Google Maps Features Indoor Navigation at Malls, Airports
New Features Keep Google Ahead of Apple Maps
Google last week said it is upgrading Google Maps with 100 artificial intelligence-powered features, including indoor navigation using a new augmented reality Live View function.
Live View, powered by Google’s AI-based global localization technology, allows users to find the nearest elevator and escalators, your gate, platform, baggage claim, check-in counters, ticket office, restrooms, ATMs and more in airports, transit stations and malls, the company said.
Google said that Live View can help travelers find the nearest elevator and escalators, gate, platform, baggage claim, check-in counters, ticket office, restrooms, ATMs and more. Live View features arrows and accompanying directions that point to the features.
Live View, which can be used to see what floor a store is on and how to get to it, is live on Android and iOS at malls in Chicago, Long Island, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, the company said. In a few months, it will be available in airports, malls, and transit stations in Tokyo, Zurich and other cities.
Other new Google Maps features include a weather layer to see current and forecasted temperature, weather conditions and air quality in an area. Partners include The Weather Company, AirNow.gov and the Central Pollution Board.
Google Maps will also have such shopping information as delivery providers, pickup and delivery windows, fees, and order minimums, the company said. This summer, Google is working with U.S. supermarket Fred Meyer, a division of The Kroger Co., on a pilot in select stores in Portland, Ore., for grocery pickup.
Finally, Google Maps, later this year, will default to routes with the lowest carbon footprint when it has approximately the same ETA as the fastest route, the company said.
Key Takeaways:
Google didn’t say what format it is using for indoor mapping. Apple’s Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) was certified as an industry standard earlier this year.
While Google Maps is gaining more notoriety in indoor navigation, its driving maps pale compared to the new HERE and Unity 3-D in-car navigation system.
In addition, Sygic’s GPS Navigation now comes with Android Auto support, which some say is the first real Google Maps alternative.
Huawei and China Mobile Say They’ve Achieved World’s First 5G Indoor Positioning
Huawei and China Mobile said they have verified 5G indoor positioning capability in a metro transportation facility. The tests, conducted in Suzhou, showed that the companies achieved 3- 5-meter positioning capability, covering 90 percent of the indoor transport platform and hall areas, according to Huawei’s website.
“As a part of the continuous evolution of 5G, positioning has been added to 3GPP Release 16, finalized in mid-2020 to realize indoor positioning by leveraging the ultra-high signal resolution empowered by 5G's high bandwidth, multi-point measurements, and multi-access edge computing (MEC) deployment,” Huawei said.
Huawei's 5G digital indoor product, LampSite, which measured the radio signals of 5G devices and worked with MEC, analyzed the signal characteristics, the company said.
Key Takeaways:
The 5G to B market space will be spurred by indoor positioning to enable telecom carriers to provide services to transport hubs, industrial manufacturing, healthcare services, and other applications.
Huawei, despite such high-profile location partners as TomTom, is banned by U.S. government because of perceived ties to the Chinese government. This ban includes working with such U.S. suppliers as Google Maps and Intel. There is no position yet from the Biden administration.
The indoor location-based service market that includes navigation, asset tracking, geofencing, logistics management, and personnel management, could be a great 5G market opportunity.
Huawei says that there are many indoor positioning technologies being developed—but most of them need to be deployed and maintained individually, resulting in high end-to-end costs.
Unlike incumbent indoor positioning technologies, 5G indoor positioning enables telecom carriers to provide positioning services over the same networks they have deployed to provide mobile 5G services, Huawei said.
Sensata Completes Purchase of Telematics Provider Xirgo for $400 Million
Sensata Technologies [ST] said it finalized the acquisition of telematics and data insight provider Xirgo Technologies for $400 million from private equity firm HKW.
The sale means that 160 sales, engineering and manufacturing employees in the United States and Lithuania will join Sensata, the company said. This includes more than 75 engineers.
Key Takeaways:
The acquisition advances Sensata’s growth into transportation and logistics markets.
Camarillo, Calif.-based Xirgo’s annual revenue is expected to exceed $100 million this year, with a 20 percent projected revenue growth over the next few years, the company said.
Through its Smart & Connected initiative, Sensata has developed modular solutions that collect data from wireless sensors or related vehicle systems information using a connected vehicle area network.
Sensata has been developing sensors for heavy- and light-duty vehicles, strengthened by its 2014 acquisition of Schrader.
Sensata’s strategy is to expand beyond OEMs and address the broader fleet ecosystem, including telematics service providers, fleet management solution providers and fleet operators.
