zprávy

To maximise the adoption of Galileo and EGNOS, the third Horizon 2020 call focuses on the development of user-oriented, downstream applications. Priority is also given to projects capable of stimulating the competitiveness of the European GNSS downstream industry.

Specifically, the call addresses four European GNSS topics, three within Innovation Action (IA) and the fourth in Coordination and Support Actions (CSA).

GALILEO-1-2017: EGNSS Transport applications (IA): Covering the aviation, road, maritime and rail market segments. Proposals should be built on:

• Exploitation of the EGNSS signals and operational advantages;
• Implementation of EGNSS based pilot projects and end-to-end solutions;
• Standards, certification, legal and societal acceptance;
• Exploitation of synergies with other positioning and navigation systems and techniques.

GALILEO-2-2017: EGNSS mass market applications (IA): Applications that foster the adoption of EGNOS and Galileo in such mass markets as Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Emergency Services and Commercial and Social LBS. Proposals should make the best use of European GNSS’ features that improve performances in urban environments; multi-constellation, fusion with other positioning techniques; Authentication services of Galileo and techniques to optimise the power consumption.

GALILEO-3-2017: EGNSS professional applications (IA): Maximising EGNSS differentiators in such professional segments as agriculture, surveying and mapping, timing and synchronisation and other professional applications. For all the professional areas, the development should be built on:

• Multiple-frequencies E1, E5 and E6;
• Galileo signal modulation, e.g. AltBOC;
• High precision and authentication services that will be provided by Galileo,
• Fusion with other data, such as from earth observation satellites or other in-situ sensors.

GALILEO-4-2017: EGNSS awareness raising and capacity building (CSA): To support the building of industrial relationships, the competitiveness of EU industry and the creation of incentive schemes in order to develop market opportunities and foster the emergence of new downstream applications.

As small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the development of innovative GNSS applications, this call encourages SMEs and entrepreneurs to apply .

Note: the scope of this call does not include proposals addressing applications relating to the Public Regulated Service (PRS).

The details

Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s programme for research and innovation, with a focus on securing Europe’s global competitiveness. The projects coming from this third call will be managed by the GSA per the delegation agreement with the European Commission.
All applications should promote innovation, demonstrate a clear advantage of using Galileo and EGNOS, and include synergies with other GNSS programmes. Proposals should aim at the definition and implementation of pilot projects and development of those European GNSS-enabled applications that are close to the market and driven by user requirements with a high societal benefit and a potential to eventually set common standards in the field of GNSS applications. Proposals should have a clear intention and rationale to commercialise the products and services developed, including a business plan.

The H2020-Galileo-2017-1 Call opened on 8 November 2016 and the final and complete form of proposals must be submitted by 1 March 2017, 17:00:00 (Brussels local time). All applications are evaluated by the external experts at GSA’s headquarters in Prague on the basis of excellence, impact, quality and efficiency of implementation.

For information related to eligibility and admissibility conditions, submission and evaluation process, rules for funding, guide manuals, templates, etc., please visit the official European Commission Participation Portal.

H2020 Space Information Days

As was highlighted at a recent H2020 Space Information Days, held 4 – 5 October in Prague, the first two calls of H2020-Galileo received 194 proposals from 1,409 applicants, with over EUR 65 million awarded to 40 projects. Already these projects are delivering tangible results, with four patents granted, 20 advanced prototypes produced, two products nearing market readiness and 223 scientific papers published.

With the application period happening in parallel with the declaration of Galileo Initial Services, its role within this call was a topic of particular interest. According the GSA, applications should have a special focus on using Initial Services and the real Galileo signal. It was also noted that, when possible, projects should aim to leverage the synergies between GNSS and Copernicus.

Over 200 attended the two day workshop, which included detailed descriptions of the four topics, networking opportunities and success stories from the first two calls. Attendees were also able to ask questions about the submission, financial and evaluation processes.

Presentations can be found 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).

