December 2016 - GPS World

UK startup Focal Point offers smartphone positioning technologies

December 19, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

U.K.-startup Focal Point Positioning has unveiled two new positioning technologies. S-GPS and D-Tail represent step changes in consumer GPS processing and smartphone indoor positioning, the company said. S-GPS is a new signal processing, sensor fusion and machine learning scheme that dramatically improves the accuracy and availability of satellite-based positioning signals, the company said. The patent-pending S-GPS technology provides increased sensitivity... read more

This article is tagged with emergency call, LBS, location-based services, multipath, smartphone and posted in Latest News, Mobile

Vertical RTK system increases accuracy for agriculture

December 19, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

Trimble has launched a patent-pending VerticalPoint RTK system for grade control in agriculture. VerticalPoint RTK provides significantly enhanced vertical accuracy and stability of standard single-baseline RTK systems reducing the downtime and costly delays experienced by many agriculture land improvement contractors today. VerticalPoint RTK is available in North America and Australia as an unlock on the Trimble FmX integrated and TMX-2050... read more

This article is tagged with agriculture, machine control, real-time kinematic, RTK, Trimble and posted in Latest News, Machine Control/Ag

How to use structure from motion to produce 3D models

December 19, 2016 - By Eric Gakstatter

Structure from motion (SfM) is a photogrammetric range imaging technique for estimating three-dimensional structures from two-dimensional image sequences that may be coupled with local motion signals, according to Wikipedia, which I think is reasonably accurate in this case. Simply put, one can snap a series of photographs using the camera in your smartphone, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or other photographic... read more

This article is tagged with 3D models, Autodesk, UAV and posted in GSS Monthly, UAS/UAV

Galileo declares Initial Services

December 15, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

At a Dec. 15 ceremony in Brussels titled “Galileo Goes Live,” two high officials of the European Commission issued the Galileo Initial Services Declaration. The Declaration of Initial Services means that the Galileo satellites and ground infrastructure are now operationally ready. These signals will be highly accurate but not available all the time, since the constellation is not yet complete... read more

This article is tagged with EC, ESA, European Commission, European GNSS Agency, European Space Agency, Galileo, GNSS, GNSS receiver, GSA and posted in GNSS, Latest News

Orolia fortifies resilient PNT with Satelles satellite time and location signal

December 15, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

A strategic alliance announced on Dec. 15 between Orolia and Satelles includes product development and go-to-market activities of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions provided by the Iridium satellite constellation, independent of GPS/GNSS signals. The companies intend to provide PNT solutions to military, defense, government and commercial customers worldwide. Orolia, the parent of GNSS-active companies Spectracom and Spectratime, among others,... read more

This article is tagged with APNT, Iridium, jamming, obstructed environment, Orolia, PNT, Satelles, Spectracom and posted in Defense, Featured Stories, GNSS, Latest News, Mobile

New golf rangefinder wearables use u-blox inside

December 15, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

U‑blox components are at the core of two new GNSS golf products. The golf rangefinder wearables were launched by Voice Caddie, an international brand of rangefinders and trackers based in South Korea. The T3 Hybrid Golf GPS Watch uses the compact u‑blox UBX‑G7020‑KT professional‑grade GNSS chip, which links with GPS/QZSS or GLONASS satellite systems. The B1 GPS Band uses the u‑blox... read more

This article is tagged with GNSS module, golf, smart watch, u-blox and posted in Latest News, Mobile, OEM

NASA launches micro satellites with GNSS receivers for remote weather sensing

December 15, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

Surrey Satellite Technology’s Space GNSS Receiver Remote Sensing Instrument (SGR-ReSI) is the primary payload onboard NASA’s CYGNSS constellation, launched today, Dec. 15, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission is part of the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Program that aims to improve extreme weather prediction by studying how tropical cyclones... read more

This article is tagged with CYGNSS, GNSS reflectometry, GNSS-R, NASA, Surrey Satellite Technology, weather forecasting and posted in Featured Stories, GNSS, Latest News, Mapping

US Air Force approves Lockheed’s ground control upgrade for GPS III

December 15, 2016 - By GPS World Staff

The U.S. Air Force approved Lockheed Martin’s design to upgrade the current GPS satellite ground control system with new capabilities that will enable it to operate more powerful and accurate GPS III satellites. The successful Critical Design Review (CDR) for the Contingency Operations (COps) contract, completed on Nov. 17, gives Lockheed Martin a green light to proceed with software development... read more

This article is tagged with GPS III, Ground Control System, Lockheed Martin, OCX, U.S. Air Force, USAF and posted in GNSS, Latest News