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Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), including Galileo, play a key role in the Internet of Things (IoT), and positioning, velocity and timing information supports a wide range of context-aware applications, from drones and driverless cars to asset tracking. At a webinar hosted by the Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI) on November 29, representatives from the GSA will explain how the IoT can benefit from Galileo’s unique features.

The Alliance for Internet Of Things Innovation (AIOTI) is an European organisation created to strengthen dialogue and interaction among IoT players and counting among its members an important number of global and European industry players and research centres active in the IoT domain. GSA in cooperation with AIOTI is organizing a dedicated webinar addressing the important benefits that Galileo can bring to the IoT community. 

In recent years, access to GNSS technology has developed exponentially, quickly progressing from the appearance of the first GPS navigation equipment to the current situation, with more than 6 billion GNSS devices available globally. What’s more, the arrival of the IoT has considerably increased the number of services and applications that require positioning information.

Key development areas

GNSS supports real-time, accurate tracking, timing, and other machine-to-machine communication. The current location performance is sufficient to support many applications, but as the IoT market expands, so will the demands placed on GNSS systems. The IoT and the self-driving cars and drones of tomorrow will all require more accuracy, ubiquity of location both indoors and outdoors, and security of location data, all with the lowest possible power consumption. 

Read this: GNSS a key element of all-purpose, user-driven positioning solutions

With such a wide range of applications, innovation around positioning is evolving along three main paths. First of all, there is ubiquitous location, where the aim is to be able to locate people and objects at anytime, anywhere. The second area of development is the automation of positioning systems, enabling systems to sense their environment and react to it in real time. Finally, there is security of positioning. This is particularly important in liability-critical applications such as autonomous driving, where hacking threats can put people’s lives in danger. 

What Galileo brings to the table

On 29 November 2018, at 14:00, the GSA’s Deputy Head of Market Development Fiammetta Diani and Justyna Redelkiewicz Musial, in charge of LBS and IoT market development at the GSA, will talk about Galileo’s unique features for IoT, including signal authentication to prevent spoofing, additional frequencies for better accuracy in urban environments, and high accuracy service for more demanding applications. 

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn how your IoT solution can benefit from Galileo. Register today by following this link.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

A first series of Reports on User Needs and Requirements on position, navigation and time has been published on the European GNSS Service Centre web portal in the section “GSA Publications”. The publication of this series paves the way to the 2018 edition of the User Consultation Platform to be held in Marseille on 3-4 December 2018 as part of European Space Week.

The User Consultation Platform (UCP) is a periodic forum organised by the European Commission and the GSA that aims at listening to users’ needs and feedback. The event is a part of a process developed at the GSA to collect user needs and requirements and take them as inputs to support the provision of user-driven Galileo and EGNOS services.

In preparation for the next UCP, which will take place in Marseille on 3-4 December 2018, a total of eight reports are being published:

• Report on Aviation User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Maritime and Inland Waterways User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Location-Based Services User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Agriculture User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Surveying User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Time & Synchronization User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Rail User Needs and Requirements;
• Report on Road User Needs and Requirements.

The reports are available in the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) website, in the Electronic Library under the “GSA Publications” section.

All the reports are structured in the same way: they start with an overview of the GNSS trends applicable to the segment in question, an in-depth analysis of the user needs and requirements, and finalising with a user requirements specification applicable to the particular market segment.

Finally, as the reports are publicly available, they serve also as a reference for users and industry, supporting planning and decision-making activities for those concerned with the use of location technologies.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Positioning and mapping technologies are converging and integrating as never before, enabling developers to deliver innovative high added-value applications and services, according to participants in the 5th edition of Technology for All, a forum dedicated to technological innovation in support of the environment, cultural heritage and smart cities, which was held at Rome’s Higher Institute for Firefighting (Istituto Superiore Antincendi) on 3-5 October.

At the event, which brought together over a hundred industrial stakeholders, public administrators, researchers and students, participants discussed how positioning, navigation and imagery technologies are being used to enable applications in the public sector and in other areas, such as autonomous machines, and military and civilian robotic applications.