To maximise the adoption of Galileo and EGNOS, the third Horizon 2020 call focuses on the development of user-oriented, downstream applications. Priority is also given to projects capable of stimulating the competitiveness of the European GNSS downstream industry.

Specifically, the call addresses four European GNSS topics, three within Innovation Action (IA) and the fourth in Coordination and Support Actions (CSA).

GALILEO-1-2017: EGNSS Transport applications (IA): Covering the aviation, road, maritime and rail market segments. Proposals should be built on:

• Exploitation of the EGNSS signals and operational advantages;
• Implementation of EGNSS based pilot projects and end-to-end solutions;
• Standards, certification, legal and societal acceptance;
• Exploitation of synergies with other positioning and navigation systems and techniques.

GALILEO-2-2017: EGNSS mass market applications (IA): Applications that foster the adoption of EGNOS and Galileo in such mass markets as Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Emergency Services and Commercial and Social LBS. Proposals should make the best use of European GNSS’ features that improve performances in urban environments; multi-constellation, fusion with other positioning techniques; Authentication services of Galileo and techniques to optimise the power consumption.

GALILEO-3-2017: EGNSS professional applications (IA): Maximising EGNSS differentiators in such professional segments as agriculture, surveying and mapping, timing and synchronisation and other professional applications. For all the professional areas, the development should be built on:

• Multiple-frequencies E1, E5 and E6;
• Galileo signal modulation, e.g. AltBOC;
• High precision and authentication services that will be provided by Galileo,
• Fusion with other data, such as from earth observation satellites or other in-situ sensors.

GALILEO-4-2017: EGNSS awareness raising and capacity building (CSA): To support the building of industrial relationships, the competitiveness of EU industry and the creation of incentive schemes in order to develop market opportunities and foster the emergence of new downstream applications.

As small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the development of innovative GNSS applications, this call encourages SMEs and entrepreneurs to apply.

Note:  UK legal entities are eligible to participate and receive fundiing in Horizon 2020 actions.

The scope of this call does not include proposals addressing applications relating to the Public Regulated Service (PRS).

The details

Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s programme for research and innovation, with a focus on securing Europe’s global competitiveness. The projects coming from this third call will be managed by the GSA per the delegation agreement with the European Commission.
All applications should promote innovation, demonstrate a clear advantage of using Galileo and EGNOS, and include synergies with other GNSS programmes. Proposals should aim at the definition and implementation of pilot projects and development of those European GNSS-enabled applications that are close to the market and driven by user requirements with a high societal benefit and a potential to eventually set common standards in the field of GNSS applications. Proposals should have a clear intention and rationale to commercialise the products and services developed, including a business plan.

The H2020-Galileo-2017-1 Call opened on 8 November 2016 and the final and complete form of proposals must be submitted by 1 March 2017, 17:00:00 (Brussels local time). All applications are evaluated by the external experts at GSA’s headquarters in Prague on the basis of excellence, impact, quality and efficiency of implementation.

For information related to eligibility and admissibility conditions, submission and evaluation process, rules for funding, guide manuals, templates, etc., please visit the official European Commission Participation Portal.

H2020 Space Information Days

As was highlighted at a recent H2020 Space Information Days, held 4 – 5 October in Prague, the first two calls of H2020-Galileo received 194 proposals from 1,409 applicants, with over EUR 65 million awarded to 40 projects. Already these projects are delivering tangible results, with four patents granted, 20 advanced prototypes produced, two products nearing market readiness and 223 scientific papers published.

With the application period happening in parallel with the declaration of Galileo Initial Services, its role within this call was a topic of particular interest. According the GSA, applications should have a special focus on using Initial Services and the real Galileo signal. It was also noted that, when possible, projects should aim to leverage the synergies between GNSS and Copernicus.

Over 200 attended the two day workshop, which included detailed descriptions of the four topics, networking opportunities and success stories from the first two calls. Attendees were also able to ask questions about the submission, financial and evaluation processes.

Presentations can be found 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).

