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As of 31 March 2018, all new car and light van models sold in the EU have to be fitted with eCall devices that automatically alert rescue services in the event of an accident, sending their position. The aim of the system is to reduce the emergency response time for road accidents and to save lives.

eCall is activated automatically as soon as in-vehicle sensors detect a serious crash. Once activated, the system dials the European emergency number 112 and establishes a telephone link to the appropriate emergency call centre.

Leveraging EGNSS (Galileo and EGNOS), the system sends the time of incident, the accurate position of the crashed vehicle and the direction of travel to the emergency services, enabling the emergency responders to get to the accident site faster. An eCall can also be triggered manually by pushing a button in the car, for example by a witness to a serious accident.

GSA Guidelines

Ahead of the eCall launch, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in-house science service, published a set of guidelines to help the eCall industry value chain to pre-test the accuracy of their new devices and understand how to reap the benefits of Galileo.

Commenting on the eCall launch, GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides said that knowing the precise location of a road accident would speed up the emergency response. “Thanks also to EGNOS and Galileo, eCall will enable emergency response teams to locate an accident faster and with much greater accuracy, thereby saving more lives, an important day for Europe and Galileo!” he said.

In fact, it is estimated that eCall can speed up emergency response times by 40% in urban areas and 50% in the countryside and can reduce the number of fatalities by at least 4% and the number of severe injuries by 6%.

Background

Over 25,500 people were killed and 135,000 people were seriously injured in road accidents in the EU 2016, according to figures released by the European Commission. In addition to the tragedy of loss of life and injury, this also carries an economic burden of around EUR 130 billion in costs to society every year.

Against this backdrop, the estimated cost of eCall devices of less than EUR 100 per vehicle at the date of entry into force of the proposed regulation does not seem very high. Moreover, this cost is expected to decrease even further in the future, following cost trends for electronic components and also due to economies of scale.

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).

With European GNSS providing the positioning accuracy that drones need to operate safely, more and more drone-based applications are hitting the market. The GSA highlighted a number of these innovative services during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The integration of EGNOS and Galileo into drone and UAV technology enhances positioning and opens the door to a wide range of new applications and services. In fact, according to the latest edition of the European GNSS Agency’s (GSA) Market Report, by 2025 the installed base of GNSS devices in drones will reach 70 million – more than twice the sum of other professional market segments combined. But with this growing market comes growing concerns about how to ensure the safe operation of drones.

Luckily, European GNSS offers a solution.

To operate safely, today’s drones are increasingly dependent on the precise positioning and navigation information provided by EGNOS and Galileo. As a result, drones and UAVs are used for applications and services spanning from search and rescue to providing photovoltaic maintenance. They also represent a promising growth market for European GNSS. “Highly precise positioning is key for operating drones, and this is where Galileo and EGNOS can really make a difference - on one hand enhancing the precision in manoeuvring the drone and on the other making flying operations safer,” GSA Market Development Officer Carmen Aguilera said.

This growing role of drones was on full display during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where the GSA highlighted a number of Horizon 2020-funded drone and UAV applications that utilise EGNOS and Galileo:  

REAL

Researchers with the REAL project are developing EGNOS-based navigation and surveillance sensors for two Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), one for urgent medical transport and the other for providing linear powerline inspections. “REAL integrates EGNOS positioning in support of aviation and surveillance functions for UAVs,” explains project researcher Santiago Soley. “The idea is to exploit EGNOS’ positioning and, more importantly, the integrity that it provides.” 

EASY-PV

The EASY-PV project has developed a time-efficient and cost-effective maintenance solution for photovoltaic plants. Using a drone equipped with a European GNSS high-accuracy receiver, the system flies over a photovoltaic field and collects such relevant data as visible and thermal images. “This data is then automatically geo-referenced and processed, producing a detailed report on which modules need to be replaced,” explains project coordinator Marco Nisi.

GAUSS

To better regulate drone traffic in Europe, the EU has launched a UAV Traffic Management initiative. “GAUSS integrates EGNOS and Galileo’s navigation and location services into this initiative to provide the level of accuracy needed to safely position drones in the sky,” says project coordinator Jiménez González. 

GEOVISION

To increase emergency response times, GEO-VISION captures images and video streaming from the UAV, which are then sent to the pilot and routed in real-time to a control room. “In emergency search and rescue situations, everything is about time – the quicker you know what is happening, the faster you can respond to it,” says project coordinator Harald Skinnemoen. “GEOVISION results is an increased efficiency in emergency response, leading to more lives being saved.”

