MAPPING

Mobile Mapping System
With integrated inertial labs INS/lidar

The Meridian mobile mapping system integrates the Mosaic X camera with Inertial Labs inertial navigation system (INS) and lidar to improve mapping accuracy.

The Meridian system offers panoramas with a 74 MP native resolution and 13.5 K resolution using precisely synchronized camera modules. The design minimizes image overlap to offer clearer and more consistent panoramas. The integrated INS system has a vertical accuracy of 2 cm to 3 cm and a precision of 2 cm to 4 cm.

It features seamless, out-of-the-box operations with fully integrated and calibrated components. The Meridian system is designed for ease of use and requires only minutes of training. In addition, it features a rugged design to ensure performance in challenging environments.

Mosaic, mosaic51.com

OEM

INS
Combines a GPS master clock with an INS

The Geo-APNT serves applications requiring precise navigation data and an accurate time reference. The Geo-APNT combines a versatile GPS master clock with an INS to
offer assured positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) under all circumstances, including temporary loss of GPS signal. It minimizes size, weight and power (SWaP) due to the integration of positioning and timing that are typically achieved by two independent subsystems.

It can be easily integrated into existing systems and supports RTK and PPK positioning and offers support for MEMS, fiber optic gyro and ring laser gyro inertial measurement units (IMUs). The system also includes GPS antenna and cables.

AEVEX Aerospace, aevex.com

Tactical-Grade IMUs

For unmanned applications

<p>The post Launchpad: Tactical-grade IMUs, Spirent simulator upgrades, atomic clocks and more first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Image: Iridium

Iridium Communications has expanded the commercial availability of its Satellite Time and Location (STL) service to parts of Europe and the Asia Pacific. This expansion is driven by increasing demand and aims to provide an alternative positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solution to protect critical infrastructure against GPS and Galileo spoofing and jamming. 

 The Iridium STL service, capable of operating globally, is designed to ensure the fidelity of timing systems with a signal 1,000 times more powerful than GPS. This makes it particularly suited for indoor use without the need for rooftop antennas, offering a secure and cost-effective solution for sectors such as transportation, energy grids, data centers, telecommunications networks and financial services. 

 The expansion follows a significant rise in GPS jamming and spoofing activities in Europe and parts of Asia, posing serious threats to critical infrastructure. The newly available STL service is designed to help safeguard essential systems and improve operational security and efficiency. 

 The STL solutions are designed to be small, cost-effective and easy to install. These solutions can be integrated into existing GNSS-reliant systems or used as stand-alone units. 

 With the expanded authorization, Iridium STL can now be purchased by companies in North America, parts of Europe and the Asia Pacific region. The company plans to continue scaling and training sales and support staff to further extend the service’s global reach. 

<p>The post Iridium expands Satellite Time and Location service to Europe and Asia Pacific first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Image: Safran Federal Systems

Due to the limited space available in print, I was able to use only used a small portion of the interviews I conducted for our July cover story. For full transcripts of them (totaling more than 12,000 words) see below:

• Safran Federal Systems (formerly Orolia Defense & Security) makes the VersaPNT, which fuses every available PNT source — including GNSS, inertial, and vision-based sensors and odometry. I spoke with spoke with Garrett Payne, Navigation Engineer.
• Xona Space Systems is developing a PNT constellation consisting of 300 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. It expects its service, called PULSAR, to provide all the services that legacy GNSS provide and more. I spoke with Jaime Jaramillo, Director of Commercial Services.
• Spirent Federal Systems and Spirent Communications are helping Xona develop its system by providing simulation and testing. I spoke with Paul Crampton, Senior Solutions Architect, Spirent Federal Systems as well as Jan Ackermann, Director, Product Line Management and Adam Price, Vice President – PNT Simulation at Spirent Communications.
• Oxford Technical Solutions develops navigation using inertial systems. I spoke with Paris Austin, Head of Product – New Technology.
• Satelles has developed Satellite Time and Location (STL), a PNT system that piggybacks on the Iridium low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. It can be used as a standalone solution where GNSS signals will not reach, such as indoors, or are otherwise unavailable. I spoke with Dr. Michael O’Connor, CEO.
• Locata has developed an alternative PNT (A-PNT) system that is completely independent from GNSS and is based on a network of local ground‐based transmitters called LocataLites. I spoke with Nunzio Gambale, founder, chairman, and CEO.

