INDUSTRY

R750 – New GNSS base station

Trimble has introduced the R750 GNSS Modular Receiver, a connected base station. It can be used to broadcast Real- Time Kinematic (RTK) corrections for a wide range of applications, including seismic surveying, monitoring, civil construction, precision agriculture and more. Access to all available satellite signals provides improved performance and reliability when used with a Trimble ProPoint™ GNSS rover.

Sensor integration and support for geospatial monitoring solution

Trimble has introduced the latest version of its core geospatial automated monitoring software—Trimble® 4D Control™ version 6.3. It provides automated movement detection to enable informed decisions about infrastructure for surveying, construction and monitoring professionals. Version 6.3 adds new capabilities for the software to work in combination with the Trimble SX Series Scanning Total Stations’ advanced imaging and measurement capabilities.

eCognition Suite Version 10.2

eCognition Suite 10.2 by Trimble Geospatial offers a variety of exciting new tools and features that will streamline existing workflows and open the doors for new types of data analysis. A revolutionary deep learning based point cloud classification that removes all previous rasterization steps have been introduced. www.trimble.com

Swift Navigation support STMicroelectronics Teseo V

Swift Navigation recently announced its support of the new STMicroelectronics Teseo V. The Teseo V family is a singlechip GNSS triple-frequency device for automotive use. Swift’s team has been working with ST to ensure the optimization of Swift’s precise positioning solution—comprised of the Starling® positioning engine and Skylark™ precise positioning service—when paired with the STA8135GA Teseo V, the first single-chip triple-band GNSS IC (Integrated Circuit). swiftnav.com

Telit’s LTE Cat 1 module for IoT applications

Telit has announced the LE910S1- ELG, a new LTE Cat 1 module designed for IoT applications in Latin America (LATAM). With an embedded GNSS receiver, the cost-optimized LE910S1- ELG is ideal for tracking applications such as fleet management, stolen vehicle tracking and recovery, as well as other mobile IoT applications that need to maintain a reliable connection when moving around in a country, region or multiple regions. www.Telit.com

ASL Introduces Upward-looking Sonar for Ice-infested Waters

ASL Environmental Sciences has announced the combining of its Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) with its Ice Profiling Sonar (IPS) to provide a comprehensive solution for ice thickness detection and water column profiling of fish, zooplankton, bubbles and suspended sediments in ice-infested waters.

The AZFP6-ice is the next generation in high resolution, low power, continuous recording subsurface instruments that are capable of long-term deployments of a year or more. Built into the ice profiling sensor is a logarithmic detector that resolves both strong and weak acoustic targets. In practice, this means that the signal from strong reflections such as the water-air interface at close range does not saturate, and weak targets such as the water-ice interface at long range are still measurable. https://aslenv.com

NovAtel delivers ROSTM 2 compatible drivers to the OEM7® receiver NovAtel released its second purposebuilt driver, powered by the latest series of the Robot Operating System, ROS 2. The NovAtel OEM7 drivers are developed and managed by NovAtel engineers to provide an optimised interface for autonomy projects. The drivers allow for quick incorporation of NovAtel’s OEM7 receivers into custom ROS 2 based applications. As the integration of NovAtel’s OEM7 receiver increases in autonomy projects, algorithms for academic investigations, ride-share programs and agricultural autonomy solutions, NovAtel continues to support the growing needs of the robotics community. novatel.com/oem7

Core Mate Complete for Final GPS III Space Vehicle

The 10th and final GPS III Space Vehicle under the original GPS III contract recently completed a production milestone known as “core mate” to assemble it into a full satellite, and its name is “Hedy Lamarr.”

Traditionally, core mate marks the “birth” of a satellite and it gets a nickname – chosen by the U.S. Space Force — to honor its completion. All nine previous GPS III satellites built by Lockheed Martin have been named after trailblazers, and GPS III SV10 is no exception. The core mate is one of the most intricate and critical operations of a satellite’s build. Completing the process requires teamwork and experience. www.lockheedmartin.com

Rohde & Schwarz and NOFFZ collaboration

Rohde & Schwarz and NOFFZ Technologies collaborate on the integration of the field-proven R&S Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) reflector technology and advanced radar echo generator R&S AREG800A into NOFFZ’s versatile End-of-Line (EoL) radar sensor test system, the UTP 5069 CATR. This creates a fast, accurate and efficient test system optimized for production that facilitates the transition from radar sensor development to mass production.

Radar is the key technology for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving (AD). For an improved SAE L3 (Society of Automotive Engineers level 3) experience on the way towards autonomous driving, radar sensors have to accommodate much more complex traffic scenarios. Consequently, imaging radar sensors have been developed with significantly finer spatial resolution and this requires much larger antenna apertures. www.rohde-schwarz.com

Low power GNSS positioning technology by Sequans

Sequans Communications S.A. has announced the availability of low-power GNSS positioning capability on its Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT platform. The integrated GNSS solution offers Sequans’ IoT customers accurate positioning with lower power consumption, removing the need of an external positioning chipset for an overall higher performing, lower cost tracking solution. The new technology is available on Sequans’ Monarch 2 GM02SP module, a pin-to-pin compatible variant of Sequans’ Monarch 2 GM02S module, with an added GNSS antenna RF input, enabling existing Monarch 2 GM02S customers to take advantage of the added low power GNSS capability easily. www.sequans.com

Ligado and Point One Navigation to deliver ubiquitous precise location

Mobile communications company Ligado Networks and Point One Navigation announced that Ligado will provide pervasive, high-performance satellite capacity to support Point One’s Polaris GNSS correction service. The partnership will initially provide L-Band service to electric vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and will expand to additional sectors in the coming years.

