Drone Market Strong for Location Industry
Companies Return to Trade Shows, Starting With AUVSI Xponential
The worldwide market to integrate location capability into unmanned systems that include drones is growing as evidenced by the number of companies making announcements this week at Atlanta’s AUVSI Xponential trade show. For some, the big drone show is their first conference in 16 months.
A big industry topic has been GPS signal jamming—and a drone trade show seems to be a good launching pad for some products. Honeywell [HON] and InfiniDome are partnering on a new drone sensor to enhance GPS’ resiliency when signals are experiencing blockage or weak.
Saying the GNSS signal is the cornerstone of all UAV/UAS, InfiniDome rolled out its GPSdome 2 Duo, its newest product line delivering GNSS protection for small-medium Class 2-3 UAV/UAS, ground UGV fleets and other manned and unmanned platforms.
Other such companies at u-blox are in Atlanta promoting their PointPerfect location service. The service enables the fast-growing demand for high precision GNSS solutions including autonomous vehicles such as UAVs, the company said.
In a celebrated launch, Qualcomm rolled out its Flight RB5 5G platform to accelerate development for commercial, enterprise, and industrial drones to help enterprises capture data from drone cameras and process that data.
Overall, conferences may be slowly coming back, but at least one is still wary about the long-term pandemic. The Consumer Technology Association this week announced that CES 2022 will require in-person attendees to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. CES 2022 will take place in Las Vegas on January 5-8, 2022.
Topcon Expands GNSS Correction Solutions, Partners With DDK Positioning
Livermore, Calif.-based Topcon Positioning Group has expanded its Topnet Live GNSS network of correction solutions to include a real-time kinematic (RTK) service. The company said that the expanded growth is a result of the increasing demand in the construction, surveying, machine control, and agriculture markets.
The company’s RTK offering, Realpoint, and its Starpoint precise point positioning (PPP) service have varying delivery methods, coverage, and centimeter-level accuracy, the company said. Through a flexible subscription model, the company said customers can purchase to meet their requirements. In addition, an RTK service supported by PPP, Skybridge, is available when a customer temporarily leaves RTK coverage, the company said.
The company recently partnered, through an OEM contract, with DDK Positioning to supply GNSS hardware components. DDK will use the OEM components to deliver their MAX services to Oceaneering International’s clients, who in turn, use the service in the marine energy market.
Oceaneering and DDK Positioning have agreed to provide products for the offshore maritime market through the Iridium network and with Topcon OEM GNSS products, the company said.
Contact: Staci Fitzgerald, Topcon Positioning Group, (925) 245-8610, corpcomm@topcon.com, topconpositioning.com.
Lockheed Martin Small Sats Could Upgrade GPS IIIF Space Vehicle
Lockheed Martin [LMT] recently said its In-space Upgrade Satellite System (LINUSS) completed environmental testing and is ready for launch later this year. The company says that small CubeSats can upgrade satellite constellations to add new capabilities and extend spacecraft design lives.
Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] ultimate near-term goal for LINUSS, developed with internal funding, is to support such LM 2100 satellite platforms as the GPS IIIF Space Vehicle 13, the company said
LINUSS consists of a pair of LM 50 12U CubeSats, about the size of a four-slice toaster, to demonstrate how small satellites can sustain critical space architectures in any orbit, the company said. The program’s overall object is to validate maneuvering capabilities for Lockheed Martin’s future space upgrade and servicing missions, the company said.
Lockheed Martin is known for launching big-time satellites into orbit, but few know it has launched more than 150 small sats since 1997, said David Barnhart, LINUSS program director. The company also works on DARPA’s Mandrake, Blackjack constellation, Pony Express, LunIR and La Jument.
Contact: Chris Pettigrew, Lockheed Martin, (720) 607- 9445, Christopher.w.pettigrew@lmco.com, www.lockheedmartin.com/satellite.
FREE Listing in 2022 Location Industry Yearbook
Location Business News offers one of the most comprehensive online directories. In fact, it is the only comprehensive directory. The 2022 Location Industry Yearbook will be full of company and market information. It will distributed at major trade shows throughout the year. An online version will also be available. It will be the industry’s go-to source of information with the latest contacts and information.
We will list your company or organization, for FREE, in the 2022 Location Industry Yearbook if it is engaged the location industry or new mobility activities. This includes all GPS/GNSS manufacturers, mapping companies, auto manufacturers, government agencies, automotive suppliers, insurance companies, associations and nonprofits, consultants and other players. This is a great opportunity to get your company's products and services in front of your customers, or potential customers, for FREE!
For additional exposure in the 2022 Location Industry Yearbook, please contact Steve Copley, publisher, at steve.copley@interblendmedia.com for advertising opportunities.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com.
😲 Apple Has Quietly Built Its Digital Advertising Business. Here Are the Numbers. Competitor Google “draws about $4 billion annually from maps and has a user base four times that of Apple Maps, suggesting that Apple’s potential revenue is $1 billion annually.”
😞 Why Delivery Drones Are Struggling To Take Off – Even With DHL and Amazon On Board. “In 2021, drone deliveries remain a pipe dream. Not only has the technology failed to come far enough since DHL’s early efforts and [Jeff] Bezos’ 2019 promise, but the very concept is neither practical nor wholly desirable.”
🚗 Nation’s Largest Fleet of Autonomous Vehicles Launches in Colorado. “A long list of municipal, academic and business partners has backed the push for autonomous vehicles in Colorado, known as the Autonomous Vehicles Colorado partnership, including EasyMile, Siemens eMobility solutions, Stantec GenerationAV, Panasonic and HxGN SmartNet.”
