Seen & Heard: Autonomous rides in LA, UAV show destroyed by jamming and more

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

Waymo opens autonomous rides in LA

Photo: Waymo

Waymo has launched its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Los Angeles, available 24/7, following a waitlist of nearly 300,000 users before its rollout. The service covers nearly 80 square miles of Los Angeles County, including Santa Monica, Hollywood Boulevard and the University of Southern California. Waymo plans to expand its coverage as it scales its operations.

UAV show destroyed by jamming

Photo: Chesky_W / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

A large UAV show in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, ended in disaster when hundreds of UAVs crashed due to GNSS jamming. The event, intended to celebrate the city’s history with 2,000 UAVs equipped with low-altitude fireworks, faced significant disruptions when a camera drone entered the area without notifying authorities, leading them to mistakenly jam the signal. This incident resulted in an estimated loss of more than 10 million yuan ($1.4 million)

ISPRA project unveils coastal habitats of Italy

Photo: ISPRA

The PNRR MER A16-A18 project, led by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), has released its first preliminary data for mapping Italian coastal habitats through the WebGIS Virgeo cartographic platform. The project focuses on mapping the growth of the Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa meadows, which are crucial for biodiversity. Using high-resolution satellite imagery, lidar sensors and autonomous unmanned vehicles, the project is creating a comprehensive database for marine coastal ecosystem management and protection.

Celestial navigation system for UAVs

Photo: Cpl. Harrison Rakhshani

Researchers at the University of South Australia have developed a celestial navigation system for UAVs. The new system combines visual observations of the stars with standard autopilot technologies. In tests of the system using a fixed-wing UAV, researchers could pinpoint its position within 2.5 miles. This technology can be deployed by UAVs in GPS-compromised or denied areas by eliminating the need for GPS.