Contact: Alexia Taxiarchos, Sensata, (617) 259-8172, ataxiarchos@sensata.com; Michelle Ball, HKW, (317) 705-8734, mab@hkwinc.com.
Hexagon Has Busy March
Hexagon introduces R-evolution, powering sustainability with Hexagon technology.
Hexagon partners with Tier IV to successfully test a self-driving taxi in Tokyo.
Hexagon’s laser scanning and 3D technology creates digital twin of Michelangelo’s David.
Hexagon simulation demonstrates dispersion of airborne droplets during indoor gatherings.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com.
Krafcik Steps Aside as Waymo Boss. Tekedra N. Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov will be Waymo’s co-CEOs.
Precise Position Tracking, using ultra-wideband accuracy down to 1-centimeter resolution, is gaining traction.
Four Ways Real Time Locating Systems Can Benefit Healthcare Facilities.
POINTER: Seeing Through Walls to Help Locate Firefighters. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the technology is “a unique positioning technology is being developed to pinpoint firefighters inside buildings where other positioning technologies fail.”
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Elbit Systems Buys GPS Manufacturer Rokar for $31 Million
Elbit Systems Ltd. [ESLT] said it completed the acquisition of BAE Systems Rokar International Ltd. ("Rokar") from BAE Systems for $31 million. Israel-based Rokar specializes in high-end GPS receivers and guidance systems for defense applications.
Contact: Joseph Gaspar, Elbit Systems, 972-4-8316663, j.gaspar@elbitsystems.com.
infiniDome Closes $2.4-Million Funding Round, Honeywell Invests
Israel-based infiniDome closed a $2.4-million funding round that includes investments from Next Gear Ventures, the lead investor which led infiniDome’s earlier seed funding round, along with Honeywell Ventures that joined this round of funding, the company said. The company offers GPS security products for commercial aircraft, UAS/UAV, and UAM market segments
Contact: Kristi Furrer, infiniDome, (303) 525-0924, kristi@infinidome.com.
Airgain Rolls Out Tracking Device
Airgain [AIRG] rolled out the NimbeLink AT6 asset tracking device. NimbeLink AT6 is a cellular-based asset tracker that enables monitoring of assets in remote locations, the company said.
The product features a battery-powered Bluetooth (BLE) gateway, facilitating hub and spoke implementations with BLE tags for supply chain, logistics, and reusable packaging applications tracking. Location services include GPS and cellular/Wi-Fi triangulation—allowing the AT6 to provide location detection indoors and out, the company said.
Contact: Jules Cassano, Airgain, media@airgain.com.
Coencorp Provides Fleet Management Platform for Canadian Transportation Hub
Coencorp is providing a fleet management platform for Canada’s SFP Pointe Noire. Some of the services Coencorp offers are fuel management, GPS telematics, and driver behavior data capture, the company said.
SFP Pointe Noire is a key railway and port logistical hub. Their fleet comprises of approximately 70 passenger vehicles, 30 heavy machinery and rail locomotives. Coencorp will also provide a mobile tanker system for fuel delivery to assets in the field, GPS tracking and historical trace of driver and equipment behavior with location data, the company said.
Contact: Ahmad Tavassoli, Coencorp, (450) 672-4222, etx. 203, ahmad@coencorp.com.
Semtech and DeveAppSol Offer Asset Tracking for Airport
Semtech Corporation [SMTC] and DevApp Tech Solutions are integrating the LoRaWAN protocol into their smart asset tracking product for luggage trolleys at Hyderabad International Airport. DevAppSol’s application uses private LoRaWAN networks to manage and track trolleys as they move throughout the airport grounds, the company said.
DevAppSol’s IoT deployment features 3,000 trolley sensors based on LoRa devices and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), as well as 100 LoRa-BLE concentrators, two outdoor and six indoor LoRaWAN gateways, the company said. Web applications allow airport staff to create management processes, including zoning, geo-fencing and energy saving.
Contact: Linh Dinh, Semtech Corporation, (805) 250-1263, ldinh@semtech.com, www.semtech.com.
People
Local Logic, a location intelligence platform for homebuyers, real estate professionals, and developers, said that Linda J. Isaacson has joined its board of directors, and Audrey Whittington has joined its leadership team as vice president of sales. Whittington previously was vice president of strategic data and vice president of business development for Move Inc.
Local Logic, which secured Series A funding last year, says it offers the single largest location intelligence data set in North America—more than 30 billion data points spanning more than 200 million properties.
Contact: Joe Gerace, (201) 465-8028, joe.gerace@antennagroup.com.