😒 The Need To Secure GPS Is Real, But Washington Only Proposes Fake Fixes. “Ligado’s transmissions have been falsely demonized as a threat to GPS. To hear the hyperbole, the militaries of Russia, China, and North Korea have nothing on this American company whose transmissions are purported to bring planes down from the sky, deter first responders from emergencies, stop a Tesla on the road, and stifle a FitBit.”
🚕 Daimler and Bosch Give Up On Their Robotaxi Dreams. “At Daimler, employees from the Robotaxi partnership had already been moved to other teams and were working on new projects. Bosch, a supplier of both software and hardware to other automakers, pointed out that the end of Athena wasn’t as painful for it as it was for Daimler.”
Advertisement
Have you ever been reluctant to reveal your personal email address online or in person?
The answer is almost universally YES! So, if you happen to be one of those who thinks twice about these matters, ManyMe might be the answer to your worries.
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com.
Spirent Federal Systems Partners With Northrop Grumman
Pleasant Grove, Utah-based Spirent Federal Systems has partnered with Northrop Grumman to validate the inertial interface between its GNSS simulators and the aerospace company’s legacy and modernized inertial systems.
The GPS/inertial systems validation testing, part of the EGI-M program (Embedded GPS/INS‐Modernization), uses Spirent’s SimINERTIAL system that saves time and money, the company said. The system simulates inertial sensor outputs while concurrently simulating GPS RF signals, enabling controlled, repeatable testing of EGIs and reducing the need for field trials, the company said.
Northrop Grumman’s EGI‐M program is developing airborne navigation capabilities with a government‐owned open architecture, the company said. The system integrates new M‐Code capable GPS receivers to provide interoperability with civil controlled air space and implement new resilient time capability, the company said.
Contact: Jeff Martin, Spirent Federal Systems, (801) 787-1207, jeff.martin@spirentfederal.com, www.spirent.com.
NextNav Demonstrates PNT System With DHS
NextNav said it has successfully demonstrated the timing precision and resilience of its terrestrial Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) system, TerraPoiNT, in a recent evaluation by the Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The trial tested the timing redundancy of the TerraPoiNT system in a number of scenarios, including instances of GPS outages, spoofing, and jamming, the company said.
NextNav also released its Unreal Engine plug-in, which integrates its vertical positioning service, Pinnacle. The company says developers can power 3D geolocation and z-axis across all games and applications built with the Unreal Engine.
The plug-in’s launch comes a few weeks after the company received an Epic MegaGrant, which the company says it will use to bring vertical location capabilities to the Unreal Engine. The plug-in delivers precise altitude data, allowing developers to integrate vertical location into any geolocation application built with the Unreal Engine, Epic Games’ real-time 3D tool.
In other company news, NextNav is partnering with FirstNet, Built with AT&T and showcasing its Pinnacle z-axis vertical location technology at APCO International.
Contact: Chelsea Hoedl, LaunchSquad for NextNav, (248) 425-1465, NextNav@launchsquad.com.
Mapbox and What3words Partner on Voice, Text Offering
Mapbox Dash and what3words are partnering on a feature that integrates voice and lets users speak or type three words instead, according to a Mapbox blog. What3words provides drivers with a easy way to describe a location. It has been adopted by Mercedes, Ford [F] and Mitsubishi are part of their core navigation offerings, the company said.
Nordic Launches Cloud Location Services
Nordic Semiconductor rolled out its nRF Cloud Location Services that allows customers to access commercial location services for their nRF9160 System-in-Package (SiP)-powered cellular IoT devices. The nRF Cloud will also offer customers firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates for devices in the field, the company said.
The nRF Cloud Location Services offering will initially consist of location services using single-and multi-cell location, and assisted- and predicted-GPS for indoor and outdoor applications, the company said. It offers accuracy down to kilometer-level while extending battery life because it does not require operation of the GPS modem.
Contact: Nordic Semiconductor, www.nordicsemi.com/About-us.
Samsung Processor Powers Wearables, Has Location Capability
Samsung Electronics has launched its Exynos W920 wearable processor. The new processor integrates an LTE modem, a 5-nanometer (nm) extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node for a new generation of wearable devices, the company said.
The Exynos W920 has an embedded 4G LTE Cat.4 modem as well as GNSS L1 for tracking speed, distance and elevation during outdoor activities, the company said. The new processor supports a new wearable, jointly built with Google, that will be a part of the upcoming Galaxy Watch model, the company said.
Contact: Samsung, http://www.samsung.com/exynos.
People
ITS America Names New President and CEO
The Intelligent Transportation Society’s (ITS America) board of directors elected Laura Chace as president and CEO effective August 30, 2021.
Chace, who currently serves as the association’s COO, has been with ITS America since 2015. She is a founding member of the MobilityXX initiative, which is focused on increasing the number of women in transportation by 10 percent in 10 years.
She replaces Shailen Bhatt, who has served as ITS America’s president and CEO since 2017.
“I am both thrilled and humbled about this exciting new opportunity,” Chace said. “With Congress poised to make historic investments in transportation, ITS America and our members are well positioned to show how prioritizing intelligent technologies will save lives and create a more sustainable, smarter transportation system that better serves all Americans.”
Contact: Cathy St. Denis, ITSA, cstdenis@itsa.org.
