LBS

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

Oxford researcher tests pilotless robot car

Robotic car technology being developed at Oxford University that interprets its surroundings and makes decisions about where to go could eliminate the agony and cost of traffic jams. Whilst human drivers might use GPS to find their way such systems cannot provide anything like the coverage, precision, and reliability autonomous cars need to safely navigate. GPS also fails to tell a robotic car anything about what surrounds it; its proximity to obstacles, other cars, pedestrians, or their intentions. The new technology, which Oxford researchers have now installed on a ‘Wildcat’ vehicle built by BAE Systems, is set to remove the dependence on GPS, improve navigation precision, lower emissions, interpret local traffic conditions, track risks, and above all offer a handsfree experience to the driver. All this by interpreting a flood of data from sensors such as cameras, radars, and lasers mounted on the car itself.
www.ox.ac.uk

Rajasthan: RECL to track its trucks carrying explosives using GPS

The vehicles carrying explosives at Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Limited (RECL), henceforth will have GPS, which will tracked in active mode. Realtime data will be processed in the control room at company’s premise to analyse any deviation from the predeterminded route.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Competitive Container Shipping Market to Boost Tracking Revenues to $690M by 2016

Container security and tracking revenues will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 percent from $212 million in 2011 to $690 million in 2016, according to a report by ABI Research. At the same time, end-to-end visibility, monitoring, and tracking are becoming more important in an increasingly competitive and security-challenged container transportation industry where cheaper and safer container transport is urgently needed. While this will represent another strong driver for the uptake of GPS-based tracking in the future.
www.abiresearch.com

Phone app to ensure safety of women in India

Whypoll, a nonprofit organisation, will launch a phone app “Fight Back” soon. The app will function as an SOS alert device — sending out a text message with a GPS location to up to five people, including police, and as a post on Facebook and Twitter.
www.csmonitor.com

Public transport ITS market in Europe
expected to reach 1.3 billion by 2015

New market report, ‘ITS in Public Transport’, from Berg Insight analyses the latest developments on the intelligent transport systems market for public transportation in Europe. According to the report, European market for ITS solutions for public transport is in a growth phase which will last for several years to come. Individual markets may however experience temporary fluctuations, depending on the political climate and local developments. The total market value for public transport ITS solutions for buses and trams is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent from € 0.65 billion at the end of 2010 to € 1.3 billion by 2015.

3D mapping from C3 Tech bought over by Apple

Swedish startup C3 Technologies, the company that showcased their 3D maps on iPad has been bought over by Apple. It calculates the terrain and buildings directly from aerial images. The approach takes into account the positions and angles of the cameras that took aerial images in order to give each pixel its geographical position with high accuracy.
www.fastcompany.com

iPhone 4S adds supports for GLONASS

Apple iPhone 4S adds GLONASS satellite location system, which can contribute to faster, more accurate results. In an update to the handset’s published specifications, Apple added GLONASS capability to Assisted GPS and cellular location finding. www.appleinsider.com

Navguard launches GPS app for BlackBerry

NavGuard has has entered the Middle East market with the launch of combined navigation and tracking application, NavTrack, for BlackBerry smartphones, which is now available on BlackBerry App World. It has been optimised specifically for the BlackBerry platform and allows users in the Middle East region to access accurate GPS maps to ensure they never lose their way, the company said.
www.thehindu.com

Antenova offers complete GPS receiver module for under $3

Antenova Ltd announced a special sub-$3 price offering of its GPS RADIONOVA SS3 Receiver Module – a complete GPS receiver including SiRFstarIII GPS IC and all front end RF components in a very small low profile single package module. It is ideal for device manufacturers looking for a very low cost solution.
www.antenova.com

Genes and GPS used to map spread of typhoid

A combination of geographic and genetic data is showing how typhoid fever spreads, and could be used for mapping other disease patterns, a study has reported. Researchers used DNA sequencing GPS and Google Earth technologies to track typhoid transmission in Kathmandu, the rapidly growing capital city of Nepal, where thousands fall ill with typhoid fever each year. They found disease clusters aroundpublic water spouts — pipes that tap into natural water sources — which suggests that the main transmission route is environmental, rather than between people. “This is the first time that bacterial genotyping techniques have been associated with patient location to map the spread of infectious disease,” said Amit Arjyal, coauthor and a clinician at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit– Nepal (OUCRU-NP).
www.dawn.com

Kerala state transport to go for GPS

As part of the total computerisation project, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has embarked on an ambitious plan to implement IT enabled systems including GPS based Fleet Tracking System on its vehicles and Passenger Information System at depot premises across Kerala.
www.keralartc.com

C-Nav announces 5cm precise positioning

C-Nav has launched its improved fivecentimeter C-NavC2 GNSS subscription service. C-NavC2 supports GPS + GLONASS corrections and delivers the most accurate real-time Precise Point Positioning solutions around the world.
www.cnavgnss.com

Mobile LBS poised for massive growth in Japan

Mobile LBS market in Japan is poised for a substantial growth. A report from market research and consulting firm Seed Planning estimates a 340 percent increase between 2010 and 2015. The LBS market accounted for 43 billion yen (USD 560 million) in 2010 and is expected to expand to 147 billion yen (USD 1.9 billion) by 2015. Increase in LBS demand is roughly in line with anticipated smartphone adoption over the next few years. However, a closer look shows that the market isn’t growing simply due to an increase in smartphone users.
www. penn-olson.com