To maximise the adoption of Galileo and EGNOS, the third Horizon 2020 call focuses on the development of user-oriented, downstream applications. Priority is also given to projects capable of stimulating the competitiveness of the European GNSS downstream industry.

Specifically, the call addresses four European GNSS topics, three within Innovation Action (IA) and the fourth in Coordination and Support Actions (CSA).

GALILEO-1-2017: EGNSS Transport applications (IA): Covering the aviation, road, maritime and rail market segments. Proposals should be built on:

• Exploitation of the EGNSS signals and operational advantages;
• Implementation of EGNSS based pilot projects and end-to-end solutions;
• Standards, certification, legal and societal acceptance;
• Exploitation of synergies with other positioning and navigation systems and techniques.

GALILEO-2-2017: EGNSS mass market applications (IA): Applications that foster the adoption of EGNOS and Galileo in such mass markets as Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Emergency Services and Commercial and Social LBS. Proposals should make the best use of European GNSS’ features that improve performances in urban environments; multi-constellation, fusion with other positioning techniques; Authentication services of Galileo and techniques to optimise the power consumption.

GALILEO-3-2017: EGNSS professional applications (IA): Maximising EGNSS differentiators in such professional segments as agriculture, surveying and mapping, timing and synchronisation and other professional applications. For all the professional areas, the development should be built on:

• Multiple-frequencies E1, E5 and E6;
• Galileo signal modulation, e.g. AltBOC;
• High precision and authentication services that will be provided by Galileo,
• Fusion with other data, such as from earth observation satellites or other in-situ sensors.

GALILEO-4-2017: EGNSS awareness raising and capacity building (CSA): To support the building of industrial relationships, the competitiveness of EU industry and the creation of incentive schemes in order to develop market opportunities and foster the emergence of new downstream applications.

As small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the development of innovative GNSS applications, this call encourages SMEs and entrepreneurs to apply.

Note:  UK legal entities are eligible to participate and receive fundiing in Horizon 2020 actions.

The scope of this call does not include proposals addressing applications relating to the Public Regulated Service (PRS).

The details

Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s programme for research and innovation, with a focus on securing Europe’s global competitiveness. The projects coming from this third call will be managed by the GSA per the delegation agreement with the European Commission.
All applications should promote innovation, demonstrate a clear advantage of using Galileo and EGNOS, and include synergies with other GNSS programmes. Proposals should aim at the definition and implementation of pilot projects and development of those European GNSS-enabled applications that are close to the market and driven by user requirements with a high societal benefit and a potential to eventually set common standards in the field of GNSS applications. Proposals should have a clear intention and rationale to commercialise the products and services developed, including a business plan.

The H2020-Galileo-2017-1 Call opened on 8 November 2016 and the final and complete form of proposals must be submitted by 1 March 2017, 17:00:00 (Brussels local time). All applications are evaluated by the external experts at GSA’s headquarters in Prague on the basis of excellence, impact, quality and efficiency of implementation.

For information related to eligibility and admissibility conditions, submission and evaluation process, rules for funding, guide manuals, templates, etc., please visit the official European Commission Participation Portal.

H2020 Space Information Days

As was highlighted at a recent H2020 Space Information Days, held 4 – 5 October in Prague, the first two calls of H2020-Galileo received 194 proposals from 1,409 applicants, with over EUR 65 million awarded to 40 projects. Already these projects are delivering tangible results, with four patents granted, 20 advanced prototypes produced, two products nearing market readiness and 223 scientific papers published.

With the application period happening in parallel with the declaration of Galileo Initial Services, its role within this call was a topic of particular interest. According the GSA, applications should have a special focus on using Initial Services and the real Galileo signal. It was also noted that, when possible, projects should aim to leverage the synergies between GNSS and Copernicus.

Over 200 attended the two day workshop, which included detailed descriptions of the four topics, networking opportunities and success stories from the first two calls. Attendees were also able to ask questions about the submission, financial and evaluation processes.

Presentations can be found 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).

