INDUSTRY

Juniper Systems’ rugged handheld computer goes fishing

Rugged handheld computers from Juniper Systems are being used to help protect native species of fish in rivers in the US. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is managing an invasive fish removal program. Using a Juniper handheld device loaded with custom fisheries software, field scientists monitored native fish species and removed invasive fish along the Green River, near scenic Dinosaur National Monument. The researchers rode along in a boat with electrodes protruding into the water. The electrodes send out an electrical current, temporarily stunning the fish, which subsequently float to the surface, where they are netted and inspected. www.junipersys.com

NovAtel’s GAJT® GPS Anti-Jam Antenna for Canadian Army

NovAtel has announced that Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has selected its GAJT-700ML antenna for testing on Canadian Army armored vehicles. The GAJT-700ML is the world’s first single-unit GPS antijam antenna system for land vehicles. The testing is being conducted through PWGSC’s Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP). NovAtel was selected to participate under the BCIP’s “safety and security” priority area. PWGSC will procure a number of GAJT-700MLs on behalf of the Department of National Defense (DND). The Directorate of Land Requirements (DLR) with the assistance of the Quality Engineering Test Establishment (QETE) and the Land Force Trials and Evaluation Unit (LFTEU) will oversee all testing on DND’s behalf. www.novatel.com

Hexagon Topcon agreement

Hexagon AB and Topcon have announced an agreement for Hexagon to purchase Veripos, which operates a network of more than 80 GNSS reference stations through its subsidiary TerraStar. The regulatory announcement explains that Hexagon, Topcon Europe B.V. and Topcon Corporation have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) related to Veripos, Inc.

Hydrography Geospatial Data Management and Production System for Malaysia

The Hydrographic Directorate of the Royal Malaysian Navy (HDRMN) has a mandate to collect measurements using modern techniques, and provide adequate and timely hydrographic information to support safety of navigation, national development, defense and security, and numerous other activities related to the use of Malaysia’s marine environment.

CARIS and local Alliance Partner OKENOS Sdn. Bhd. were selected to implement a Hydrographic Geospatial Data Management and Production System (HGDMPS) at the National Hydrographic Centre (NHC). The enterprise GIS, comprised of Bathy DataBASE and HPD, will allow NHC to increase organizational capability for the management of elevation datasets, production of multiple paper and electronic chart types from a single database source, and improve the sharing of spatial information through a Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI).

Epson electronics teams with Geodetics for INS

Epson Electronics America has partnered with Geodetics Inc of San Diego, California, for production of a new variant of its Geo-iNAV product, which is a fullyintegrated GPS-aided inertial navigation system that provides real-time, highprecision positioning and navigation for manned and unmanned air, sea and ground vehicles. It combines GPS and proprietary sensor fusion technologies to achieve centimeter-level real-time positioning and navigation for dynamic platforms.

Garmin updated GPSMAP series with GPSMAP 64 range

Garmin have unveiled the latest update to its GPSMAP handhelds. The GPSMAP 64 sports a 2.6 in colour display which, enhanced internal memory to 4GB and a quad helix antenna with dual GPS and GLONASS support. www.garmin.com

ASR Workbench for Software Defined Radio Module by Loctronix

Loctronix Corporation has launched ASR Workbench, a development toolset for the company’s recently released ASR-2300 software-defined radio (SDR) module. The ASR-2300 is a function-rich SDR for high-performance positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), and communication applications. It is a Windows-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for SDR applications development and testing.

Bluesky Soars with UltraCam Eagle

Aerial mapping company Bluesky is taking to the skies with a new large format digital aerial photogrammetric camera. Purchased from Microsoft’s photogrammetry division the UltraCam Eagle has a larger image footprint and a higher rate of image capture than other cameras on the market. www.bluesky-world.com

CHC introduces CGO Software

CHC released CHC Geomatics Office (CGO), a software solution dedicated to post processing static and kinematic GNSS raw data. It supports GPS+GLONASS+BeiDou data in various raw data formats and is compatible with major brands allowing a seamless integration with an existing pool of equipment. www.chcnav.com

Mexican Positioning Contract for Veripos

Veripos has been awarded a threeyear contract by Marinsa de Mexico SA de CV of Cd Del Carmen, for provision of services aboard two anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels, Amethyst and Turquoise. Operating in the Bay of Campeche in Mexico, both vessels are being provided with Veripos’s Standard2 dual beam service featuring both GPS and Glonass capabilities while significantly increasing observational redundancy to ensure more robust positioning accuracies of better than 1 meter. www.maritime-executive.com

