INDUSTRY

Aerial Lidar mapping with TOPODRONE and Velodyne Lidar

Aerial Lidar mapping with TOPODRONE and Velodyne Lidar TOPODRONE has announced the synchronization of LiDAR PRIME scanner and aOrion Heli-E UAV enabled by Velodyne’s Alpha Prime sensor. This new mapping solution fills the gap between heavyweight and expensive manned aerial lidar systems and lightweight drone lidar systems. It allows users to expand their applications to survey large areas that were previously only possible to survey using manned airplanes or helicopters.

Resilient GNSS solution for the Future Flight Challenge Phase 3

Helix Geospace wins UK grant funding to provide an accurate, resilient GNSS solution in GNSS-denied environments as part of a collaborative drone swarm technology project. It participated in the ‘Future flights challenge phase 3” project along with Windracers, Distributed Avionics, University of Bristol and University of Sheffield. The Innovate UK funded project will demonstrate how large unmanned systems (with a maximum take-off weight of 450kg) can be used to solve environmental protection concerns in GNSS-denied environments, functioning in swarms and utilising a combination of digital twinning, computer vision, and real-world flight testing.

The aim of the project is to prove that a single remote operator and local safety pilot can handle many unmanned devices and maintain continuous communication in GNSS denied environments. Collaboration with NERC British Antarctic Survey and Lancashire fire and rescue will provide proof of exploitation and public engagement, for the project. https://helixgeospace.com

Visual Navigation System for GNSS-denied environments

UAV Navigation has released its new Visual Navigation System (VNS), a new capability for manufacturers and end users of NATO Category I and II unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The compact and lightweight device — provided as an optional peripheral to the main flight control system — enables the safe and efficient navigation of UAVs in GNSS-denied environments. The VNS combines visual odometry techniques and pattern identification with the rest of the sensors onboard the aircraft to ensure that the absolute position, orientation and relative movement of the aircraft over the ground is calculated with extremely high accuracy.5G based High Accuracy Positioning.

Technology partners GMV, FrontierSI, Ericsson and Optus and industry demonstration partners Kondinin, Platfarm and Position Partners have joined their efforts to demonstrate 5G LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) capabilities in field trials as part of the 5G Positioning Testbed, a project funded under the Australian Government 5G Innovation Initiative. The results achieved by the project are considered a key step forward for the use of 5G technology for high accuracy positioning. The testbed demonstrated each of the high accuracy GNSS-based LPP working modes, including Observation Space Representation (OSR), State Space Representation (SSR), and SSR with atmospheric corrections, integrated directly with user equipment supplied by demonstration partners to examine a variety of real-world applications. The field trials demonstrated that the solution can reach centimetre-level accuracy with fast convergence times using a commercial off-the-shelf receiver and antenna hardware. www.gmv.com

New Trimble TerraFlex Software Edition

Trimble released its TerraFlex Premium edition, a new tier of flagship GIS data collection software. The edition provides customers with offline GNSS corrections, a new automated workflow that works exclusively with Trimble GNSS receivers—including the Trimble DA2 receiver for the Trimble Catalyst™ positioning service— to provide high-accuracy GIS data capture in a wider range of locations and difficult GNSS environments than was previously possible. www.trimble.com

Collaborate on 6G JCAS research and early validation

The China Mobile Research Institute and Rohde & Schwarz have joined forces to research and validate joint communication and sensing (JCAS). They plan to use the latest R&S AREG800A automotive radar echo generator from Rohde & Schwarz as an object simulator in a JCAS testing solution, thereby accelerating the research and development of JCAS and readying it for industrialization.

6G has many new goals and requirements, and several new technologies have emerged to meet them that are now used in 6G research. Joint communication and sensing is based on 6G sensing requirements and has become an important candidate technology in the wireless industry. The technology focuses on fulfilling native JCAS design requirements with multiple-signal designs and/ or hardware sharing. JCAS can sense direction, distance and speed during information exchanges as well as velocity. JCAS can also detect, track, identify and create images of the target equipment, event or environment for interconnection between communications and sensing equipment to improve overall system performance. www.rohde-schwarz.com

Furuno announces global timing solutions

Furuno Electric Co., Ltd. has announced a new generation of time synchronization GNSS receiver modules compatible with all GNSS systems in the world. The modules deliver bestin-class nanosecond precision for 5th generation (5G) mobile systems, radio communications systems, smart power grids and grand master clocks.

Three new products being released include GT-100, GT-9001 and GT-90, designed to suit different applications based on frequency bands and output signals supported. All models boast the world’s highest level of time stability of 4.5ns (1 sigma. www.furuno.com

Taoglas’ new multi-band GNSS Front ends Taoglas launches their first in a new series of high precision, multi-band GNSS front ends for autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, automotive, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and robotics at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2022). The new TFM.110A comes fully integrated with two cascaded low noise amplifiers (LNA) and pre-filters in a small, low-profile, shielded surface mount package. www.taoglas.com

Orolia redefines GNSS simulation with GSG-7 simulator

Orolia has recently released the GSG-7, the latest GNSS signal testing solution offered through the Orolia family of Skydel-based simulators. The GSG-7 features a small form factor, an internal RF combiner, high-end performance with a 1000 Hz simulation iteration rate, real-time synchronization, Hardwarein-the-Loop (HIL) integration, powerful automation, and multi-constellation and multi-frequency simulations. It can be programmed to simulate operations with all current GNSS signals, as well as future ones. www.orolia.com

Raytheon Intelligence & Space to modernize WAAS

Raytheon Intelligence & Space has been awarded a competitive indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with a ceiling value of $375 million over the next 10 years. Task orders, valued at $215 million, were executed at contract award to provide technical refresh and Dual Frequency Operation (DFO) upgrades to the FAA’s Wide-Area Augmentation System, or WAAS, a space-based precision navigation system, that will enhance safer air travel in support of the National Airspace System. raytheon.com

Topcon launches GNSS network correction service in Finland

Topcon Positioning Group has announced the launch of Topnet Live in Finland, with the real-time GNSS network correction service now available for construction, agriculture, and mobility businesses across the country. The new network offers users a full-constellation service, which uses all four GNSS satellite systems for greater accuracy and reliability. This includes Beidou and Galileo systems as well as the standard GLONASS and GPS. www.topconpositioning.com

Improving signal gain for automotive GNSS antennas

SABIC has introduced two new LNP Thermocomp compounds that offer the potential to improve signal gain performance compared to ceramics in second-generation automotive GNSS antennas. The new compounds, LNP Thermocomp ZKC0CXXD and LNP Thermocomp ZKC0DXXD, help enable the design and molding of antenna substrates with more complex pattern markings that add effective surface area, a critical factor in enhancing signal capture. https://sabic.com

Densest GNSS reference station network based on Web 3.0

Onocoy has launched its project to provide the densest network of communitypowered GNSS reference stations. The project strives to ensure outstanding positioning data quality suitable for mass-market applications such as drones, micro-mobility, robotic lawnmowers, or autonomous vehicles. It aims to provide scalable correction services by leveraging Web 3.0 methods and distributed ledger technology. Such technology will facilitate a decentralized approach to the number of GNSS reference stations, 20 times the density compared to other solutions in the market. The ultra-dense distribution of GNSS reference stations will be established in the shortest time frame, allowing easy and global access to instant centimeter-level positioning. www.onocoy.com