracy.
“We are excited to add NEXTMap elevation models to the UP42 platform. Our customers need this data for a range of use cases, including monitoring of vital infrastructure projects such as pipelines, powerlines and railway corridors,” said Sean Wiid, CEO of UP42. “High-quality 3D data is critical in every phase of infrastructure management from construction planning to ongoing monitoring of vegetation encroachment.”
The addition of NEXTMap datasets to the UP42 marketplace enables users to build even more powerful geospatial solutions in the areas of infrastructure management, construction planning, geologic mapping, land cover classification, forestry, resource conservation and contour generation, UP42 said.
“Our goal at UP42 is to create a single platform where our users have access to all the geospatial data, analytics and processing infrastructure they need to build solutions that solve critical real world problems,” said Wiid. “Intermap’s NEXTMap elevation models dramatically expand our core data offering and, as a result, expand the range of use cases we can help our customers address.”
The NEXTMap datasets join a variety of Earth observation information already on the UP42 marketplace, including Pleiades 1A/B, SPOT 6/7, Landsat-8, TerraSar-X, Sentinel-2 and MODIS satellite imagery, Getmapping U.K. aerial data, exactEarth AIS data, and Meteomatics weather and ocean data.
Esri is offering two major capabilities in Site Scan for ArcGIS that will enable governments and critical infrastructure organizations to meet hardware and software regulations in the United States and Europe. Site Scan is Esri’s unmanned aerial systems flight planning and processing solution.
Through an established partnership with Auterion, creator of an open-source drone autopilot operating system, security-conscious U.S. organizations will be able to use Site Scan to plan and execute missions with Auterion’s Freefly Astro drone.
In Europe, data from publicly funded or critical infrastructure projects cannot leave the European Union (EU). For these organizations, a new and fully independent instance of Site Scan for ArcGIS has been deployed to a server cluster in Ireland, ensuring that organizational data resides within the region.
Site Scan for ArcGIS is used by organizations that require drone imagery for visual inspections, site monitoring, asset management and situational awareness. It’s an all-in-one, cloud-based drone mapping solution for managing fleets and collecting, processing, analyzing, and sharing data products. Industries using this solution include architecture, engineering, construction, natural resources, infrastructure and government.
Freefly Astro uses U.S. Department of Defense-approved Blue sUAS software architecture from Auterion, and is fully supported by Site Scan. The first vehicle integrates the software with the Freefly Astro, with more vehicles becoming available.
Auterion’s secure, integrated workflow for mapping uses the Freefly Astro drone, Sony A7R4 camera and Esri Site Scan within a single platform.
The Freefly Astro and Site Scan integration will be available by December. The European deployment of Site Scan is available now.
The 10-minute-long drone show included a flying dove with a wingspan of 600 meters, visible from three kilometers away. (Photo: u-blox)
U-blox supplied the high-accuracy technology that made it possible to fly a massive swarm of drones. The simultaneous flight of 2,198 miniature unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was launched into the night sky over Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 3.
The 10-minute-long drone show included a flying dove with a wingspan of 600 meters, visible from three kilometers away.
Geoscan, which built and programmed the drones and ran the display, chose u-blox positioning technology for its combination of accuracy, reliability, performance and ability to access positional data from both the GLONASS and GPS satellite navigation constellations.
The 10-centimeter-wide Geoscan Salute drones were designed for use in group flights and drone shows. The drones use u-blox NEO-M8P high-precision GNSS modules to provide the positioning data to create a fluid drone show. Salute drones return to their base stations automatically at the end of a show.
The NEO-M8P module implements a real-time kinematic (RTK) approach that improves positional accuracy by comparing the phase of a signal being broadcast from a positioning satellite with that of the same signal that has been received and rebroadcast from a fixed base station. The accuracy gained in this way enables drones to calculate their relative positions to within millimeters, and their absolute positions to within 1 centimeter of the intended position.
Geoscan has been producing drone displays for the past two years, starting with 40 drones flying at once. “The u-blox modules in our Geoscan Salute drones have improved our drones’ positioning accuracies to about one centimeter, and have helped reduce pre-launch preparation time,” said Semen Lapko, head of Drone Show Project, Geoscan. “Drones now move more quickly and accurately, while also operating more efficiently.”