Point One expects to deploy the mobile satellite-enabled service to commercial electric vehicles to start, beginning in early 2022 and in additional automotive, transportation, agricultural, and other mobile robotic platforms over the course of the multi-year agreement between Point One and Ligado. The companies will also collaborate to further advance and optimize GNSS augmentation delivery using the unique beamforming capabilities of Ligado’s SkyTerra satellite network. ligado.com

Galileo High Accuracy Service for hydrographic survey

GEOTAG Engenharia, Brazilian hydrographic company has selected the ANavS® Multi-Sensor RTK/ PPP & Galileo HAS receiver for precise and reliable position, velocity and 3D-attitude (heading, pitch, roll and heave) information.

Using Galileo’s free-of-charge highaccuracy Precise Point Positioning corrections service HAS directly via satellite will allow a real-time position accuracy better than 20 cm (horizontal) and let GEOTAG become one of the first users of the Galileo HAS corrections in South America. www.dredgingtoday.com

Sonardyne selected for underwater target tracking

Advanced Acoustic Concepts has chosen underwater positioning technology from maritime technology company Sonardyne to work for the US Department of Defense (DoD).

It selected Sonardyne’s portable Micro- Ranger 2 Ultra-Short Baseline (USBL) system, which can track up to 10 targets to over 3,000 ft (995 m) and comes complete with a surface-deployed Micro-Ranger Transceiver, a GNSS antenna, and two of Sonardyne’s smallest transponders, the Nano. sonardyne.com

BAE Systems awarded a $316 million contract

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has executed a $316 million contract option for BAE Systems’ advanced M-Code GPS modules, raising the contract funding to $641 million. The modules provide dependable positioning, navigation, and timing for ground troops, vehicles, aircraft, and precision munitions. The contract will ensure the availability of Common GPS Modules (CGM) for advanced military GPS receivers with antijamming and anti-spoofing capabilities that enable operation in contested environments. www.baesystems.com

Orolia debuts global PNT academic program

Orolia has created the Orolia Academic Partnership Program (OAPP) to build a community to help foster global PNT research and collaboration at top engineering schools and research institutions. It will provide qualified institutions with access to the company’s signature Skydel GNSS Simulation Engine. Supporting its vision to form an interactive community focused on the future of GNSS and PNT research and education, Orolia created an online forum (learn.orolia.com) that allows users to interact with other users and Orolia experts. www.orolia.com

Intermap wins prime contract from the US Air Force

Intermap Technologies announced a new prime contract with the US Air Force to support the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in its development of navigation solutions for GPS-denied environments. This is Intermap’s eighth government contract of 2021.

Military operations require precise positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). The US Department of Defense (DOD) is exploring different approaches for absolute positioning and navigation in challenging environments to enable their multidomain operations. For most platforms, GPS is the sole source of PNT. Disruptions or corruptions in GPS signals can affect timely decision making, mission security, weapons systems, operations, and critical infrastructure. AFRL leads the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for air, space and cyberspace forces. www.intermap.com

Hexagon’s R-evolution expands its sustainability agenda

Hexagon AB has announced R-evolution’s efforts to map the threatened seagrass meadows of the Caribbean islands, beginning with the coastal waters of the Bahamas. In collaboration with Beneath The Waves – a leading, global, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting marine environments – R-evolution is leveraging Hexagon’s airborne bathymetric LiDAR technologies to detect, map and capture critical details about this vital habitat, including its extent and composition.

Blue carbon ecosystems refer to coastal and marine vegetated habitats, such as seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and mangrove forests, that sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere and ocean. These powerful carbon sinks are rapidly disappearing in many parts of the world. Seagrass meadows, the most common among them, are crucial to solving environmental challenges yet remain among the least recognized and least protected ecological habitats.

As part of a long-term shark monitoring project to study and protect the oceans, Beneath The Waves discovered that tiger sharks spend a large portion of their life patrolling and foraging dense seagrass meadows. A combination of sensor tagged sharks, satellite data, marine vessel surveys and scuba divers drove the ongoing discovery and mapping of the extensive seagrass meadows of the Caribbean. But to protect and restore these blue carbon sinks, the findings must be validated with high positional accuracy and datasets that can provide efficient, year-on-year change detection and monitoring. https://hexagon.com

Terrasolid maps the world in 3D

For consistent and precise digital GIS and photogrammetry workflows, raw data must first be converted into integrable and thus valuable information components that meet the requirements of the respective application environments. The 3D point cloud processing modules from the Finnish software provider Terrasolid, such as TerraScan, TerraModeler, TerraMatch, TerraPhoto and TerraStereo, are highly developed, intelligent and powerful applications. They are able to process and model laser points with their XYZ coordinates at high speed and can also display the result in 3D-stereo. During the last 20 years, the capabilities of the available LiDAR hardware has developed rapidly together with the capabilities of the processing software, with Terrasolid applications at the forefront. www.3d-pluraview.com

Helix Geospace raises £3m seed funding

Helix Geospace has raised £3million (approximately $4 million) seed funding in a round led by Bloc Ventures, and supported by the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S). Helix builds precision antennas designed and manufactured to the highest specifications that enable GNSS product designers to create the smallest, most accurate positioning, navigation and time synchronization products. https://helixgeospace.com