<p>The post Online Exclusive: PNT by Other Means first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Image: georgealmanza/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

This month’s column is an irresistible departure from sensible, autonomous UAVs and artificial intelligence (AI) news. We’re taking a small leap into who knows where.

How many of GPS World’s readers have interest in sci-fi, or at least are somewhat interested in the weird and wonderful stuff that shows up on some TV “reality” shows? Or maybe have a passing interest in the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, the U.S. Congress’s interest in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and now the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) of the Department of Defense (DOD)?

Yes, this a short meandering around what we now apparently call unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), but mostly because one of those reality shows made use of UAVs in an effort to find out how or why UAPs may be concentrated in a particular location. That’s a location in northeastern Utah where Robert Bigelow may have previously spent millions of dollars of the Pentagon’s money conducting a study on UFOs. You may have heard of Bigelow Aerospace and their efforts to build inflatable orbital space stations. Bigelow was apparently intent on finding a logical answer to the UFO phenomenon and may have been involved for a while in the gathering of UFO sighting data on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The UFO/UAP flame has apparently been carried since around 2020 by a “scientific team” that puts out a regular TV program called “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch,” which is broadcast on the History channel. There is a side of this program that also tries to deal with apparent paranormal “giant-red-eyed-wolf” activity at this location, but for today’s story, we are focusing on slightly more plausible, significant scientific efforts to identify UAP phenomena, not the less likely investigation of worm-holes at a site on the ranch (there goes all credibility, but please keep reading).

The cast of this show includes lead investigator, actor/scientist, Dr. Travis Taylor, who has two doctorates and three master’s degrees in engineering, physics and astronomy. He’s been involved with and has authored several articles in scientific journals, as well as nonfiction books and novels, appeared in TV presentations and worked for NASA and DOD on various programs.

The instruments of choice for this effort include forward-looking infra-red (FLIR), hand-held and UAV-mounted thermal and HD video cameras, wide-band frequency synthesizers and monitors, lidar scanners, and a data acquisition and display system that collects and analyzes all of the outputs of these systems, and GPS data. So, somewhat serious tech.

There are two areas on the ranch where UAP activity has been observed and has even been apparently stimulated by launching short-range rockets: a triangular intersection of three pathways or roads — referred to not surprisingly as the “Triangle” — and a field some distance off to the east, both at the foot of a mesa or flat-topped, raised area of land. As a side investigation, there were earlier efforts to determine what might lay buried inside the mesa, via video poked inside small caves, and then a horizontal drilling rig that apparently turned up exotic material similar to heat-shield re-entry coatings on spacecraft. This may be another diversion from the true search for UAPs, but then again maybe not.

Finally, some UAV involvement — a UAV aerial survey of the whole 512 acres of the Skinwalker site was carried out collecting data over a seven day period by VCTO Labs in Washington state with GPS RTK, acquiring the necessary 1 cm accuracy for a 3D model created by PIX4Dmatic processing.

DJI M300 embarks on Skinwalker aerial survey.
Image: Pete Kelsey

About 32,000 images were captured and the resulting 3D model is now used as the geolocation truth model for the site. Nevertheless, surveying efforts over the last three years may have been hampered by the loss of three UAVs, thought to be due to some form of electromagnetic interference that brought them down.

When the team focused on the Triangle, there seemed to be one “anomaly” of some description at the center of the area at about 2,500 ft. So, to stimulate the anomaly or to create some sort of reaction, high density lasers were located at the corners and focused at about 2,500 ft. With these beams highlighting the suspect area, a large rocket was fired straight up toward the focus point. After a launchpad explosion that destroyed the first rocket, another was hustled into position, and launched successfully. At about 1,000 ft, the rocket was diverted some 30° off to the side, with no apparent high-level winds or other apparent influence, perhaps from some sort of guidance error.

