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DYNAMICS MEASUREMENT
= TRUTH
Autonomous
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Navigation
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PRECISION AG
Gain perspective
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SMBV-GNSS
VO L . 27 N O. 4
APRIL
G P SWO R LD.CO M
FEATURE
2016
18 AUTONOMOUS
RELATIVE NAVIGATION
BY Shahram Moafipoor,
MARKET WATCH
APPLICATIONS, TRENDS AND NEWS
26 OEM
28 SURVEY
30 MAPPING
32 TRANSPORTATION
34 UAV
SECTOR UPDATES
37 MACHINE CONTROL
38 DEFENSE
39 MOBILE
COVER STORY
42 INNOVATION
FLYING SAFE
8 EXPERT OPINIONS
8 TAKING POSITION
Mining the Magic More Menu
BY Tracy Cozzens
10 SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS
14 LAUNCHPAD
12 PNT ROUNDUP
Navigating GPS-Free and MEMS Inertial
Trends; Exploiting Fingerprints, Other
Smartphone Features
APRIL 2016
49 RESEARCH
ONLINE + AD INDEX
50 SEEN & HEARD
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ONLINENOW
READER POLL
14%
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inspection (utilities,
pipelines)
43%
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D O W N L OA D N O W
60%
Simulation: Fundamentals
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ENEWS
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FROM THE
MAGAZINE
Thursday, May 19
ENEWS
ENEWS
10
INSIGHTS
INSIGHTS
ENEWS
INSIGHTS
FROM THE
MAGAZINE
4 GPS WORLD
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APRIL 2016
Thursday, June 17
Time for both webinars:
OUT IN FRONT
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Published monthly
APRIL 2016
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Ge Ni U
UNMANNED
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TAKING POSITION
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Q: What is the killer app for professional use of drones? What UAV market
sector will most powerfully drive adoption and influence new regulations?
JAN
LEYSSENS
TONY
MURFIN
ERIC
GAKSTATTER
PRODUC T MANAGER
SEPTENTRIO
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR,
PROFESSIONAL OEM & UAV
G PS WORLD
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR,
G I S & U AV
GEOSPATIAL SOLUTIONS
A:
8 GPS WORLD
A:
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
A:
Aerial surveys
A highly-accurate, low-cost
receiver, Piksi has opensource software, simplifying
solution development.
Special-effects cameras
LEARN MORE AT
www.swiftnav.com/gpsworld
Precision orthomosaics
Security & monitoring
Industrial inspection
Follow-me drones
SYSTEM
OF
Galileo
GLONASS
BeiDou
SYSTEMS
cquisition reform
mandated by Congress
for the U.S. military, and
known as Better Buying
Power 3.0 guidance and initiatives,
poses a tough new challenge for the
Pentagon, not least for the Air Force
and GPS.
T h i s co m e s i n t h e f a ce o f a n
impending (some say already
underway) cyberwar targeting core
infrastructure, much of it controlled
or metered to some extent by GPS.
U n d e r-S e c r e t a r y o f D e f e n s e
for Acquisition, Technology and
Logistics Frank Kendall stated in
2 0 1 4 t h a t t h e Un i t e d St a t e s i s
under attack in the cyber world
10 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
SYSTEM
OF
SYSTEMS
he U.S. Department of
Transportation (DoT)
announced in March that
testing for the Adjacent
Band Compatibility
(ABC) Assessment will start in April.
Conducted at the U.S. Army Research
Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range,
the tests seek to determine power limits
for spectrum bands near the GPS L1
signal.
Later tests will focus on potential
interference with the L5 signal and
frequencies of other satellite navigation constellations.
In 2012, after tests at that time
demonstrated that the proposed
LightSquared network of ground-
high-powered gauntlet.
The Department requests
voluntary participation in this study
by any interested GPS/GNSS device
manufacturers or other parties whose
products incorporate GPS/GNSS
devices. the DOT said.
Ligado, the renamed LightSquared
company from 2012, came to separate
legal settlements with GPS companies
Garmin, Trimble and John Deere in
2015; the terms have not been disclosed.
Use of a defined change in the
noise floor (1 dB), wrote a Deere
attorney to the FCC, provides a readily
identifiable and predictable metric
that all interested parties can take into
account now and in the future.
GLONASS Special K
APRIL 2016
new-generation Russian
GLONASS-K satellite began
regular broadcasts on Feb. 15.
The K model line transmits five
navigation signals in the GLONASS
L1, L2, and L3 bands and carries
a CO S PA S -SA R SAT p a y l o a d f o r
international search and rescue.
K satellites will gradually replace
the GLONASS-M generation,
bringing with them new CDMA civil
signals compatible with GPS and
Galileo.
Eleven new K satellites will take
to space starting in 2018, using
European and Chinese components
as well as those being developed
under an accelerated Russian import
substitution program.
