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The Horizon 2020 funded PRoPART project is developing an enhanced Real Time Kinematic (RTK) software solution for automated vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems. To do this, project researchers are combining some of Galileo’s distinguishing features with other positioning and sensor technologies.  

‘Vision Zero’ is a point in the future that is free of deadly and catastrophic motor vehicle accidents. Thanks to the development of automated vehicles and other advanced driver assistance systems, which are predicted to reduce traffic density and increase travel efficiency, this vision is quickly becoming a reality. 

However, before we can reach Vision Zero, we first need to develop the precise and robust positioning technology that these automated vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems demand – which is exactly what the GSA-funded Horizon 2020 PRoPART project has set out to do. 

Today’s autonomous vehicles use a variety of sensors, starting from GNSS but also including cameras, laser scanners, ultrasonic and radar. The connected and automated vehicle applications currently being developed depend on these systems being able to cooperate in order to determine the vehicle’s absolute position relative to any obstacles. 

“No single technology is capable of providing the required absolute positioning in all situations, and when we combine different technologies, it becomes vital that we understand the integrity of the available information,” explains Project Coordinator Stefan Nord. “The PRoPART project aims to develop and enhance an existing GNSS RTK (Real Time Kinematic) software solution by exploiting the distinguished features of Galileo signals, as well as combining it with other positioning and sensor technologies.” 

The GNSS benefit 

To provide this required integrity, PRoPART proposes an RTK technique that is already widely used for precise GNSS positioning based on the use of code and carrier phase measurements coming from the main GNSS constellations (i.e., GPS, Galileo). Although the use of carrier phase measurements allows for centimetre level accuracies, it also means one must confirm the integrity of such signals – which is a complex and time-consuming process. 

“One limitation with the RTK technique is that it requires reference data from a location relatively close to the user in order to mitigate against signal errors caused by, for example, satellite position error,” explains Nord. “Similar to all satellite positioning technologies there can also be areas with poor coverage or signal interference, such as in tunnels or urban canyons.” 

Luckily, Galileo ensures higher multipath mitigation and a substantial improvement on the reliability of the carrier phase’s ambiguity resolution. “By including Galileo, the PRoPART project will provide users with a deeply integrated, multi-constellation, multi-channel navigation system that fulfils the requirements on availability and precision for an automated driving function,” adds Nord.  The PRoPART project will also augment road infrastructure to provide the reference data required for high accuracy positioning.

Transition period

Nord notes that because there will be a transition period where a lot of vehicles are neither connected nor fully automated, there is a market need for solutions offering high impact during low penetration. PRoPART meets this market need by implementing a Road Side Unit, or RSU, with high precision positioning and that uses both UWB and a traffic monitoring sensor to supply ranging, object perception and EGNSS RTK correction data to the connected automated vehicle. “This allows the vehicle to make safe decisions based on robust data,” he says.

PRoPART will demonstrate its positioning solution using a truck capable of automated driving on motorway conditions.

The project is a consortium of seven partners: RISE, AstaZero, Scania, Waysure, Fraunhofer IIS, Ceit-IK4, Baselabs and Commsignia.

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).

Galileo Masters, or the European Satellite Navigation Competition, is seeking partners ready to play an integral part in building tomorrow’s innovative GNSS applications and services.

From the mobile phone in your hand to the drone in the air, from the connected car of tomorrow to the connected devices that make up the Internet of Things – behind all these applications is Galileo, Europe’s very own Global Satellite Navigation System. Since going live in 2016, users around the world are being guided using the positioning, navigation and timing information provided by Galileo’s satellite constellation.

The additional accuracy and availability provided by Galileo enables a range of new applications and services. Now is the time to take advantage of the many innovative opportunities that only Galileo makes possible, and one of the ways to do so is joining the European Satellite Navigation Competition.

The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) is an opportunity to transform your idea into a commercial solution. On a mission to spur the development of market-driven applications, the annual competition awards the best services, products and business ideas using satellite navigation – and Galileo in particular – in everyday life. Since its launch in 2004, over 11,500 people from 90 countries have participated in the ESNC, each of whom have been competing for a piece of the EUR 1 million prize pool. 

A unique opportunity 

Do you want to be at the forefront in innovation scouting and help support Europe’s leading entrepreneurs using Galileo? Get in touch with future-oriented start-ups addressing a specific GNSS-related topic of interest to your organisation? Or boost your region’s capacity for high-tech innovation? 

Then don’t miss this unique opportunity to become an official ESNC partner!

Event organiser AZO is currently seeking industry visionaries to join its list of 140 global partners and 200 international experts. “With Galileo now operational and the GSA being officially responsible for Galileo operations and its service provision, we are looking to shift the competition’s focus towards the commercialisation of Galileo,” says AZO Head of Competitions Kathrin Lenvain. “By opening Europe’s only Galileo innovation network to industry partners, we can offer them significant innovation and marketing benefits.”  

As a ESNC partner, you’ll play an integral part in building the innovative GNSS applications and services that will form the backbone of tomorrow’s digitally connected world. Specifically, industry partners will benefit from:

• Direct access to leading start-ups and top entrepreneurs with Galileo-enabled business cases and the potential to become future business partners

• Insight on emerging trends in technology and the latest innovation ideas

• Being part of a network that includes Europe’s top space stakeholders, including the European GNSS Agency (GSA), European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Centre and other national space agencies

• Invitations to exclusive networking events, including the Space Oscars

• Promotion through a network of more than 20 involved regions and events from across Europe

“In addition, our partners are directly involved in the evaluation of proposals, giving them a unique first look at the competition’s best business cases,” adds Lenvain. “Partners can become even more involved by organising their own dedicated challenge and prize, similar to what the GSA, a long-time partner, does with its Galileo Special Prize.”

The 2018 competition is already open to industry partners to join. To learn more about all our unique partnership opportunities, please visit https://www.esnc.eu/partners/ 

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).