The first ever European GNSS Agency (GSA) Galileo Hackathon brought together teams of passionate coders and geo enthusiasts from around the world to compete for some impressive prizes. The venue was Berlin’s Beuth University of Applied Sciences on 3 and 4 November during the sixth WhereCamp ‘unconference’ dedicated to geolocation enthusiasts and professionals. All the Hackathon competitors received a Galileo-ready BQ Smartphone and a certificate, while the two winning teams also each collected a €500 cash prize.

WhereCamp Berlin on 3 and 4 November was the place to be for movers and shakers shaping the future of Location Based Services (LBS) and Geo-IoT (Geolocation in Internet of Things). The first Galileo Hackathon was a unique opportunity to showcase coding skills, connect with the Geo-IoT app development community, and to gain a competitive insight on what Galileo LBS will be bringing to the smartphone in your pocket in the very near future.

The Hackathon was open to any individual or small team interested in developing new applications using Galileo: Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The challenge for the hackers was to come up with an innovative application that makes full use of the Galileo’s unique capabilities in less than 24 hours. There were no limitations on the types of applications that could be created.

“The aim of the Hackathon for the GSA is to better engage with the app developer community,” explained Justyna Redelkiewicz from GSA. “With the imminent launch of Galileo Initial Services and the recent initiatives that enable developers to more easily access raw GNSS data on Android phones there are some really exciting opportunities for new and powerful LBS applications.”

There were two main prizes up for grabs: one for the most innovative Galileo-based app and one for the most impactful Galileo-based app.

Dawning of Aquaris

The Hackathon was officially launched with an early afternoon briefing session on 3 November, which included an overview of the Galileo-enabled BQ Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone – the first European smartphone with Galileo capability – and the hardware that the teams would be working with.

Alvaro Fructuoso of BQ described the phone’s capabilities and specification. At the heart of the phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 chip that provides a true multi-constellation experience. The chip is using Galileo and this ability to access more satellites and better signals means improved location accuracy and faster time to first fix (TTFF).

After the briefing four enthusiastic teams got down to coding business fortified by GSA-supplied pizza and drinks with some teams working literally overnight to brainstorm ideas and then deliver their code. Technical support was available for all the teams through experts from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), BQ and technical universities from Nottingham and Berlin that covered support on both hardware and software levels as well as GNSS and Galileo specific questions.

Following 24 hours of hard work, each team had just five minutes to present their ideas and demonstrate their concept. The teams were judged on a set of criteria that included the level of innovation shown, the impact or potential of the idea, the feasibility and sustainability of the concept, its relevance to Galileo and the amount of progress made during the Hackathon.

The first team to present was ‘Galileo 7’ with team members Dierk Eichel, Damien Michaudet and Jan De Vries their idea was a Pokemon Go type game called ‘GrossStadtWild Go’ where players could monitor and tag the wildlife they encounter in urban environments. The game had a social networking aspect in that it enabled users to exchange information on the location of wild animals in their city.

Second on stage was a multi-national team called ‘Rovers_Movers’ with a trio of members from three different continents: Tarun Devrant from India, Friedger Müffke of Germany, and Diana M. Cerviño from Venezuela. Their app - Life Watch – aimed to safeguard neighbourhoods by creating citizen awareness and rewarding action for the public good. The improved accuracy of Galileo could enable a quicker and more accurate response to any suspicious event in the area.

Third to present was the team that created the ‘Didactic Disco’ app, consisting of five members: Wolfhard Fehre, Stephan Brandt, Niklas Bartz, Tobias Seydewite and Daniel Hatton-Johnson. Their app was a multi-player game for drawing on maps that used player movements in an urban environment to create images. The app - demonstrated live - combined social networking and mapping.

Last to demonstrate their work was team ‘Semicolon’ with team members Mohammed Elsharif and Kazunari Okuda. Their proto-app was called Otoko that means ”a man” in Japanese. This app focused on the added value of Galileo in terms of precision in positioning and was a voice-assisted guidance concept for blind or visually impaired citizens.

