Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Global Invacom, a global provider of satellite communications equipment, is pleased to announce the launch of an innovative solution enabling aircraft ground engineers to undertake 24/7 avionics testing of Inmarsat, Iridium and GPS satellite signals indoors.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel announced today that it is now delivering their market-leading SPAN® tightly-coupled GNSS+INS navigation technology in a rugged, ultra-compact unit. Commercially exportable and ideal for integration into a wide variety of applications, the high-performance SPAN CPT7 is designed to deliver assured positioning – anywhere, in a package one-quarter the size of the highly successful SPAN-CPT.
By Inside GNSS
Harris Corporation has delivered an environmental monitoring sensor for the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2 (GOSAT-2), which will significantly enhance Japan’s ability to monitor greenhouse gases from space.
The Harris-built TANSO-FTS-2 (Thermal and Near Infrared Sensor for Carbon Observation-Fourier Transform Spectrometer-2) will measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The newly built instrument will collect high-spectral resolution data of the Earth in five bands, which enables measurement during daylight and darkness. The instrument’s unique intelligent pointing system identifies, in real time, cloud-free areas of the atmosphere – greatly increasing the amount of useable data, according to the company.
By Inside GNSS
Atos recently announced the launch of ProUST univerSAS (Protection Unit for Satellite Testing), its lightweight, compact satellite power testing system designed to improve high-volume satellite production by increasing the speed and efficiency of testing, while maintaining the industry’s quality and safety standards.
ProUST univerSAS is the first product following Atos’ recent acquisition of Siemens Convergence Creators (CVC), resulting in reinforced capabilities in the space market. The product is the latest addition toAtos’ integrated suite of electrical satellite testing solutions – EGSE (Electrical Ground Support Equipment) – which ensures that satellites’ systems are in optimum condition in order to work flawlessly during their entire lifespan in-orbit.
The ProUST univerSAS is a compact and power-dense satellite power testing system, said to delivermore than 16kW of power in just 2HU (~10cm). It is unique in that it can test numerous power configurations (Solar Array Simulation, Battery Simulation and Load Simulation) in one single device.
New Space challenges require a new kind of equipment
This system supports manufacturers to meet today’s ambitious high-volume production loads and adapt from traditional, mostly manual assembly, towards a more efficient manufacturing process. Its light weight, compact size, versatility and portability enables manufacturers to save on space and costs and improve on efficiency for faster development and testing cycles, using one single device.
“The introduction of ProUST univerSAS marks a new era in satellite power test system design. We are bringing together unprecedented power handling capability and versatility with assembly-line efficiency for the space industry. The system’s mobility facilitates flexible deployment in state-of-the-art production facilities around the globe, making it a natural building block of today’s and tomorrow’s satellite manufacturing installations,”Hans-Martin Steiner, CTO Space & Avionics at Atos, said in a press release.
Atos is experienced in providing effective solutions to the space industry, including those used in ground mission and control centers. It is also a pioneer in the development of Earth Observation Data exploitation platforms and is fostering innovation with numerous R&D projects.
By Inside GNSS
Xiaomi has launched the world’s first dual-frequency GNSS smartphone, the Mi 8. This smartphone represents a breakthrough in GNSS technology as it is the first commercial deployment of Broadcom’s revolutionary BCM47755 chip. It provides up to decimeter-level accuracy for location-based services and vehicle navigation, according tothe European GNSS Agency (GSA).
By Inside GNSS
Broadgnss Technologies recently announced at the 9th China Satellite Navigation Conference a new high precision satellite position receiver with patented RAC（Real-time Array Calibration) technology. It features positioning accuracy better than one meter (up to 10 centimeters). By receiving only single frequency (GPS L1) satellite signals, the RAC technology in high precision satellite positioning frees the dependence on traditional augmentation network and significantly reduces the cost to enable high precision satellite positioning to enter large-scale applications, according to the company.
By Inside GNSS
Inertial Labs, Inc., a developer and supplier of inertial sensors & systems, has released an affordable, multi GNSS constellation, 1 cm RTK accuracy dual-antenna GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System (INS).
The “INS-DL” and the OEM version “INS-DL-OEM” are multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) GPS-Aided INS designed to achieve 1 cm Position and 0.05° Heading, Pitch & Roll accuracy. These highly precise and high-accuracy INS are available for around $5,000 USD.
Designed for developers of autonomous and unmanned systems; vehicles and small robots for precision agriculture; payloads for remote sensing and survey applications, the GPS-Aided “INS-DL” and “INS-DL-OEM” are compact and deliver high performance.
The “INS-DL” can be supplied as a classic Inertial Navigation System, which outputs Position, Orientation and IMU data for real-time and post-processing operation, or as an advanced, GPS-Aided Motion Reference Unit, which outputs Position, Velocity, Heading, Pitch, Roll, Heave, Surge, Sway and Significant Wave Height data for survey, hydrography, bathymetry and motion control.