MAPKITE

This mapping-based project integrates drones with terrestrial mobile mapping systems to provide surveyors and mappers with an end-to- end solution for 3D high-resolution corridor mapping. “For drone applications such as MAPKITE, EGNOS is the standard for accuracy,” explains project coordinator Pere Molina. “Galileo plays an important role too, adding more satellites in view and by offering some resilience against hacking.”

ARGONAUT

ARGONAUT combines an advanced, multi-constellation GNSS receiver and a powerful navigation data processing cloud service for more accurate and affordable geolocation. “For us, the use of Galileo basically translates into being able to provide a better service,” says project coordinator Xavier Banqué-Casanovas. “Because ARGONAUT is a multi-constellation solution, we can offer drone users a more robust solution for overcoming such adverse scenarios as obstructions.”

Want to learn more about the role of European GNSS in drone applications and services? Stay tuned as our EGNOS, Galileo and Drones series takes a behind-the-scenes look at each of these projects in the coming weeks.  

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).

With European GNSS providing the positioning accuracy that drones need to operate safely, more and more drone-based applications are hitting the market. The GSA highlighted a number of these innovative services during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The integration of EGNOS and Galileo into drone and UAV technology enhances positioning and opens the door to a wide range of new applications and services. In fact, according to the latest edition of the European GNSS Agency’s (GSA) Market Report, by 2025 the installed base of GNSS devices in drones will reach 70 million – more than twice the sum of other professional market segments combined. But with this growing market comes growing concerns about how to ensure the safe operation of drones.

Luckily, European GNSS offers a solution.

To operate safely, today’s drones are increasingly dependent on the precise positioning and navigation information provided by EGNOS and Galileo. As a result, drones and UAVs are used for applications and services spanning from search and rescue to providing photovoltaic maintenance. They also represent a promising growth market for European GNSS. “Highly precise positioning is key for operating drones, and this is where Galileo and EGNOS can really make a difference - on one hand enhancing the precision in manoeuvring the drone and on the other making flying operations safer,” GSA Market Development Officer Carmen Aguilera said.

This growing role of drones was on full display during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where the GSA highlighted a number of Horizon 2020-funded drone and UAV applications that utilise EGNOS and Galileo:  

REAL

Researchers with the REAL project are developing EGNOS-based navigation and surveillance sensors for two Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), one for urgent medical transport and the other for providing linear powerline inspections. “REAL integrates EGNOS positioning in support of aviation and surveillance functions for UAVs,” explains project researcher Santiago Soley. “The idea is to exploit EGNOS’ positioning and, more importantly, the integrity that it provides.” 

EASY-PV

The EASY-PV project has developed a time-efficient and cost-effective maintenance solution for photovoltaic plants. Using a drone equipped with a European GNSS high-accuracy receiver, the system flies over a photovoltaic field and collects such relevant data as visible and thermal images. “This data is then automatically geo-referenced and processed, producing a detailed report on which modules need to be replaced,” explains project coordinator Marco Nisi.

GAUSS

To better regulate drone traffic in Europe, the EU has launched a UAV Traffic Management initiative. “GAUSS integrates EGNOS and Galileo’s navigation and location services into this initiative to provide the level of accuracy needed to safely position drones in the sky,” says project coordinator Jiménez González. 

GEOVISION

To increase emergency response times, GEO-VISION captures images and video streaming from the UAV, which are then sent to the pilot and routed in real-time to a control room. “In emergency search and rescue situations, everything is about time – the quicker you know what is happening, the faster you can respond to it,” says project coordinator Harald Skinnemoen. “GEOVISION results is an increased efficiency in emergency response, leading to more lives being saved.”

MAPKITE

This mapping-based project integrates drones with terrestrial mobile mapping systems to provide surveyors and mappers with an end-to- end solution for 3D high-resolution corridor mapping. “For drone applications such as MAPKITE, EGNOS is the standard for accuracy,” explains project coordinator Pere Molina. “Galileo plays an important role too, adding more satellites in view and by offering some resilience against hacking.”

ARGONAUT

ARGONAUT combines an advanced, multi-constellation GNSS receiver and a powerful navigation data processing cloud service for more accurate and affordable geolocation. “For us, the use of Galileo basically translates into being able to provide a better service,” says project coordinator Xavier Banqué-Casanovas. “Because ARGONAUT is a multi-constellation solution, we can offer drone users a more robust solution for overcoming such adverse scenarios as obstructions.”

Want to learn more about the role of European GNSS in drone applications and services? Stay tuned as our EGNOS, Galileo and Drones series takes a behind-the-scenes look at each of these projects in the coming weeks.  

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).