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 11
Inertial
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
INERTIAL
INERTIAL + CELLULAR
iny irregularities in an
A n d r o i d o r i P h o n es
accelerometer can be turned
into a unique signature
to track users, Stanford researchers
found in 2013. These flaws essentially
fingerprint an individual smartphone
and allow it to be traced. Highly
focused activity since then, some of
it summarized here, has advanced
12 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
>>
INERTIAL + CELLULAR
>> Continued from previous page
microphones and speakers. They
found they could produce a unique
frequency response curve, based
on how devices play and record a
common set of frequencies.
A m p l i f i e r s a n d O s c i l l ato r s . A
team at the Technical University
of Dresden developed a tracking
method that exploits variations in
the radio signal of cell phones. The
collection of components such as
power amplifiers, oscillators and
signal mixers can all introduce
radio-signal inaccuracies.
Bojinov and colleagues presented
further work at the RSA Conference
2 0 1 5 , i n S e n s o r I D : Mo b i l e
Device Identification via Sensor
Fingerprinting. Among findings:
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 13
LAUNCHPAD | OEM
1
3
4
1. GPS COMPASS
ALTERNATIVE TO MAGNETIC-BASED
SENSORS FOR MANNED OR UNMANNED
14 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
3. INERTIAL SENSORS
APRIL 2016
1. RENTAL PROGRAM
2. DATA CONTROLLER
Performance in real-time
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 15
LAUNCHPAD | UAV
1
3
4
1. QUADCOPTER
2. PHOTOMAPPING TOOL
16 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
3. INFRARED CAMERA
APRIL 2016
4. SURVEYING HEXACOPTER
SURVEYS LARGE AREAS OR OBJECTS
TO GENERATE FAST, PRECISE DATA
TRANSPORTATION | LAUNCHPAD
1
2
1. REFERENCE SYSTEM
3. PORTABLE NAVIGATOR
3 constellation simulator
Recreate real world conditions
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS
One touch record/replay of RF signals
Signal simulation software available
Free library of worldwide recordings and simulations
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 17
AUTONOMOUS NAV
AERIAL REFUELING
REQUIRES HIGHLY
PRECISE RELATIVE
NAVIGATION
18 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
AUTONOMOUS NAV
/
using standard monitoring and recording tools. The system
provides R-TSPI in different frames, including the body
frame of the platforms, local navigation frame (wanderazimuth) and Earth-fixed frame, as well as transferring the
solution to arbitrary points of interest on the aircraft such
as the refueling aircrafts refueling probe.
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 19
AUTONOMOUS NAV
/
marizes the geometric relations, where the primary body
frame is labeled p-frame and the secondary body frame is
labeled s-frame. The body frame fixed to the primary (P) is
shown by (xPp,yPp,zPp), and body frame fixed to the secondary (S) is shown by (xSs,ySs,zSs ).
The relative navigation equation is set up for the state of
the secondary with respect to the state of the primary in the
center of the body frame of the primary, p-frame:
(1)
where xPp is the primary position vector established in the
p-frame, and xSp is the secondary position vector defined
in the p-frame. Note that these vectors can also be obtained
from the primary/secondary strapdown inertial navigation
solutions after transferring to the reference (eccentric) point.
Equation (1) represents the fundamental equation, from
which the relative navigation equations are derived. Once
the relative kinematic model of the position and velocity
are established, the next step is to develop the relative attitude kinematic model. The relative attitude, denoted by
the quaternion q Sp, is used to map vectors in the s-frame to
vectors in the p-frame:
(2)
where qp and qs are the quaternion attitudes of the primary
and secondary with respect to the i-frame, qp* is the conjugate of qp, and is the quaternion multiplication operator.
20 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
(3)
with:
(4)
FPpS is the Jacobian matrix, and the perturbation elements
are all related to the primary:
(5)
AUTONOMOUS NAV
/
(7)
Equations (3) and (7) are the fundamental equations of
the R-EKF.
SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 21
AUTONOMOUS NAV
/
units is computed on each platform independently. This
information will be later used when the system transitions
to the Engagement phase to initialize the R-EKF.
In the Engagement phase, the data link between primary
and secondary units is closed, and the R-TSPI solution is
computed between the platforms. Sensor observations are
transmitted across the data link from the secondary unit to
the primary unit. The primary unit implements the R-EKF
to produce the R-TSPI solution.
In the Departure phase, the activity requiring R-TSPI
(that is, refueling) is complete, and the secondary platform
pulls away from the primary platform. In this phase, we
transition from the R-EKF back to the autonomous independent navigation system.
VALIDATION TESTING
R-TSPI
Components
RMS
Mean STD
0.1 0.9
Relative Position
(m)
0.1 0.6
0.2 0.9
0.0 0.1
Relative
Velocity
(m/s)
Relative
Attitude
(degrees)
0.0 0.1
0.0 0.1
Yaw
0.0 0.3
Pitch
0.0 0.1
Roll
0.0 0.1
22 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
AUTONOMOUS NAV
/
the statistical data analysis in the form
of mean and standard deviation for the
collected data.
