legacy-application Archives - Page 8 of 14 - Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design

June 30, 2011

USA Challenge Competition Seeks Satellite Navigation Apps

This is a 1993 photo of Walter, a German astronaut. He exemplifies the fearless approach to experimentation and the spirit of fun that we are looking for (DLR photo)

[Updated June 30] Lucky you – you have three extra days to submit your GNSS application idea to the USA Challenge! The extended deadline is midnight Sunday (Europe) or 3 P.M. (Pacific time) on July 3.

Right now, some team is hard at work in a basement, an office, a dorm room or a lab. They are about to come up with a new, useful and commercially viable idea for a satellite navigation application or location based service.

By Inside GNSS

May 15, 2011

GPS Technology and People Behind Gravity Probe B’s Einstein Relativity Experiment

NASA’s May 3 announcement that its long-running Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission had confirmed two key predictions derived from Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, mentioned GPS autoland techniques as one of the projects spinoffs.

However, the involvement of GPS technology and GPS experts in the mission was much deeper than the passing reference in a press release.

But first, the news.

By Inside GNSS

May 9, 2011

International Astronautical Federation Recognizes GPS for ‘Benefit to Humanity’

The U.S. Global Positioning System has garnered a long list of honors over the years, but a forthcoming presentation from the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is one of the most remarkable yet.

By Inside GNSS

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April 30, 2011

Air Traffic Control Modernization: FAA, NextGen, GNSS, and Avionics Equipage

Mike Dyment, General Partner, NextGen Equipage Fund LLC

» Air Traffic Control Modernization (PDF)

In between partisan confrontations around the 2011 federal budget and raising the U.S. debt limit, prospects are improving for federal legislation that would provide the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with a regular full-year budget for the first time since Fiscal Year 2007 — including support for completing the transition to a GNSS-driven air traffic control (ATC) system known as NextGen and a “public-private partnership” to equip aircraft with the needed avionics.

By Inside GNSS

April 28, 2011

Coalition to Save Our GPS Webinar Highlights LightSquared Risks

Julius Genachowski, FCC Chairman

GPS supporters are trying to slow what appears to be a runaway LightSquared express bearing down on the civil L1 signal frequency and thwart the would-be 4G/LTE broadband cellular wholesaler’s effort shift the burden of proof and associated costs for mitigating interference onto the GNSS community.

By Inside GNSS

New Senate Subcommittee Addresses Mobile Technologies and Privacy: Apple, Google to Appear

Funny thing about the U.S. Constitution: it address the activities of government officials and agencies — including restraints on those activities — but not the activities of commercial business and individuals. The latter are left to federal, state, and local laws.

So, when the government conducts warrantless surveillance using GPS, the issue may come before the U.S. Supreme Court or state and federal judges at other levels. If private companies do it, they may end up at a congressional hearing.

By Inside GNSS

April 26, 2011

10 High School Teams to Test Robots at the Smithsonian in the 2011 Mini Urban Challenge

Pace High School “Catastrophic” team, the 2010 winner

Ten Lego kits transformed into autonomous robotic vehicles will gather, with their high school student masters, on Saturday, May 21 at the Smithsonian for the 2011 national championship of the Institute of Navigation Mini-Urban Challenge.

It all happens from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Spark!Lab and first floor of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on the National Mall.

By Inside GNSS

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April 23, 2011

GPS-Guided Honeywell MAV Aids in Japan Nuclear Plant Emergency

T-Hawk MAV. Honeywell photo

A GPS-guided T-Hawk Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) more frequently used in combat reconnaissance missions in Iraq and Afghanistan is being used to help emergency efforts at Japan’s damaged fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Weighing just 17 pounds and measuring 14 inches in diameter, the T-Hawk is a ducted-fan vertical takeoff and landing air vehicle originally developed in recent years by Honeywell Corporation under a $40-million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) technology demonstration contract.

By Inside GNSS

April 12, 2011

NavCom Introduces Multi-GNSS SF-3040 Receiver

NavCom Technology’s SF-3040 Receiver

NavCom Technology, Inc., has launched its 66-channel, SF-3040 pole-mount receiver, featuring StarFire/real-time kinematic (RTK) multi-GNSS capabilities and optimized for surveying and mapping applications.

NavCom says its new product provides real-time kinematic (RTK)–level accuracy up to 40 kilometers away from the base station or decimeter-level accuracy anywhere in the world when using the company’s StarFire global satellite-based augmentation system (GSBAS).

By Inside GNSS

March 31, 2011

European Satellite Navigation Competition Opens 2011 Contest

The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) 2011 opened its registration page on April 1 for entries in this year’s international search for new GNSS applications and product developments.

This year’s competition offers business start-up aid worth €1 million ($1.4 million) and a cash prize pool of €100,000.

By Inside GNSS

March 22, 2011

NovAtel to Supply GNSS Technology to Raven Industries for Precision Ag Products

NovAtel Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Raven Industries, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, have announced a new strategic partnership that will see NovAtel’s GNSS positioning technology integrated into Raven’s line of precision agriculture products.

By Inside GNSS

March 14, 2011

GNSS Inside Mobile Phones

Figure 1 & Table 1

For the complete story, including figures, graphs, and images, please download the PDF of the article, above.

Recent years have seen GPS receivers built in as a standard feature in many consumer products. A growing number of mobile phones, personal navigation devices, netbooks and tablets are equipped with GPS receiver chips and navigation software that enable consumers to navigate from A to B or find their nearest coffee shop. According to Berg Insight, annual shipments of GPS-equipped mobile phones are estimated to reach 960 million devices in 2014.

By Inside GNSS