INDUSTRY

Eos announces sub-meter and RTK Solutions

Eos Positioning Systems (Eos) announces Arrow GNSS receiver series compatibility with Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS running on iPads and iPhones. The receivers have been tested and certified as highaccuracy GNSS receivers compatible with Collector 10.4.0 for iOS.

The full range of Arrow GNSS receivers from sub-meter to decimeter to centimeter RTK accuracy all work flawlessly with Collector for ArcGIS running on all iPhones and iPads running iOS 8.x or later. GNSS metadata such as estimated accuracy, correction status, correction age, # of satellites used is displayed in real-time in Collector so the user can monitor data quality in the field.

As a companion software to Collector, Eos offers a free iOS app called Eos Tools Pro that allows the user to connect to an RTK Network and to set alarms for estimated accuracy, HDOP, correction age, and others. If a threshold is exceeded (eg. estimated accuracy greater than 10cm), an alarm sounds on the iPhone/ iPad to alert the user. www.eos-gnss.com

Sokkia GNSS Receivers for Latvian Forest Management

Sokkia has announced the largest forest management company in Latvia – Latvia’s State Forests (LVM) -has chosen its latest compact GNSS receivers for forest data collection. The company will use 140 Sokkia GCX2 receivers to gather GIS data for assistance in forest management employing more than 6000 people. It will also be used to assist in environmental projects such as specially protected black stork nests.

New Positioning and Connectivity Modules by u-blox

u-blox has announced the expansion of its product offering with automotive qualified product variants added to their range of positioning and cellular wireless connectivity modules. The additions comprise the NEO-M8Q-01A and NEO-M8L-01A, and respectively the SARA-G350-02A and LISA-U201- 03A. Manufactured according to the ISO/TS 16949 automotive supply chain quality management standard, the modules are thoroughly tested with an extended qualification process aimed at achieving the lowest level of failure rates. www.u-blox.com

ComNav releases newgeneration OEM Boards

ComNav Technology has released its advanced K700 and K708 GNSS OEM boards to the international market. With the advanced ComNav applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, K7-series OEM boards have higher observation data quality and lower power consumption compared to previous K5- series OEM boards. The data output rate also increases substantially by working with a new Atmel processor.

As a cost-effective GNSS OEM board, K700 is scalable for sub-meter to centimeter-level positioning applications such as GIS, precision agriculture, marine and automotive systems. It can track GPS L1, BeiDou B1, GLONASS L1 and SBAS, and also supports PPS, Event Marker and short baseline RTK. For the K708 OEM board, the inside GNSS tracking engine with 388 channels is capable of tracking all current and future constellations. It is designed with strong compatibility and built-in functions, including highaccurate PVT output, long baseline RTK and reserved webserver service.

OriginGPS and TDK collaboration

TDK, one of the largest manufacturers of electronic components in the world and OriginGPS, a leading manufacturer of miniature GNSS modules, have announced a new collaboration. As part of this collaboration, customers utilizing OriginGPS Spider modules will receive increased support to integrate TDK antennas into their designs. Existing reference designs coupled with TDK’s extensive Electromagnetic (EM) simulation capabilities will allow customers to maximize GNSS performance. This collaboration pairs OriginGPS’ smallest GNSS receiver modules, including the recently unveiled Multi Micro Spider, with the smallest chip antennas by TDK to deliver a “mini + mighty” solution for wearables that represents the best of both worlds: combining TDK’s specialized RF simulation capabilities with OriginGPS’ GNSS expertise and support. www.origingps.com

GPSengine partners with Sinocastel

GPSengine a leading hosted platform service provider in GNSS, Telematics, IoT and Tracking, has announced a new partnership with Sinocastel, adding support for Sinocastel’s range to GPSengine’s Platform Connect service. Based in Shenzhen, China, Sinocastel has over 15 years experience in GPS R&D and manufacturing, with experience in North America, Europe and Asian markets. www.gpsengine.net

Oregon® 700 series of handheld GPS units

Garmin International Inc. has announced the Oregon 700, 750 and 750t, an update to its popular series of touchscreen outdoor handhelds. Featuring high-sensitivity GPS and GLONASS support, the new Oregon 700 series has a redesigned GPS antenna for better reception and performance. All models feature a worldwide basemap with shaded relief, while the 750t adds preloaded TOPO U.S. 100K maps. www.garmin.com/outdoors

Spirent’s new GSS7000 system offers flexible multi-GNSS testing

Spirent Communications has released a new series of multi-frequency, multi-GNSS RF constellation simulators. The GSS7000 series provides an entry to multi-frequency testing, with a modular approach to enable this new precision GNSS simulation system to expand with users’ needs.

