Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Topcon Positioning Group has released two unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for mapping — the Sirius Pro and Sirius Basic. Both systems are designed to produce accurate solutions for the automated mapping of a wide range of sites — regardless of terrain — including construction sites, mines and quarries, and for use in land surveying, power line and pipeline inspection as well as precision agriculture field mapping.
By Inside GNSS
The high-precision GNSS industry should expect to see industry consolidation and a scramble for new markets and innovations as prices for high-end chips and modules continue to slide, experts told attendees at a ION GNSS+ panel discussion in Tampa, Florida, last week (September 11, 2014).
The falling prices could strain R&D budgets, they noted, but could also create opportunity as high-end receivers come within reach of emerging industries like self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and are even incorporated into consumer products.
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.
By Inside GNSS
An unmanned aircraft captures attention on the Corpus Christi campus.1. The Team
By Inside GNSS
ALASKA
Remote Sensing
1. The Team
The Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range complex is likely the largest of the FAA test ranges both in terms of its number of participants and its geographic coverage. The University of Alaska Fairbanks manages the team, which comprises some 59 contributors including Oregon and Hawaii as well as the countries of Norway, Ireland and Canada.
Clockwise from top left: A small drone rests on the ground during a demonstration in Florida, The Golden Eagle, a UAV developed at Clarkson University, takes wing, Nick Roy smiles at a drone in a lab at MIT, The Qube unmanned aerial vehicle by AeroVironment.BY THE NUMBERS
By Inside GNSS
Stanley, an autonomous car developed by the Stanford University Racing Team, won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge after successfully traversing a 132-mile course.Interest in automated vehicles is surging, fueled by visions of computer-directed cars able to independently thread their way through a traffic jam before safely dropping off their otherwise-occupied passengers and finding their own parking place.
By Inside GNSS
Transformative.
My first encounter with an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, was at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen Germany. Here, I watched in awe as a small quadrotor operated in an indoor flight testing “holodeck,” complete with an array of high-frequency strobe/camera units designed to log, stream and visualize precise position and attitude for rapid 3D mapping.
By Inside GNSS
Washington, D.C., has a peculiarity of seasons. While most of the world marks the shifts between winter and spring, summer and autumn, the politicos on the streets of the U.S. capital count the passage of time in two-year increments.
New operatives and appointees flock to the centers of power in the early days of each administration and the opening of each Congress, then migrate to friendlier climes as congressional elections loom and the administration winds down — as it is now.
By Dee Ann Divis
Two powerful lawmakers are weighing rewriting the rules for the way frequencies are allocated as part of an overhaul of the nation’s telecommunications laws. The effort, which is likely to see legislation drafted next year, is considering options such as flexible licensing and receiver standards that could directly affect the GPS community.
By Inside GNSS
Aerial view of ICTPA weeklong workshop on GNSS and its scientific applications in low-latitude regions of the world will be held in Trieste, Italy at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) on December 1-5, 2014.
The five-day event will be held in English. It is sponsored by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and organized by the USA and European Commission through the UN’s International Committee on GNSS (ICG).
By Inside GNSS
Federal aviation officials appear to be moving quickly to defuse mounting pressure for the commercial use of unmanned aircraft, clarifying their authority over such aircraft and starting the public process for licensing small firms for limited operations.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken a tough stance in its interpretation of the legal uses for model aircraft published on June 23 in the Federal Register. The issue surged into the national spotlight when the agency failed to win a legal challenge over its authority to regulate such devices.
By Inside GNSS
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced this week that seven aerial photo and video production companies have asked for regulatory exemptions that would allow the film and television industry to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with FAA approval for the first time.
By Inside GNSS