Rovers_Movers team - developers of Life Watch

Innovation and Impact

A seven person judging panel consisted of Cristina Comunian from GSA, Jacopo Ovarelli from Alpha Consult, Michele Bavaro from JRC, Lukasz Bonenberg from Nottingham University, Mark Lützner of Spacetec, and Alvaro Fructuoso and Olaja Segovia from BQ.

After some serious deliberation the winners were announced at the penultimate session of the Wherecamp event just before lunch on 4 November. GSA’s Justyna Redelkiewicz introduced the jury and praised all the competing teams - it had been a tough decision.

The winner of the most innovative app was announced by Alvaro Fructuoso of BQ with the prize going to the Didactic Disco multi-player map game. He described the app as “a fun map drawing game, but one that had potential for serious use too.”

Cristina Comunian of GSA proclaimed the Rovers_Movers team’s neighbourhood watch app as the concept with most potential to make an impact on society saying that the app “could help bring communities together again - it was great that Galileo can enable this sort of thing.”

Congratulations to all the winners and competitors! The event was a great success and plans are in hand for a second Hackathon in the near future. More details soon!

“The first Galileo Hackathon was a unique opportunity to showcase coding skills and connect with the Geo-IoT app development community.”

More information:

WhereCamp
BQ Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone
Qualcomm

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 first ever European GNSS Agency (GSA) Galileo Hackathon brought together teams of passionate coders and geo enthusiasts from around the world to compete for some impressive prizes. The venue was Berlin’s Beuth University of Applied Sciences on 3 and 4 November during the sixth WhereCamp ‘unconference’ dedicated to geolocation enthusiasts and professionals. All the Hackathon competitors received a Galileo-ready BQ Smartphone and a certificate, while the two winning teams also each collected a €500 cash prize.

WhereCamp Berlin on 3 and 4 November was the place to be for movers and shakers shaping the future of Location Based Services (LBS) and Geo-IoT (Geolocation in Internet of Things). The first Galileo Hackathon was a unique opportunity to showcase coding skills, connect with the Geo-IoT app development community, and to gain a competitive insight on what Galileo LBS will be bringing to the smartphone in your pocket in the very near future.

The Hackathon was open to any individual or small team interested in developing new applications using Galileo: Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The challenge for the hackers was to come up with an innovative application that makes full use of the Galileo’s unique capabilities in less than 24 hours. There were no limitations on the types of applications that could be created.

“The aim of the Hackathon for the GSA is to better engage with the app developer community,” explained Justyna Redelkiewicz from GSA. “With the imminent launch of Galileo Initial Services and the recent initiatives that enable developers to more easily access raw GNSS data on Android phones there are some really exciting opportunities for new and powerful LBS applications.”

There were two main prizes up for grabs: one for the most innovative Galileo-based app and one for the most impactful Galileo-based app.

Dawning of Aquaris

The Hackathon was officially launched with an early afternoon briefing session on 3 November, which included an overview of the Galileo-enabled BQ Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone – the first European smartphone with Galileo capability – and the hardware that the teams would be working with.

Alvaro Fructuoso of BQ described the phone’s capabilities and specification. At the heart of the phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 chip that provides a true multi-constellation experience. The chip is using Galileo and this ability to access more satellites and better signals means improved location accuracy and faster time to first fix (TTFF).

After the briefing four enthusiastic teams got down to coding business fortified by GSA-supplied pizza and drinks with some teams working literally overnight to brainstorm ideas and then deliver their code. Technical support was available for all the teams through experts from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), BQ and technical universities from Nottingham and Berlin that covered support on both hardware and software levels as well as GNSS and Galileo specific questions.

Following 24 hours of hard work, each team had just five minutes to present their ideas and demonstrate their concept. The teams were judged on a set of criteria that included the level of innovation shown, the impact or potential of the idea, the feasibility and sustainability of the concept, its relevance to Galileo and the amount of progress made during the Hackathon.