The GSS7000 system will suit receiver, system and application developers who want to take advantage of new satellite navigation systems and the better accuracy offered by civilian, multi-frequency GNSS. It offers faithful emulation of all civil GNSS systems and regional augmentation systems, and allows devices to be tested under a multitude of operating environments and error conditions. It has the flexibility to reconfigure satellite constellations, channels and frequencies between test runs or test cases.

Pix4D Elevates Agriculture Software to Desktop & Cloud Solution

Pix4D announces its first hybrid processing solution, users of Sequoia with a license of Pix4Dmapper Ag will be able to process both locally in Pix4Dmapper Ag and on the Pix4Dcloud. Together with this announcement, Pix4D also introduces very flexible monthly (149 USD) and yearly (1490 USD) plans for its Pix4Dmapper Ag solutions.

This new strategy comes from seeing the need in the agriculture industry for more flexible processing options to facilitate competitive operations. With the hybrid approach, users are able to choose where to process: whether they prefer to process data right after landing and are in an area with bad connectivity, or want to upload to the cloud and not involve processing hardware.

“We were camera agnostic, now we are both camera and platform agnostic,” says Pix4D founder and CEO Christoph Strecha. “In the end, we care more about the quality and the ease-of-use than whether mappers are processing on desktop or the cloud.”

Esri and ICMA Partner to Educate Smart Communities

Esri and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) have taken steps to strengthen their strategic relationship to bring forward the best practices in building smart communities. The smart communities movement advocates that municipalities and counties rethink the way local governments deliver services and address the issues of our times. At the heart of these efforts is the call to use technology and data to create stronger, more resilient, and more business-savvy cities and counties. ICMA, which serves local government management professionals worldwide and identifies leading practices in the field, and Esri, a global leader in GIS technology, have partnered to produce a series of case studiesthat highlight leading practices of a well-run government.

Rockwell Collins reaches key milestone

Rockwell Collins, in collaboration with The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL), successfully controlled an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) using its end-to-end UAS integrated avionics solution. The test flight was a key milestone toward the successful operation of UAS beyond an operator’s visual line of sight in the National Airspace System (NAS).

Key elements of Rockwell Collins’ UAS integrated avionics solution, which is optimized for safe and secure integration of UAS into civil airspace, include:

A Ground Control Station based on Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion®—a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified integrated avionics solution. www.rockwellcollins.com

Route Monkey & Sygic partnering

The GPS navigation firm Sygic and the route optimization firm Route Monkey have entered into a new partnership that will see the joint development of a fully integrated optimization and navigation platform for electric vehicles. http://cleantechnica.com

Skycap and Skeye join forces

Skycap and Skeye announced the merger of their two companies, continuing under the name ‘Skeye’. The merger results in the creation of the European leader in aerial topographic surveys, using unmanned aircraft. In addition, Skeye will instantly enter the European market as a top 3 provider of unmanned aerial inspections and extend its services portfolio with specialised aerial imagery. www.skeyebv.com

Trimble News

R2 GNSS receiver

Esri has announced the availability of the Trimble R2 GNSS receiver for collecting professional-grade GPS data with Collector for ArcGIS. It is a rugged certifi ed MIL-STD-810G, IP65 rated, compact and streamlined to enable a quick setup. The receiver is capable of delivering between submeter and centimeter positioning accuracy in real-time to Android or iOS mobile devices via a wireless Bluetooth connection or USB cable to support GIS or survey-grade workflows.

Trimble R2 GNSS receiver provides total flexibility to choose a solution based on the accuracy and GNSS performance level that suits their application. Now the locational precision of mobile devices can be enhanced via the Trimble R2 GNSS receiver. It is capable of supporting multiple GNSS- including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou, and delivers GNSS positions in real time without the need for postprocessing.

TDC100 Handheld GNSS Data Collector

Trimble has introduced its Trimble® TDC100 handheld data collector. An entry-level GNSS device for a variety of GIS applications, it combines both smartphone and ruggedized data collection capabilities in a single, mobile device. The Androidbased TDC100 is fl exible and can run commercially available or inhouse developed applications on a professional, IP-67 ruggedized platform with a sunlight readable display and user replaceable batteries. The built-in GNSS receiver also provides real-time accuracy. The Trimble TDC100 is available in two models. Both models are available with an Android operating system and Wi-Fi, with an optional 4G LTE cellular version. www.trimble.com