As a follow-up and to gain more insight into another anomaly found flying a hand-held lidar in a helicopter at 300 ft above the triangle, it was decided to bring in a UAV lightshow by Sky Elements Drone Shows — an outfit based in Fort Worth, Texas, associated with SPH Engineering in Riga, Latvia. They run a heap of UAV shows in the United States and ran a recent 600-UAV show for the coronation in the United Kingdom and claim to have worked in 75 countries around the world. The object of the UAV show at Skinwalker was to see whether any “anomalies” would affect UAV guidance, and obviously many lighted UAVs in formation at altitude would make for good TV. The show uses a GPS RTK set-up, and the drones are guided by u-blox M8P GPS/GLONASS GNSS receivers.

So, with a rocket launched and the 1.6 GHz signal detected — it may have also been rebroadcast — the Sky Elements UAVs were powered up, lit up, lifted off and flown to altitude above the Triangle. All seemed well with all 200 lighted UAVs hovering in the night sky until a couple of UAVs “disconnected” — presumably from the 5 GHz Wi-Fi control channel, which has a secondary 915 MHz back-up. Then pandemonium erupted as the whole UAV display collapsed from the middle section, and the UAVs returned to the ground. To be sure, the 200 lighted UAVs were spun up again, flown up to altitude, and after a few minutes, the drop-out happened again as the fleet of UAVs returned to the ground.

The UAV show was moved to the notorious East Field and everything was repeated. However, other than what looked like a timing error as one UAV left early and was joined at altitude by the rest of the two hundred UAVs, no anomalies disturbed the formation.

The Skinwalker research team had instrumented the four corner UAVs of the display with a separate GPS receiver (and radio link?), so that their recorded position data could be used for subsequent analysis. Therefore, when the team huddled round the replay of the Triangle show in their control room, they had access to the UAVs’ location data from all the UAVs and the GPS location information from the four corners. Unfortunately (for our purposes) or fortunately (for the team), as the video/data analysis ran, a UAP was noticed flying over the proceedings. The image was clear enough for Travis Taylor to come up with a drawing of it, similar to a foreshortened dumb-bell.

Other than noting that the GPS altitude data for the UAVs that landed had been recorded as negative, or below the surface of the ground, the drone show analysis was put aside for extensive review of the UAP video — after all, the whole effort is prioritized to stimulate and analyze UAP anomalies, right?

So, what could we make of all this? Certainly, for me, the presence of the 1.6 GHz signal seems to be an indication that the UAVs’ GPS receivers and the GPS RTK reference receiver may have been jammed at L1. However, for the UAVs to return to their ground location, they may be programmed to do so when GPS guidance is lost.

So, why didn’t they behave the same at the East Field? Perhaps the jamming signal was localized at or near the Triangle? So, the next step would be to determine where this 1.6 GHZ signal originates. If it is re-broadcast by the team it might be a good idea not to do so. The u-blox M8P receiver includes GLONASS, but it doesn’t sound like there was associated RTK for GLONASS, so when GPS RTK was lost, GLONASS positioning alone may not have been able to meet the requirements of formation flight. So, the UAVs probably default to return-to-base logic, even though they may dead-recon back to the ground?

I asked my friends in Latvia whether they could confirm this layman’s hypothesis, but they needed the logs stored on the UAVs from those shows, and they were not apparently downloaded. It seems like there might be an opportunity for a re-run with post-show access to the individual UAV logs.

What about the analysis of the apparent UAP? Now, I must go watch more Skinwalker Ranch shows.

<p>The post Spooky UAVs first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Innovation Insights with Richard Langley

While I’m likely preaching to the choir here, GNSS cannot work unless we have an accurate description of the orbits of the satellites and the behavior of their atomic clocks. The accuracy with which this information is provided to a receiver or data processing software is the most important component of the error budget of GNSS positioning, navigation and timing and constitutes most of what is known as the signal-in-space (SIS) range error.