Northrop Grumman gets $200 million DoD contract

Northrop Grumman has emerged as the second-biggest winner of Department of Defense contract. As per a $200 million sole-source, partialforeign military sales, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to carry out “acquisition and sustainment” for the Embedded Global Positioning System Inertial Navigation System (EGI), Northrop will be responsible to work on platform integration, modernization, flight test support, technical support, training, engineering, and other efforts associated with EGI. The EGI system according to the Navy is a small, reliable, light weight unit which contains full Precise Position Service GPS on a single standard electronic module, plus a state-of-theart Ring Laser Gyro inertial navigation system. www.hispanicbusiness.com

MDA signs contract with US Air Force

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd has signed a contract valued at US$4.9 million under its Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) agreement with the U.S Air Force (USAF), to continue operational support and further enhance the flight path safety system that aids the design of airport approach and departure flight paths. Originally announced in February 2012, the value of contracts awarded to-date under the IDIQ agreement totals approximately US$13.8 million. http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com

AECOM selects Trimble Software to manage global construction projects

AECOM, providers of professional, technical and management support services for transportation, facilities, environment, energy, water and government, will deploy several solutions from Trimble’s Design-Build- Operate (DBO) software portfolio to improve project workflows, increase visibility and accuracy, and enhance team collaboration for construction projects. http://buildings.trimble.com

Trimble Navigation Assigned Patent

Trimble Navigation has been assigned a patent (8,614,642) developed by two co-inventors for methods and apparatus “for processing a set of GNSS signal data derived from signals of a first set of satellites having at least three carriers and signals of a second set of satellites having two carriers.” The co-inventors are Nicholas Charles Talbot, Ashburton, Australia, Ulrich Vollath, Ismaning, Germany. www.4-traders.com

 

Nine GNSS frequencies available through new JAVAD GNSS receiver The 864-channel TRE-3 receiver,recently announced by JAVAD GNSS,can simultaneously access all currentGNSS signals, with room to spare formultiple-channel tracking of select signals,according to the company. The newproduct offers many features, including: • Three ultra wide-band (100 MHz)fast sampling and processing,programmable digital fi lters andsuperior dynamic range. After 12-bit digital conversion, nine separatedigital fi lters are shaped for each ofthe nine GPS L1/Galileo E1, GPS L2,GPS L5/Galileo E5A, GLONASSL1, GLONASS L2, Galileo E5B/BeiDou B2/GLONASS L3, GalileoaltBoc, Galilee E6/BeiDouB3/QZSSLEX, and BeiDou B1 bands. • Each band consists of a combinationof a digital cascaded integrator-comb(CIC) fi lter and a digital fi nite impulseresponse (FIR) fi lter (up to 60-th order)where signal selection is performed. • Two types of digital in-band antijammingfi lters (automatic 80-th orderand “user selectable” 256-th order). • Multiple channels to acquire and trackeach satellite signal. For example, 20channels can be assigned to acquirethe GPS L1 signal, each spaced onemillisecond apart. Up to 5 channelscan be assigned to track each signal,each with different fi lter parametersand tracking strategies. This supportsacquiring and tracking weaker signalsin difficult conditions, especially undertrees and canopy — potentially usingup to the 864 channels available in thereceiver! Several patents are pending. • 80 dB out-of-band interferencerejections: high dynamic range of wideRF bands and highly rectangular digitalfilters make the receiver much moreresistant to out-of-band jamming. • High-speed high-dynamic automaticgain control (AGC) to respond tointerferences and signal variations. • Programmable fi lter width.• Highly stable digital filters. • Improved GLONASS interchannelbias performance. • New multipath rejection technique. • 60-MHZ-wide Galileo altBoc bandtakes advantage of the full benefi t ofthis signal. Its multipath resistanceis improved even beyond thatof the company’s new multipathreduction technique, it asserts. • 864 GNSS channels allow tracking allcurrent and future satellite signals. • Three wide-band RF sectionsenable monitoring spectrumsand interferences in three100-MHz-wide bands. • TRE-3 can track and decode the QZSSLEX signal messages, making it aunique product on the market in thisregard, according to the company. • Features for time -transfer applications:In time sources where the zerocrossing of the input frequencydefi nes the exact moment of the timesecond, the receiver monitors zerocrossings and accurately defi nesthe moment of the time second. Anexternal time interval measurementunit is not required to measurezero crossing and 1-PPS offset. • Embedded calibrator measuresphase and code delays of each of thenine bands in timing applications.External calibration is not required.TRE-3 is form, pin-out, and commandcompatible with the company’s earlier TREG3Treceiver. It uses 8-Watts of power,compared to 4-Watts of the TRE-G3T