The first team to present was ‘Galileo 7’ with team members Dierk Eichel, Damien Michaudet and Jan De Vries their idea was a Pokemon Go type game called ‘WhereWild’ where players could monitor and tag the wildlife they encounter in urban environments. The game had a social networking aspect in that it enabled users to exchange information on the location of wild animals in their city.

Second on stage was a multi-national team called ‘Rovers_Movers’ with a trio of members from three different continents: Tarun Devrant from India, Friedger Müffke of Germany, and Diana M. Cerviño from Venezuela. Their app - Life Watch – aimed to safeguard neighbourhoods by creating citizen awareness and rewarding action for the public good. The improved accuracy of Galileo could enable a quicker and more accurate response to any suspicious event in the area.

Third to present was the Didactic Disco team that created the ‘Disco Draw’ app, consisting of five members: Wolfhard Fehre, Stephan Brandt, Niklas Bartz, Tobias Seydewite and Daniel Hatton-Johnson. Their app was a multi-player game for drawing on maps that used player movements in an urban environment to create images. The app - demonstrated live - combined social networking and mapping.

Last to demonstrate their work was team ‘Semicolon’ with team members Mohammed Elsharif and Kazunari Okuda. Their proto-app was called Otoko that means ”a man” in Japanese. This app focused on the added value of Galileo in terms of precision in positioning and was a voice-assisted guidance concept for blind or visually impaired citizens.

Rovers_Movers team - developers of Life Watch

Innovation and Impact

A seven person judging panel consisted of Cristina Comunian from GSA, Jacopo Ovarelli from Alpha Consult, Michele Bavaro from JRC, Lukasz Bonenberg from Nottingham University, Mark Lützner of Spacetec, and Alvaro Fructuoso and Olaja Segovia from BQ.

After some serious deliberation the winners were announced at the penultimate session of the Wherecamp event just before lunch on 4 November. GSA’s Justyna Redelkiewicz introduced the jury and praised all the competing teams - it had been a tough decision.

The winner of the most innovative app was announced by Alvaro Fructuoso of BQ with the prize going to the Didactic Disco multi-player map game. He described the app as “a fun map drawing game, but one that had potential for serious use too.”

Cristina Comunian of GSA proclaimed the Rovers_Movers team’s neighbourhood watch app as the concept with most potential to make an impact on society saying that the app “could help bring communities together again - it was great that Galileo can enable this sort of thing.”

Congratulations to all the winners and competitors! The event was a great success and plans are in hand for a second Hackathon in the near future. More details soon!

“The first Galileo Hackathon was a unique opportunity to showcase coding skills and connect with the Geo-IoT app development community.”

More information:

WhereCamp
BQ Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone
Qualcomm

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 first ever European GNSS Agency (GSA) Galileo Hackathon brought together teams of passionate coders and geo enthusiasts from around the world to compete for some impressive prizes. The venue was Berlin’s Beuth University of Applied Sciences on 3 and 4 November during the sixth WhereCamp ‘unconference’ dedicated to geolocation enthusiasts and professionals. All the Hackathon competitors received a Galileo-ready BQ Smartphone and a certificate, while the two winning teams also each collected a €500 cash prize.

WhereCamp Berlin on 3 and 4 November was the place to be for movers and shakers shaping the future of Location Based Services (LBS) and Geo-IoT (Geolocation in Internet of Things). The first Galileo Hackathon was a unique opportunity to showcase coding skills, connect with the Geo-IoT app development community, and to gain a competitive insight on what Galileo LBS will be bringing to the smartphone in your pocket in the very near future.

The Hackathon was open to any individual or small team interested in developing new applications using Galileo: Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The challenge for the hackers was to come up with an innovative application that makes full use of the Galileo’s unique capabilities in less than 24 hours. There were no limitations on the types of applications that could be created.

“The aim of the Hackathon for the GSA is to better engage with the app developer community,” explained Justyna Redelkiewicz from GSA. “With the imminent launch of Galileo Initial Services and the recent initiatives that enable developers to more easily access raw GNSS data on Android phones there are some really exciting opportunities for new and powerful LBS applications.”