“GPS-Aided INS-DL is a result of significant efforts of our R&D team. It is a market-oriented solution, geared towards applications, requiring the best combination of high performance and low cost” said Jamie Marraccini, Inertial Labs’ CEO & President, in a press release.
This year, Inertial Labs celebrates its 17th anniversary of supplying inertial sensor-based solutions for land, marine and aerospace applications. Since 2001, thousands of inertial systems, as well as those fused with other technologies like optical, laser, and GNSS systems, have been successfully delivered to customers for AGV, UAV, AUV, UUV, robots, land vehicles etc.
By Inside GNSS
The Topcon Positioning Group today introduced the new T-18 handheld controller designed to drive geopositioning, construction, mapping and vertical construction applications.
The controller includes a 3.7-inch sunlight-readable display with a 1gigihertz processor, 1GB of internal storage, and up to 10 hours of battery life.
“For MAGNET® Field data collection, the T-18 controller offers a durable ergonomic solution with faster processing, a larger screen, better connectivity and longer battery life than previously available comparable systems,” said Ray Kerwin, director of global surveying products.
The T-18 features a 3.5G cellular modem for connectivity with Topcon MAGNET solutions for sending and receiving data to the cloud company account.
“The cellular option makes it easy to communicate with field crews when projects need to be changed or if important data is required back in the office. Additionally, the modem can be used for RTK (real-time kinematic) correction services,” said Kerwin.
Additional key features include standard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as an IP65 rating for dust and water protection in demanding job site conditions.
By Inside GNSS
Harris Corporation has provided Lockheed Martin with its fifth of 10 advanced navigation payloads contracted for the U.S. Air Force GPS III satellite program.
By Inside GNSS
Precision time and frequency solutions provider EndRun Technologies recently announced the release of a new Cesium Control Module for the Meridian II Precision TimeBase designed to combine the extraordinary benefits of GPS, 5071A Cesium Primary Frequency Standard, and Ionospheric Corrections. The unique and powerful integration of these technologies provides a time and frequency standard with unparalleled accuracy, stability and holdover performance for the most demanding applications including communications and metrology, according to the company.
By Inside GNSS
Through the Advanced Signals Design Sprint, the Air Force Research Laboratory is looking to discover what already exists and what is possible in the realm of advanced Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) signals.
The event, sponsored by the Center for Technology, Research and Commercialization (C-TRAC), takes place June 19-21 at the Catalyst Campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Telit recently announced the LM960, descrbed as the world’s first global full-size PCI Express Mini Card (mPCIe) for enterprise routers and appliances. The global, 23-band product, supporting LTE Advanced Category 18 (Cat 18) with download speeds of up to 1.2Gbps and 5-band fallback to 3G, will be available in select markets in third quarter of 2018, according to ongoing mobile network deployments of Cat 18 service*.
According to Telit, it’s the first product in industry in the mPCIe form factor to support Cat 18. The rugged LM960 delivers significant flexibility and a competitive edge to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking to quickly deploy next generation products delivering carrier broadband-like user experience. The new LM960 is a sibling product of the Cat 11 LM940 and the two products are fully interchangeable. This provides OEMs the opportunity to create new products based on designs already using the LM940, or to create product families in different grades of performance based either on the LM960 for high end, or the LM940 for mid-market.
“By bringing 5G-like performance to the market with the LM960, we are making it easier not only for customers looking to innovate in 1Gbps applications enabled by the new LM960 but also for customers across all industries and application areas,” said Manish Watwani, vice president global product marketing, Telit. “Telit continues to boast the broadest and most respected and globally supported portfolio of IoT modules, data cards, data plans, platforms and professional services for enterprise IoT adopters making vendor selection easy in an already crowded industry.”
“We are pleased to work with Telit to deliver the power and flexibility OEMs need to address a broad range of commercial and industrial applications in an increasingly connected world,” said Gautam Sheoran, senior director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X20 modem will power a variety of products to function in a diverse set of operator deployments worldwide, while maximizing their global reach and scalability.”
“Band 14 support will not only facilitate use by first responder agencies in conjunction with the public safety network but will also benefit customers more broadly when the spectrum is not in use by first responders,” said Sam Lucero, senior principal analyst, IoT, for IHS Markit, a global business information provider.
Additional Technical Features include:
By Inside GNSS
GNSS receiver manufacturer Septentrio announced the arrival of its AsteRx SB, which was first showcased at Expomin in Santiago, Chile and Intermat in Paris, France, and then was on display at the recentIEEE/ION Position Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) in Monterey, California.
The AsteRx SB delivers Septentrio’s ground-breaking quad-constellation RTK in a low-power, IP68 compliant housing. Built around the hugely successful AsteRx-m2 GNSS receiver engine, the AsteRx SB features WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, Ethernet and serial connectivity. Septentrio’s GNSS+ suite of positioning algorithms converts difficult environments into good positioning: LOCK+ technology to maintain tracking during heavy vibration, APME+ to combat multipath and IONO+ technology to ensure position accuracy during periods of elevated ionospheric activity, according to the company.
By Stan Goff
