CES 2022 Roundup
Despite 75 percent less attendees, companies rolled out products and services
LAS VEGAS—Organizers of the CES 2022 trade show here said that attendance was down nearly 75 percent for this year’s conference. However, most vendors at the traditionally huge conference, and the media events (CES Unveiled, Pepcom, Showstoppers), were upbeat, despite low numbers of attendees and “name” exhibitors bailing because of the recent Omicron virus outbreak.
Here Technologies, which made several announcements at CES despite having a virtual presence, partnered with Volta Trucks and what3words. United Kingdom-based what3words, which has partnered with such automakers as Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Lamborghini, Tata and others, says location is difficult to most users.
“Street addressing covers some parts of world, but can be fairly inaccurate. The thing drops in you in middle of business or a parking lot—and not the entrance you wanted,” said Giles Ryhs-Jones, what3words CMO. “We’ve mapped trillions of 10 by 10 squares that are totally unique and use three identifying words. I could say in a Mercedes, ‘table, chair, lamp’ and the [navigation unit] knows exactly where I want to go.”
Lots of Lidar at CES 2022
There must have been more than 30 Lidar companies at CES. One company, Quanergy Systems, citing cost and performance as differentiators, is focusing on the industrial market.
“We’ve noticed that what matters for customers is the intelligence and security of the software. The differentiator for many industrial applications is performance and cost,” said Enzo Signore, Quanergy CMO. “We believe that industrial is a very strong business model. Autonomous vehicles are a very complex market that will take five-to-seven years to mature.”
At CES, the company announced that it achieved the industry’s first 200-meter range for optical-phased array solid state Lidar.
More CES News:
Tewksbury, Mass.-based inertial sensing company Aceinna has focused on autonomous driving for the past three years, said Teoman Ustun, company vice president of marketing. “We also offer industrial and agricultural inertial sensing products as part of our portfolio,” he said. “We’ve also offered [inertial measurement units] in several form factors. For autonomous vehicles, our inertial navigation systems are important because of the localization required.”
At CES, Aceinna announced the INS401 INS and GNSS/RTK for autonomous vehicle positioning.
Taoglas Group had a busy CES and 2021, said Dermot O’Shea, company co-founder and joint CEO. “We split the business up into two divisions—one an antenna and advanced component. The other is an IoT division,” he said.
O’Shea, who said that the company seeks to hire more engineers and sales professionals, believes IoT has been a great opportunity because as the market matures, more products are being launched—and those solutions require antennas.
One Point says 2022 is going well with its partnerships with Ligado and Quectel. “We are also getting into other verticals outside of automotive like agriculture and such micromobility as scooters so they don’t go on sidewalks,” said Aaron Nathan, Point One CEO. “We are also into the robotics and delivery markets. Autonomous deliveries are taking off at universities—it’s an emerging market for us.”
At CES, Nathan said he was concerned when he started seeing company and meeting cancellations. “All of a sudden, our calendar filled up,” he said.
Speaking of Quectel, which had its own presentations at CES at the Sahara Hotel, the company launched its SG865W-WF Android smart module. The unit integrates with cellular and GNSS modules such as Quectel’s EC20 LTE module, and the RG500Q 5G module. Some applications include UAVs, video conferencing, robotics and smart retail.
CES 2022 had the requisite amount of food delivery and autonomous agriculture vehicles:
Finally, there were a number of pet, valuables, car, theft recovery trackers all throughout CES:
Polimove Wins The Autonomous Challenge At CES
LAS VEGAS—Setting an autonomous oval racing speed of 173 mph, Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) team PoliMOVE from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and the University of Alabama won the Autonomous Challenge @ CES. PoliMOVE competed at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a field of 5 teams from 5 countries representing 7 universities to win the $150,000 grand prize. TUM Autonomous Motorsport from the Technische Universität München (Germany) took home second place with $50,000.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
😕 MWC 2022 Will Be an In-person Event Despite Omicron Scare. Cue the cancellations…
😒 The DOT Says Federal Oversight of Autonomous Cars Is a Must. “In veiled comments to Tesla during CES, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the government must keep Americans safe.” Yeah, we’re the government and we are here to help…
👌 Google Maps Is Rolling Out Incredibly Accurate Street-level Details in These 4 Cities. “Crosswalks, medians, and pedestrian islands will be pointed out, so you know exactly where to cross to street.”