There were two main prizes up for grabs: one for the most innovative Galileo-based app and one for the most impactful Galileo-based app.

Dawning of Aquaris

The Hackathon was officially launched with an early afternoon briefing session on 3 November, which included an overview of the Galileo-enabled BQ Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone – the first European smartphone with Galileo capability – and the hardware that the teams would be working with.

Alvaro Fructuoso of BQ described the phone’s capabilities and specification. At the heart of the phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 chip that provides a true multi-constellation experience. The chip is using Galileo and this ability to access more satellites and better signals means improved location accuracy and faster time to first fix (TTFF).

After the briefing four enthusiastic teams got down to coding business fortified by GSA-supplied pizza and drinks with some teams working literally overnight to brainstorm ideas and then deliver their code. Technical support was available for all the teams through experts from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), BQ and technical universities from Nottingham and Berlin that covered support on both hardware and software levels as well as GNSS and Galileo specific questions.

Following 24 hours of hard work, each team had just five minutes to present their ideas and demonstrate their concept. The teams were judged on a set of criteria that included the level of innovation shown, the impact or potential of the idea, the feasibility and sustainability of the concept, its relevance to Galileo and the amount of progress made during the Hackathon.

The first team to present was ‘Galileo 7’ with team members Dierk Eichel, Damien Michaudet and Jan De Vries their idea was a Pokemon Go type game called ‘GrossStadtWild Go’ where players could monitor and tag the wildlife they encounter in urban environments. The game had a social networking aspect in that it enabled users to exchange information on the location of wild animals in their city.

Second on stage was a multi-national team called ‘Rovers_Movers’ with a trio of members from three different continents: Tarun Devrant from India, Friedger Müffke of Germany, and Diana M. Cerviño from Venezuela. Their app - Life Watch – aimed to safeguard neighbourhoods by creating citizen awareness and rewarding action for the public good. The improved accuracy of Galileo could enable a quicker and more accurate response to any suspicious event in the area.

Third to present was the team that created the ‘Didactic Disco’ app, consisting of five members: Wolfhard Fehre, Stephan Brandt, Niklas Bartz, Tobias Seydewite and Daniel Hatton-Johnson. Their app was a multi-player game for drawing on maps that used player movements in an urban environment to create images. The app - demonstrated live - combined social networking and mapping.

Last to demonstrate their work was team ‘Semicolon’ with team members Mohammed Elsharif and Kazunari Okuda. Their proto-app was called Otoko that means ”a man” in Japanese. This app focused on the added value of Galileo in terms of precision in positioning and was a voice-assisted guidance concept for blind or visually impaired citizens.

Rovers_Movers team - developers of Life Watch

Innovation and Impact

A seven person judging panel consisted of Cristina Comunian from GSA, Jacopo Ovarelli from Alpha Consult, Michele Bavaro from JRC, Lukasz Bonenberg from Nottingham University, Mark Lützner of Spacetec, and Alvaro Fructuoso and Olaja Segovia from BQ.

After some serious deliberation the winners were announced at the penultimate session of the Wherecamp event just before lunch on 4 November. GSA’s Justyna Redelkiewicz introduced the jury and praised all the competing teams - it had been a tough decision.

The winner of the most innovative app was announced by Alvaro Fructuoso of BQ with the prize going to the Didactic Disco multi-player map game. He described the app as “a fun map drawing game, but one that had potential for serious use too.”

Cristina Comunian of GSA proclaimed the Rovers_Movers team’s neighbourhood watch app as the concept with most potential to make an impact on society saying that the app “could help bring communities together again - it was great that Galileo can enable this sort of thing.”

Congratulations to all the winners and competitors! The event was a great success and plans are in hand for a second Hackathon in the near future. More details soon!

“The first Galileo Hackathon was a unique opportunity to showcase coding skills and connect with the Geo-IoT app development community.”