Over the years, contractors involved in underwater excavation projects — dredging, pond/lake expansions, creation of boat landings, waterfront cleanups, etc. — have become some of the most ardent supporters of GNSS-based solutions. They’ve found that the ability to “see” beneath the surface with their machines has proven invaluable in improving efficiency and minimizing the risk of over/under cutting.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) led the effort to remediate a section of the St. Louis River on Duluth’s waterfront. Midwest Amphibious Equipment (MAE) tackled the huge restoration project, equipping two of its amphibious excavators with Topcon HiPer VR, an FC-5000 field controller and an X-53i system.
MAE began digging out vast amounts of wood waste that had rested at the bottom of the river for more than a century, when sawmills lined the waterfront. By removing the wood waste and building a small island in the Grassy Point area, the DNR hopes to restore the damaged habitat.
The murky water required a precise method of measuring the cuts as debris was removed. “The Topcon solution lets my guys know exactly where the bucket is in relation to the plan provided by the engineers,” said MAE CEO Steve Gilbertson. “There is no guesswork; it is dead-on every time, with tolerances to 1/10 of a foot — far closer than we need it to be.”
Topcon’s SiteLink 3D provides a point-to-point communications solution. “With the click of a button I can do everything from verifying a machine’s position to sending the as-built back to the office to looking at their screen to answer a question the operator might have about the project itself,” Gilbertson said. “We’ve only scratched the surface of what can be done with SiteLink, but it’s still proving a really nice addition to our operation.”
Less than halfway into the project, MAE had removed more than 100,000 cubic yards of material.
A roundup of recent products in the GNSS and inertial positioning industry from the November 2020 issue of GPS World magazine.
OEM
GNSS receiver
Sub-decimeter accuracy without additional service subscription
The AsteRs-m2-Sx. (Photo: Septentrio)
The SECORX-S product line, which first offered GNSS OEM boards, now also includes a compact mosaic-Sx module and ruggedized receiver in an IP68 chassis, the AsteRx SB Sx. The multi-constellation multi-frequency SECORX-S receivers deliver sub-decimeter positioning without the need for additional correction service subscription or maintenance. The PPP-RTK correction service is integrated directly into Septentrio’s core GNSS technology. The addition of modules and boxed receivers to the SECORX-S line providesz accurate positioning to applications such as precision agriculture, UAVs, robotics and construction.
Smart Power GNSS signal splitters improve GNSS service reliability and minimize service interruptions. The professional-grade splitters — TW162 (one antenna/two receivers) and TW164 (one antenna/four receivers) — offer system redundancy and fail-over capability. The splitters are designed to improve GNSS service reliability and reduce signal reception failures. Both splitters offer system redundancy and fail-over capability. They support GPS/QZSS-L1/L2/L5, QZSS-L6, GLONASS-G1/G2/G3, Galileo-E1/E5a/E5b/E6, BeiDou-B1/B2/B2a/B3 and L-band correction services.
The EM919x 5G NR Sub-6 GHz and mmWave embedded modules include an integrated GNSS receiver. Based on the industry-standard M.2 form factor, the modules will enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to securely deploy 5G connectivity worldwide at the highest possible speeds with ultra-low latency for routers and gateways. The modules support mmWave, sub-6 GHz and LTE, as defined by the 3GPP Release 15 standard. Applications include private networks, enterprise networking, edge processing, live streaming, video security, e-gaming, smart factories, robotics, drones, virtual reality, machine learning, and new Industrial IoT applications.
Tactical Embedded series of GNSS/IMUs. (Photo: VectorNav)
The Tactical Embedded series of GNSS/IMUs feature a tactical-grade inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a multi-band GNSS receiver. The line delivers milliradian attitude accuracy and centimeter-level positioning capability in a miniature 15-gram package. The small size enables cost reductions for a range of autonomous pointing and geo-referencing applications such as gimballed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); satellite communication systems; lidar mapping; and photogrammetry. The line supports external SAASM GPS for defense applications in ISR, electronic warfare, munitions and UAV navigation. The line includes the VN-110E IMU/AHRS, the VN-210E GNSS-aided inertial navigation system (INS), and the VN-310E dual-antenna GNSS/INS.
VectorNav Technologies, vectornav.com
GNSS/INS Sensor
Designed for dynamic environments
Photo: CHCNAV
The CGI-610 GNSS/INS high-precision dual-antenna receiver offers reliable and accurate navigation and positioning for demanding land, marine and aerial applications. The tight fusion of the latest GNSS technology with an industrial-grade MEMS IMU is powered by CHCNAV’s algorithms to deliver accurate hybrid position, attitude and velocity data, even in complex and obstructed environments where GNSS outages can occur. The CGI-610 supports data output up to 100 Hz to meet the requirements of highly dynamic applications such as airplane, train and automobile. An optional external odometer sensor for ground vehicles can provide an additional measurement of displacement and speed, which is fused with the GNSS/INS navigation solution.