🤷♂️ What Will the US Space Force Be Able To Do With Its New GPS III Variant? The Lockheed Martin [LMT] “Augmentation System Port Interface essentially works as a USB port for the satellite, allowing the Space Force to launch new payloads into space that can be plugged into the system.”
🚚 Clarience Technologies Acquires Fleetilla Telematics Provider. “Fleetilla is an end-to-end solutions provider for GPS fleet security, trailer tracking and equipment monitoring.”
✔ Location Data is a Must for Site Selection. “Retailers that wish to continue steady growth will need to embrace new solutions that account for rapidly changing dynamics, and location-based data will help them to make the most informed strategic solutions.”
😧 Karien van Gennip steps down as Supervisory Board Member of TomTom.
😮 CalAmp Shakes Up Sales Team; Supply Chain Issues Hurt Results.
👍 JAVAD GNSS Names Simon Baksh as Head of Product Development.
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Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Geotab to Equip 21,000 U.S. Air Force Vehicles
Geotab has announced it has been awarded a sole-source contract by the U.S. Air Force to equip more than 21,000 general purpose vehicles with the company’s fleet management technology.
Some of the contract’s products and features include automated odometer capturing, engine diagnostics, predictive analytics, fuel data, custom reporting, GHG Reduction Dashboards, and Fleet Right-Sizing Reporting.
Contact: Taylor Barker, Geotab, pr@geotab.com, www.geotab.com.
TomTom Says 5 Million Autonomous Vehicles Have Its Maps
TomTom [TOM2] has announced that its TomTom ADAS Map supports more than five million SAE level one and level two automated vehicles in North America and Europe. The company’s TomTom HD Map is sourced by three of the five global carmaker groups for their advanced automated vehicles.
TomTom, which pulled out of the CES 2022 conference because of the increased pandemic risk, said its ADAS Map provides advanced driver assistance systems with high-quality road information globally, including gradient, lanes, curvature, and speed limits, enabling vehicles to better anticipate the road ahead, improving driving safety, comfort, and eco-performance.
Contact: TomTom, www.tomtom.com.
Nestwave Partnering With Samea Innovation
Nestwave has partnered with IoT connectivity specialist Samea Innovation to develop a re-usable logistics tracker with multi-year battery life called ThinTrack. The new tracker, rolled out at CES 2022, uses Nestwave’s geolocation technology that combines GPS accuracy with low-power consumption.
The new ThinTrack GPS tracker is an ultra-compact GPS solution that integrates an LTE-M/NB-IoT modem, antenna, battery, SIM, and sensors, the company said. Because Nestwave’s GPS location is implemented in software rather than hardware, the tracker does not require a dedicated GPS chipset, the company said.
Contact: Ambroise Popper, Nestwave, ambroise@nestwave.com, www.nestwave.com.
StarNav Grabs NSF Grant
StarNav LLC has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $256,000 to conduct research and development on a network of receiver ground stations. The ground stations, which will be deployed worldwide to extract position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information from low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals, will support mobile vehicles, handheld devices, and stationary infrastructure, creating a global alternative to GPS, the company said.
Contact: StarNav, www.starnav.io.
Luokung Receives Nasdaq Notice
Luokung Technology Corp. [LKCO] has been notified by Nasdaq that it is not in compliance with its minimum stock price requirement. Nasdaq requires companies to have a closing bid price at $1 minimum for 30 consecutive trading days. The company has 180 days to regain compliance. The company provides LBS and HD Maps for various industries in China.
Contact: Jay Yu, Luokung, 86-10-6506-5217, ir@luokung.com, www.luokung.com.