More information:

WhereCamp
BQ Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone
Qualcomm

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 the Declaration of Galileo Initial Services coming soon, the first European Galileo-ready smartphone is now operational.

The Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone, the first European Galileo-ready smartphones and produced by the Spanish technology company BQ, is now officially Galileo-capable. Following a firmware update released this week, users can now access the Galileo signal via the phone’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor. To activate Galileo on the Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone, one only has to upgrade to the latest firmware version. 

As Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Galileo provides improved positioning and timing information that will greatly benefit European services and users – including the Location Based Services (LBS) community. Being fully compatible with all existing and future GNSS (i.e., GPS, GLONASS, etc.), Galileo enables a seamless and accurate experience for multi-constellation users worldwide. “I am glad to see Galileo is taking off in the smartphone arena,” says GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “The key to Galileo’s success in this market is to ensure its update by LBS device manufacturers, and we are excited that a European smartphone manufacturer is pioneering the use of Galileo for enhanced LBS solutions.”

Leveraging Galileo’s Capabilities

To shape the future of Location Based Services and leverage the power of Galileo, this week Europe’s leading coders are competing in the first Galileo Hackathon. During the two-day event, coders will be the first to use the BQ Aquaris X5 Plus’ Galileo-enabled firmware to come up with innovative applications that make full use of Galileo’s numerous capabilities. The Hackathon is happening November 3 – 4 during WhereCamp, the ‘unconference’ dedicated to geolocation enthusiasts and professionals, at Berlin’s Beuth University of Applied Sciences. 

About the Aquaris X5 Plus Smartphone

The next-generation Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone comes equipped with a 3,200 mAh battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 Octa Core processor, up to 1.8 GHz and an Adreno 510 graphic processor of up to 550 MHz. It features a 16 Mpx back camera, Sony IMX298 sensor, f/2.0 dual tone flash and phase detection focus, along with a Sony IMX219 sensor-equipped 8 Mpx front camera. The phone offers 4K video recording, video stabilizer, fingerprint scanner and NFC.

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 the Declaration of Galileo Initial Services coming soon, the first European Galileo-ready smartphone is now operational.

The Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone, the first European Galileo-ready smartphones and produced by the Spanish technology company BQ, is now officially Galileo-capable. Following a firmware update released this week, users can now access the Galileo signal via the phone’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor. To activate Galileo on the Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone, one only has to upgrade to the latest firmware version. 

As Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Galileo provides improved positioning and timing information that will greatly benefit European services and users – including the Location Based Services (LBS) community. Being fully compatible with all existing and future GNSS (i.e., GPS, GLONASS, etc.), Galileo enables a seamless and accurate experience for multi-constellation users worldwide. “I am glad to see Galileo is taking off in the smartphone arena,” says GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “The key to Galileo’s success in this market is to ensure its update by LBS device manufacturers, and we are excited that a European smartphone manufacturer is pioneering the use of Galileo for enhanced LBS solutions.”

Leveraging Galileo’s Capabilities

To shape the future of Location Based Services and leverage the power of Galileo, this week Europe’s leading coders are competing in the first Galileo Hackathon. During the two-day event, coders will be the first to use the BQ Aquaris X5 Plus’ Galileo-enabled firmware to come up with innovative applications that make full use of Galileo’s numerous capabilities. The Hackathon is happening November 3 – 4 during WhereCamp, the ‘unconference’ dedicated to geolocation enthusiasts and professionals, at Berlin’s Beuth University of Applied Sciences. 

About the Aquaris X5 Plus Smartphone

The next-generation Aquaris X5 Plus smartphone comes equipped with a 3,200 mAh battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 Octa Core processor, up to 1.8 GHz and an Adreno 510 graphic processor of up to 550 MHz. It features a 16 Mpx back camera, Sony IMX298 sensor, f/2.0 dual tone flash and phase detection focus, along with a Sony IMX219 sensor-equipped 8 Mpx front camera. The phone offers 4K video recording, video stabilizer, fingerprint scanner and NFC.

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).