Each GNSS satellite broadcasts a description of its orbit or ephemeris along with the offset of its active clock from the system’s time standard in a navigation message decoded and used by the receiver. These data are predictions of the orbit and clock offset as computed by the system’s ground control segment and uploaded to each satellite. A recent assessment by U.S. Space Systems Command of the GPS SIS error averaged across all active satellites for a one-week period was about 50 centimeters, root-mean-square. While this is entirely adequate for many GNSS uses, it falls short of the required accuracy for high-demanding applications such as surveying, geodesy, atmospheric sensing, reference frame studies and tectonic monitoring. Which is why various organizations both private and public compute very accurate orbits and clocks and provide these to users. These computations, using data from global receiver networks, are very exacting and model the tiniest effects on the (primarily) carrier-phase measurements these receivers provide.

These effects include the offset in the electrical phase centers of a GNSS satellite’s transmitting antenna from the satellite’s center of mass and how that varies with the direction of the signal from the satellite to a receiver on Earth. Furthermore, this behavior must be calibrated and modeled for each radio frequency that the satellite transmits. Another effect that must be accounted for are the perturbations caused by non-perfect yaw-steering of a satellite’s solar panels. These panels continuously track the Sun but they have difficulty keeping up at orbit noon and midnight. Accurate models of the actual yaw angle are very important for high-precision GNSS orbits. As if these model requirements were not enough, the effect of solar radiation pressure on satellite orbits must also be modeled. While they don’t have (rest) mass, photons have energy and this can be imparted to satellites when they impinge on them. While a single photon has a negligible effect, the billions upon billions of photons making up sunlight do have a noticeable effect on a GNSS satellite’s motion and must be accounted for by orbit models.

One organization producing precise orbits for GNSS satellites – arguably the most precise in the world – is the International GNSS Service (IGS), a voluntary federation of more than 200 agencies, universities and research institutions across the globe. Several of these organizations each produce precise orbits, which they submit to the IGS to establish orbit products. One of these organizations is the Navigation Support Office (NSO) at the European Space Agency’s European Space Operations Centre. In this quarter’s Innovation column, a team of NSO engineers discusses how they have improved the orbit modeling of the GPS III satellites by around a factor of two with estimated orbit errors of about 2 centimeters or less. Wizardry? Not really – just rocket science.

<p>The post Innovation Insights: Antennas and photons and orbits, oh my! first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Jamie Marraccini, president and CEO of Inertial Labs, sat down with GPS World for an exclusive interview regarding new upgrades to its products, its new partnership with Hesai Technology, and more. Check back soon for the video interview.

GPS World visited the Omnetics booth and spoke with Bret Newton, Business Development.

Staff of OxTS, a GPS World marketing partner, at their booth.

Jia Xu, CTO and senior director of UAS/UAM engineering at Honeywell, gave GPS World an exclusive interview regarding the company’s most recent developments, partnerships and more. Check back soon for the video interview.

<p>The post XPONENTIAL 2023: Day two recap first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Attendees crowded the show floor during the first day of AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2023.

AUVSI XPONENTIAL is underway in Denver, Colorado, at the Colorado Convention Center. After the first day of touring the XPO Hall of more than 600 exhibits and attending educational sessions lead by industry leaders and speakers, GPS World staff noticed a key theme: mitigating GNSS jamming and spoofing by advancing technology for UAVs.  

Educational Sessions

Franck Boynton, Vice President of NavTachGPS, highlighted Tallysman ‘s HC871SXF during his “Real World GPS/GNSS Protection from Start to Finish,” presentation.

“Real World GPS/GNSS Protection from Start to Finish,” was presented by Franck Boynton, Vice President of NavTechGPS. He discussed why anti-jam equipment is needed and how to mitigate jamming. Boynton mentioned several anti-jam products, such as NovAtel’s OEM series product line, Septentrio’s AIM+, Tallysman’s HC871SXF and more.

Additionally, GPS World contributing writer, Dana Goward, received a mention for his article regarding the GPS jamming incident on Jan 21, 2022, at Denver International Airport, which can be found here. Boynton also suggested checking out the RNT Foundation, which is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation that helps protect critical infrastructure by promoting resilient navigation and timing, of which Goward is the president and director.