Galileo added value

Speaking at a session on Position, Navigation and Timing: accurate position for safety, Gian Gherardo Calini, Head of Market Development at the European GNSS Agency (GSA), said that the global satellite navigation market had seen strong growth recently and it is expected that by 2020 the number of devices equipped with satellite positioning would reach 8 billion, creating ‘numerous opportunities’ for application developers to provide high value-added services.

Read this: GNSS a key element of all-purpose, user-driven positioning solutions

“Satellite navigation services already touch our daily lives and are generating economic and social benefits, with the European satellite navigation programmes Galileo and EGNOS being adopted by many users in various fields, such as transport, consumer and professional services,” Calini said. This was thanks to the GSA’s market outreach work and to the development of new applications by European companies leveraging the unique features of EGNOS and Galileo.

“There are many other development opportunities where Galileo can bring added value, such as in autonomous vehicles and in smart cities”, Calini said, adding that “the GSA is committed to keep the fruitful cooperation with European business to improve competitiveness and reach new heights”.

Interest in high-precision GNSS

Speaking about the high positioning accuracy of GNSS receivers, Marco Lisi from the European Space Agency said that there had been a significant increase in interest in high-precision GNSS in recent months.
“In particular, this increased demand for greater positioning accuracy is evident for mass-market applications in areas such as IoT, wearable tracking devices, assisted and autonomous driving, UAV and robotic vehicles,” he said.

Watch this: Who is using Galileo today?

Mass market revolution

Meanwhile, Lisi noted that the world of GNSS handset and chipset manufacturing is experiencing a small revolution. “Four major companies - Broadcom, Intel, STMicroelectronics and u-blox - have decided to make Galileo dual-frequency receivers commercially available to mass market applications, offering positioning accuracy of up to 30 centimetres,” he said, adding that several flagship smartphone manufacturers would integrate these into their products in the course of 2018.

Roberto Capua, responsible for GNSS R&D at Sogei, the technological partner of Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, presented a GNSS-enabled software defined radio (SDR) receiver that has been extensively tested in the area of Rome to verify its usability for cadastral survey. “The test showed the usefulness of this technology, which is comparable with hardware receivers,” he said, adding that convergence time could be reduced in future by using different constellations and frequencies.

Finally, GNSS and Earth Observation applications presented at Technology for All 2018, demonstrated that Space technologies help to protect and monitor both the natural and built environment, with a view to guaranteeing our heritage for future generations.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Positioning and mapping technologies are converging and integrating as never before, enabling developers to deliver innovative high added-value applications and services, according to participants in the 5th edition of Technology for All, a forum dedicated to technological innovation in support of the environment, cultural heritage and smart cities, which was held at Rome’s Higher Institute for Firefighting (Istituto Superiore Antincendi) on 3-5 October.

At the event, which brought together over a hundred industrial stakeholders, public administrators, researchers and students, participants discussed how positioning, navigation and imagery technologies are being used to enable applications in the public sector and in other areas, such as autonomous machines, and military and civilian robotic applications.

Galileo added value

Speaking at a session on Position, Navigation and Timing: accurate position for safety, Gian Gherardo Calini, Head of Market Development at the European GNSS Agency (GSA), said that the global satellite navigation market had seen strong growth recently and it is expected that by 2020 the number of devices equipped with satellite positioning would reach 8 billion, creating ‘numerous opportunities’ for application developers to provide high value-added services.

Read this: GNSS a key element of all-purpose, user-driven positioning solutions

“Satellite navigation services already touch our daily lives and are generating economic and social benefits, with the European satellite navigation programmes Galileo and EGNOS being adopted by many users in various fields, such as transport, consumer and professional services,” Calini said. This was thanks to the GSA’s market outreach work and to the development of new applications by European companies leveraging the unique features of EGNOS and Galileo.

“There are many other development opportunities where Galileo can bring added value, such as in autonomous vehicles and in smart cities”, Calini said, adding that “the GSA is committed to keep the fruitful cooperation with European business to improve competitiveness and reach new heights”.

Interest in high-precision GNSS

Speaking about the high positioning accuracy of GNSS receivers, Marco Lisi from the European Space Agency said that there had been a significant increase in interest in high-precision GNSS in recent months.