Bad Elf Flex is a scalable-accuracy GNSS receiver with a daily option to choose between L-band and real-time kinematic (RTK). In standard configuration, it achieves 30-60 cm accuracy in real time for GIS use. Consuming a Bad Elf Flex Token unlocks a full RTK workflow for a 24-hour period to deliver 1-cm horizontal accuracy. Bad Elf Flex stores the tokens directly on the receiver, making them available for use anytime. Customers requiring high accuracy at all times can purchase the Bad Elf Flex Extreme bundle, with RTK capabilities permanently unlocked, for a one-time upgrade fee.
The R550 data collector features an industrial-level design and new hardware platform to ensure efficiency and productivity in the field. The IP67 dust-and-waterproof rating protects the R550 from most harsh environments. Equipping it with a 7,000 mA Li-ion battery allows more than 14 hours of continuous operation, while fast-charging technology means four hours for a full charge. The 5-inch-wide sunlight-readable, high-resolution screen provides a smooth experience for any operation. The integrated autofocusing camera helps enhance job documentation by taking photos on site and sharing job information with colleagues. Survey Master field software available on the R550 controller ensures efficient surveys in the field, including topographic surveys, stakeouts, coordinate geometry (COGO) and more. Powered by the Android 8.1 operating system and designed with 4G RAM, 64GB ROM and 4G/BT/Wi-Fi on board, users can run other third-party apps based on their specific requirements.
The Trimble AP+ Air OEM solution provides direct georeferencing of airborne sensor data and enables users to accurately and efficiently produce maps and 3D models without the use of ground control points. It is designed for manned platforms, yet small enough for use on UAVs. It is also compatible with airborne remote sensors, including photogrammetric cameras, lidar, hyper- and multi-spectral cameras, and synthetic aperture radar. The Trimble AP+ Air features dual embedded survey-grade GNSS chipsets, an onboard inertial measurement unit (IMU), an external IMU, and the new Applanix IN-Fusion+ GNSS-aided inertial firmware. It is configurable to support the direct georeferencing accuracy demands of low-flying UAVs and high-altitude manned platforms. Trimble AP+ Air is supported by Applanix POSPac MMS post-processing software with CenterPoint RTX post-processing for centimeter-level positioning anywhere in the world without the need for base stations.
American-made drone aimed at government agencies and military
Photo: Teal
The Teal Golden Eagle drone is designed for short-range surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It features a FLIR Handron dual-camera sensor on a two-axis stabilizer, giving it color vision at 4K 60 fps and thermal vision for extended operations. The payload is hot-swappable. It has a flight time of up to 50 minutes and can fly at speeds of 50 mph with a range of 2 miles. It is able to fly in wind speeds of up to 30 mph and can operate between –32° and 110° Fahrenheit. Forward-facing obstacle avoidance and rear-facing visual-inertial odometry estimates location without the need for GPS. The platform has received approval from the Department of Defense.
A new line of AccuAuto triple-band antennas are designed to provide strong clean code and phase signals to enable high-precision real-time kinematic (RTK) and precise point positioning (PPP) navigation. Model TWA928 supports GPS/QZSS-L1/L2/L5, GLONASS-G1/G2/G3, Galileo-E1/E5a/E5b, BeiDou-B1/B2/B2a and NavIC-L5 signals and frequency bands (the TWA928L includes support for L-band correction services). The AccuAuto line features patented Accutenna technology multi-constellation and multi-frequency antenna elements as well as an integrated ground plane, a radome and an underside cover that provides mist and condensation protection. A deep pre-filter minimizes out-of-band noise and maximizes in-band reception. All AccuAuto components are certified and designed to perform under challenging environmental conditions, such as extreme temperatures (–40° C to +125° C), shock and vibration.
The CheetahNAV provides situational awareness for harsh environments and battlefield conditions, providing the crew of a light military vehicle with highly accurate position information through an advanced inertial measurement system (IMS) comprising several aids, including a gyro-compensated compass and an advanced Kalman-filter-based algorithm. The system provides dead-reckoning horizontal position accuracy of 0.2% of distance traveled in a GNSS-denied situation — accuracy of 200 meters over 100 kilometers. It can integrate with inertial navigation systems (INS). Combined with GNSS and compass information, the system enables dead-reckoning and accurate positioning of the vehicle in tactical situations. The tactical-grade integral inertial measurement unit (IMU) ensures jam-free operation.