“The Importance of GNSS Security in UAV Applications,” featured a panel of speakers that included (from left to right) Captain Joe Burns, CEO of the Airo Group and member of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board, Jeff Horne, vice president of security at Skydio Abigail Smith, executive director of UAS security at the FAA, Gustavo Lopez, market access manager at Septentrio, and moderated by Michael Glutting, sales manager at Septentrio.

“The Importance of GNSS Security in UAV Applications,” featured a panel of speakers that included Abigail Smith, executive director of UAS security at the FAA, Captain Joe Burns, CEO of the Airo Group and member of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board, Gustavo Lopez, market access manager at Septentrio, Jeff Horne, vice president of security at Skydio, and moderated by Michael Glutting, sales manager at Septentrio. During the panel discussion, the speakers explained types of GPS interference, including jamming and spoofing, and the risk they pose to UAVs. The latest methods for strengthening both GNSS receivers and control units to design secure and robust UAVs was also discussed.

Day-of highlights

Maddie Saines, managing editor, and Jesse Khalil, digital media specialist, had the opportunity to stop by several booths in the XPO Hall on the first day of XPONENTIAL. A few highlights from the day included speaking with Ahmet Salih Erdem, deputy general manager at Tualcom, getting an in-depth look at SBG Systems’ Quanta Mirco and Ekinox Micro with Yoann Plenet, head of product management, and getting a first-hand look into the newest products from Tallysman Wireless — such as SSL889XF — from Ken MacLeod, product manager for Tallysman.

SBG System’s Quanta Mirco and Ekinox Micro.

Ken MacLeod, product manager for Tallysman, showcasing the AJ977XF.

Tualcom’s booth at XPONENTIAL 2023 showcased new products such as ANTY, its GPS anti-jamming device.

<p>The post XPONENTIAL 2023: First day recap first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Image: Apple

Apple Products Meet Accuracy with GPS

Apple launched the Ultra Watch, which contains a dual-frequency GPS antenna that can receive L5 signals, as well as the iPhone 14, which features a dual-band GPS receiver combining the L1 and L5 signals. The company is also harnessing signals from more than 70 satellites to boost the accuracy of its services such as SOS alerts and alerting emergency responders, per The National News. The dual-frequency abilities of the new products provide accurate location for calculating distance, pace and routes. The L5 signals also are a critical component of Apple’s health and safety features, providing more accuracy than in previous products.

Image: dwi septiyana/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Collar Accidently Tracks Python

Wildlife researchers in Key Largo, Florida, accidently discovered a way to locate and eradicate invasive Burmese pythons, per WFLA News Channel 8. The team of researchers were observing racoons and possums that were fitted with tracking collars to note their behavior. After months of observation, a possum collar sent a mortality signal due to lack of movement. To the researchers’ surprise, the collar then started moving again. They later discovered the possum had been eaten by a python. While this was not the intent of the team’s research, they proved this could be an effective way to lower the increasing population of the invasive python species.

Image: Pavliha/ iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Remote-Sensing Finds Wild Camels

Scientist Liu Shaochuang and his team have used satellite remote-sensing technology to study and track wild camels. Shaochuang studies the interrelationship between endangered animals and their environments, which may help protect the species against climate change. To track a camel, Shaochuang attaches a GNSS-enabled collar, which transmits the camel’s location every day. The short message function is provided by China’s BeiDou satellite system, which transmits and receives signals in real time. Based on the data, Shaochuang and his team can observe migratory paths, living environments and possible threats.

Image: Screenshot of CNN video

Former South Carolina Attorney Convicted with Location Data

On March 3, Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing his son Paul Murdaugh and wife Maggie Murdaugh. With limited evidence, the prosecution used a phone video and vehicle navigation data to prove Alex’s guilt. During the trial, Alex claimed he was visiting his mother during the time the murders took place. However, General Motors OnStar data accessed by investigators from his Chevrolet Suburban contradicted the alibi, putting Alex at the scene of the crime during the time of the murders. Plus, in a smartphone video taken by Paul that night, Alex’s voice could be heard, placing him at the scene.

<p>The post Seen & Heard: Tracking pythons and wild camels first appeared on GPS World.</p>