Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
With the 10th edition of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) set to begin on April 1, 2013, competition organizers are inviting submission of innovative GNSS application ideas.
By Inside GNSS
eCall is the European Union (EU) initiative aimed at reducing road casualties by increasing the speed and efficiency of emergency response. It involves a device installed in cars that will automatically dial the EU’s “112” emergency phone number in the event of a serious road accident.
Key data including time, date, and GNSS coordinates will be sent to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and then relayed to the most appropriate emergency service. The eCall is triggered by airbag deployment and impact sensor information.
By Peter Gutierrez
Skyplot of Galileo IOV satellite locations used in Septentrio position determination.Two European organizations announced successful positioning results yesterday (March 12, 2013) using signals from the four Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites.
The NavSAS group of Politecnico di Torino and Instituto Superiore Mario Boella in Turin, Italy, obtained its first Galileo autonomous position using signals from the Protoflight Model (PFM) and three Flight Model space vehicles (FM2, FM3, FM4), which have started transmitting valid navigation messages.
By Inside GNSS
This course on modern GNSS, positioning and timing applications takes pace at Aalborg University in Denmark from noon on May 15 until noon at May 17.
Thee free three-day program is open to doctoral students working in GNSS or related areas at a European university.
The lecturers and topics are:
By Inside GNSS
Nighttime campus viewGRACE 2013 is a GNSS technology and applications showcase sponsored by the GNSS Research and Application Centre of Excellence at the University of Nottingham.
By Inside GNSS
Measurements of individual Galileo horizontal position fixes performed for the first time using the four Galileo satellites in orbit plus the worldwide ground system between 1000 and 11:00 CET on Tuesday 12 March 2013, showing an overall horizontal accuracy over ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, of 6.3 meters. ESA figureThe European Space Agency (ESA) has announced a key milestone today (March 12, 2013) in the development of Europe’s GNSS program: the first determination of a ground location using the four Galileo satellites currently in orbit together with the system’s ground infrastructure.
This fundamental step confirms the Galileo system works as planned, according to ESA scientists.
By Inside GNSS
Working Papers explore the
technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and
applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
FIGURE 1: Potential components of a multisensor integrated navigation systemThe navigation world is booming with new ideas at the moment to meet some of the greatest positioning challenges of our times. To realize demanding applications — such as reliable pedestrian navigation, lane identification, and robustness against interference, jamming and spoofing — we need to bring these different ideas together.
By Inside GNSS
GSA Headquarters in Prague (Image: MDCR)The European GNSS Agency (GSA) will sponsor a half-day workshop on GNSS for the regional business community at GSA headquarters, Janovkeho 438, in Prague at 8:30 a.m. on March 27.
The workshop is part of an effort to engage small and medium-sized enterprises from the Czech Republic in opportunities offered by the EU’s space programs.
In addition to SME’s, the audiece will include larger industries, representatives of foreign companies established in the Czech Republic and the press.
The agenda includes:
By Inside GNSS
Didier Faivre, director of ESA’s Galileo Program and Navigation-related Activities. ESA photoSpeaking privately at the recent European Union (EU) Space Conference in Brussels, one individual said, “Relations between the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are worse than ever."
That would be very bad indeed, given the two bodies’ history of knocking heads.
And what’s at the center of this new rift? “It’s about power,” said this source, who would know.
By Inside GNSS
Brahe and Kepler statue in PragueThis combined meeting in Prague, Czech Republic – the 2013 Joint UFFC, EFTF and PFM Symposium – will take place at the Prague Congress Centre on July 21-25.
It includes the International Frequency Control Symposium and the European Time and Frequency Forum and several other IEEE scientific and academic gatherings.
The IFCS/EFTF plenary presentation takes place on Wednesday, July 24. The speaker will be Daniel Kleppner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).
By Inside GNSS
Herman Van Rompuy, European Council president. Photo: Council of the European UnionFor the first time ever, European Union (EU) leaders have agreed to a real-terms cut in spending, after all-night marathon talks in Brussels that left some delegates angry, some disappointed, and a lot of others simply relieved that they could get out of town.
The €960 billion multi-annual financial framework or MFF, which covers the seven-year period from 2014 to 2020, would be about three per cent less than the current long-term budget, and a sharp cut from the €1.03 trillion proposed by the European Commission (EC) at the outset of negotiations.
By Inside GNSS
The European Space Agency’s annual navigation summer school offers students from around the world a chance for a thorough grounding in satellite navigation theory and practice with lecturers who are leaders in the field.
It will take place this year at Schatzalp Snow and Mountain Resort in Davos, Switzerland from Monday, July 15 through Thursday, July 25.
View a 360-degree pan of the summer view from the hotel.
By Inside GNSS