“In particular, this increased demand for greater positioning accuracy is evident for mass-market applications in areas such as IoT, wearable tracking devices, assisted and autonomous driving, UAV and robotic vehicles,” he said.

Watch this: Who is using Galileo today?

Mass market revolution

Meanwhile, Lisi noted that the world of GNSS handset and chipset manufacturing is experiencing a small revolution. “Four major companies - Broadcom, Intel, STMicroelectronics and u-blox - have decided to make Galileo dual-frequency receivers commercially available to mass market applications, offering positioning accuracy of up to 30 centimetres,” he said, adding that several flagship smartphone manufacturers would integrate these into their products in the course of 2018.

Roberto Capua, responsible for GNSS R&D at Sogei, the technological partner of Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, presented a GNSS-enabled software defined radio (SDR) receiver that has been extensively tested in the area of Rome to verify its usability for cadastral survey. “The test showed the usefulness of this technology, which is comparable with hardware receivers,” he said, adding that convergence time could be reduced in future by using different constellations and frequencies.

Finally, GNSS and Earth Observation applications presented at Technology for All 2018, demonstrated that Space technologies help to protect and monitor both the natural and built environment, with a view to guaranteeing our heritage for future generations.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is partnering with GNSS receiver manufacturer Septentrio to award a prize in the ERL Emergency Local Tournament 2019, which aims to foster advanced developments of autonomous capabilities and seamless navigation for emergency robotic systems.

The European Robotics League (ERL) is an innovative robot competition that stems from its predecessors - the euRathlon and RoCKIn competitions - and focuses on tasks that robots must execute in realistic emergency situations. The competition is composed of multiple local tournaments, held in different locations across Europe, in addition to a few major events.

The first of the ERL Emergency challenges was announced in July 2018, and focused on land and sea robotic systems. The second, the deadline for which has been extended until 29 October, will be held in February 2019 at the premises of the Advanced Centre for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) in Seville, Spain. This time the challenge will include air and land robots working in an outdoor/indoor environment. You can find more information about the challenges here.

Read this: Integrating GNSS in UAVs for faster SAR

Teams participate in a minimum of two tournaments (local and/or major) per year and get scores based on their performances. Each team’s top two tournament scores are then added together and the teams are ranked based on their cumulative score. Prizes for the top teams are awarded at the following year’s European Robotics Forum (ERF).

GSA-Septentrio Prize

The GSA will award a special prize at ERL Emergency 2019 focusing on robots that make use of solutions based on Galileo and EGNOS. This year, the Agency is partnering with the receiver manufacturer Septentrio, which will offer an AsteRx-i S receiver to the winning team.
Septentrio designs and manufactures highly accurate GNSS receivers for demanding applications requiring accuracies in the decimetre or centimetre range, even under difficult conditions. With its size, weight and power consumption, the AsteRx-i S is ideal for applications such as inspection with UAV's, UAS photogrammetry, automation, robotics and logistics.

“Whether it’s on the high seas, in scintillation prone areas or at high latitudes, our customers know that Septentrio receivers deliver fast, accurate and reliable positions. Our clients are active in urban canyons, under canopies or even under circumstances where there is deliberate interference, we make robust receivers to help our customers excel. It’s our long term vision to enable our customers’ success with GNSS,” said Septentrio Global Marketing Communications Manager Bas Broothaerts.

The challenge

The challenge this year is different depending on whether the teams work with air or land robots. For air robots, this challenge will involve two types of tasks: horizontal accuracy in landings at a specific geographic coordinate; and vertical accuracy while hovering at a specific geographic coordinate. For land robots, there will be only one type of task - horizontal accuracy during waypoint-based navigation.

Visual markers will be used to support the assessment of both types of task. To be eligible for the award, a team must have executed valid trials of the tasks. The team deemed to have achieved the best results will be declared the winner. For information on Galileo capable receivers and navigation kits for robotic systems visit https://www.usegalileo.eu/EN/.

Last chance to register!

If you are interested in participating in this ERL Emergency Local Tournament, you should register your team here by the deadline of October 29. For more information, click here.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).