Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Swift Navigation’s Piksi Multi with evaluation boardUpdated: San Francisco, California–based Swift Navigation has announced its newest product, the Piksi Multi, a multi-band, multi-constellation, real-time kinematic–capable OEM GNSS receiver module with a unit price of $600.
By Inside GNSS
European GNSS Agency illustrationThe European GNSS Agency (GSA) has released a report it says will help users and manufacturers to understand receiver technology and trends.
By Inside GNSS
Spirent Communications plc’s Positioning Technology Unit has announced the GSS200D Interference Detection and Analysis solution, developed as part of Spirent’s partnership with Nottingham Scientific Limited.
The GSS200D comprises field-based hardware and a secure data server for automatic capture and analysis of GNSS radio frequency interference. According to the Paignton, UK–based company, deployments of GSS200D probes provide users with a thorough understanding of the RF interference (RFI) environment at sites of interest.
By Inside GNSS
A Google self-driving car in Mountain View, California. Wikimedia Commons photo by grendelkhan.Low-cost, precision, GNSS receivers will become a reality in the driverless cars, drones, and smartphone markets by 2021, said ABI Research in two new reports, “Precision GNSS in Automotive” and “GNSS IC Design Trends: Modules, Standalone, Combo, and Embedded.”
The automotive industry will be the main driver behind precision GNSS receiver adoption, in which centimeter-level accuracy is essential to complete driver safety systems with the redundancy necessary for autonomous vehicles, the company said.
By Inside GNSS
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week released a status update that calls for railroads to roll out Positive Train Control (PTC) technologies, which incorporates GNSS technology, as soon as possible. The update also underscores the Obama administration’s calls to provide more funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.
PTC uses GNSS, but mostly GPS, to prevent train-to-train collisions, high-speed derailments, and the unauthorized movement of trains into work zones.
By Inside GNSS
Lowri Evans, DG GROWTH. Photo by Peter GutierrezAs ranking European Union (EU) official, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elzbieta Bienkowska set the tone in a keynote speech that anticipated some major issues to be addressed in the upcoming “EU Space Strategy,” the EUropean Commission’s next big new European space policy document, expected to come out later this year.
By Inside GNSS
Carlo des Dorides, GSA Executive DirectorLast October, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) Administrative Board reelected Carlo des Dorides as executive director of the GSA, giving him a second — and final — four-year term in charge of this key agency responsible for supporting the effective operation, maintenance, and security of Europe’s satellite navigation systems. We met with him recently at the GSA office in Prague to learn how he plans to see out his mandate.
By Peter Gutierrez
The results from the GPS receiver testing sponsored by would-be wireless broadband provider Ligado are in. A review of the nearly 600 pages of data and analysis suggests that a number of GPS receivers can — by the firm’s chosen, but somewhat controversial technical standard — operate in the presence of the company’s proposed wireless signals.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel Inc. announced today (May 17, 2016) a new corporate initiative to develop functionally safe GNSS positioning technology for fully autonomous applications.
A provider of high-precision GNSS products for more than 20 years, NovAtel is leveraging its extensive experience developing safety-critical systems for the aviation industry to meet the future safety thresholds required for driverless cars and autonomous applications in agriculture, mining, and other government, military and commercial markets.
By Inside GNSS
In this photo, the red illumination represents light moving through the FOG’s optical circuit of coiled fiber; this circuit is the FOG’s sensing unit and can be mounted with power and processing electronics within a driverless car to provide precise data for the car’s navigation systems. KVH photoKVH Industries, Inc., says that it is developing a fiber optic gyro (FOG)–based, low-cost inertial sensor for self-driving cars, based on its successes in autonomous vehicle prototype programs and a wide range of unmanned applications.
The Middletown, Rhode Island–based company also announced that it has introduced a developer’s kit to support integration and testing of FOG-based inertial measurement units (IMUs) for driverless cars.
By Inside GNSS
On Wednesday, February 24, 2016, Inside GNSS, Inside Unmanned Systems, and u-Blox AG presented a free 90-minute web seminar continuing our exploration of GNSS positioning, navigation, and guidance for UAVs.
By Inside GNSS
The House and Senate, now working with a fresh extension, have until December 4 to hammer out the details of a new highway bill. The legislation will authorize — but not necessarily appropriate — Highway Fund monies for state roadways for as long as six years and likely spin up research into intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and connected and autonomous vehicle technology — three sectors that rely on GNSS for success.
By Inside GNSS
Some 15 years ago, Bob Denaro predicted the disappearance of GPS into its various applications.
That prediction by the former Trimble/Motorola/Navteq executive has largely been validated. Although GPS has survived in the popular consciousness as a global brand, connoting an almost magical source of location and tracking, general recognition and understanding of GNSS as a core technology within products and services has, indeed, remained murky.
By Inside GNSS