Average RMS of fit in the relative
position, velocity and attitude of approximately 1.0 m, 0.1 m/s and 0.3,
respectively, were computed for the
entire relative navigation period. In this
dynamic test, we encountered frequent
data link dropouts, data link latency, as
well as GPS outages, causing discontinuity in the R-EKF measurement updates
until GPS was reacquired. During these
periods, the R-EKF prediction model,
updated with the last calibrated IMU
data, provided the R-TSPI. This test
help confirm that system performance
is at the expected levels, even in the
presence of real-world data link and
GPS problems.
GPS-DENIED OPERATIONS
Over-reliance on GPS has exposed vulnerabilities associated with this technology. For example, GPS is easily jammed
and spoofed. While spoofing can be
addressed with Selective Availability
Anti-Spoofing (SAASM) technology,
and advances such as M-code will miti-
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 23
AUTONOMOUS NAV
/
providing a GPS-free relative distance
observation in situations where GPS
is blocked due to airframe masking,
jamming, and so on.
Data from both active (lidar) and
passive (camera) vision sensors were
added to the system, providing significant advantages in the process flow.
The use of vision sensors provides the
relative distance observation in GPSdenied conditions for continuity in
R-EKF updating. In addition, visionbased relative distance allows for the
detection of outliers by evaluating
the redundancy contribution of the
measured GPS-based relative distance,
and enables the transfer of the R-TSPI
solution from the secondary refueling
center to the on-the-fly probe-drogue
system, as shown in FIGURE 6.
For the active vision system, we leveraged a fully integrated lidar mapping
payload as shown in FIGURE 7 (LEFT). For
the passive sensor, we utilize a stereo
camera. FIGURE 7 (RIGHT) shows the test
area and the simulated drogue. Imagery observations from the passive
camera and the lidar system were processed with independent algorithms
appropriate to each data type and the
relative distance between each of the
two sensors, and the simulated drogue
was measured with an RMS error of
less than 10 cm.
INTEGRITY
24 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
FIGURE 7 Geo-MMS (left) and its application (right) for measuring relative distance.
CONCLUSIONS
APRIL 2016
MARKET
WATCH
Segment Snapshot:
Applications, Trends & News
OEM
The IGM-1100o.
26 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
The IGM-1100i.
IGM-1100x. D e s i g n e d
for scenarios with a preexisting GPS antenna and
associated cabling, or when
an indoor installation is
unrealistic, IGM-1100x
provides very quick and lowcost deployment of a PTP
1588 master by connecting
to the existing cable via a
simple cable installation to
a telecom cabinet or hut.
The IGM-1100x is designed
for IEEE 1588 deployments
of up to 16 clients with
existing GPS antennas,
with the TimeProvider 2700
supporting up to 128 clients.
Acco rd i n g t o m a r ke t
research firm Infonetics, the
first nine months of 2015
were marked by increasing
small-cell rollouts all over
the world and continue
to point to double-digit
growth. The firm expects
the total small-cell market
to hit $2.2 billion in 2019 at
a compound annual growth
rate of 20 percent.
MARKET WATCH
OEM
Taoglas Opens
IoT Design Center
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 27
MARKET WATCH
SURVEY
S321 FEATURES
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
Kinematica is targeted
at sur veying, scanning
and aerial photography
applications that need to
squeeze the maximum
performance out of their
systems.
The 29th Annual International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation
NEW THIS YEAR: Autonomous navigation sessions and panels, addressing technology, applications, security and safety.
register now
Exhibitors, reserve your booth today; space is limited.
www.ion.org/gnss
MARKET WATCH
MAPPING
30 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
MARKET WATCH
MAPPING
2
Fugro Delivers Surface
Current Data
F
Containment booms hold back an oil spill in the San Francisco
Bay after 58,000 gallons of oil spilled from South Korea-bound
container ship in 2007. (Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0).
new recommended
practice has been
issued for GIS and
mapping professionals responding to an oil spill.
The final report of a joint
project guides professionals
in using GIS technology and
geospatial information to
form a common operating
picture for a spill response,
so various organizations
can deal with it effectively.
According to the report, the
2010 Deepwater Horizon
spill in the Gulf of Mexico
showed the need for a
coordinated response based
on timely geographic data.
The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers
(IOGP), through the Geo-
what3words Now on
ArcGIS Marketplace
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 31
MARKET WATCH
TRANSPORTATION
G P S WO R L D CO N T R I B U T I N G E D I TO R
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
>>
MARKET WATCH
2
UAV 2
TRANSPORTATION
ESA to Research Geohazard Monitoring
Live Land Project to Use GNSS, Observation Satellites to Protect Rails and Roads
perators of
UK transport
networks will
be the first to
benefit from Live Land, a
land monitoring system
developed through the
European Space Agency
(ESA).
Tr a n s p o r t o p e r a t o r s
across the UK face significant
challenges in monitoring
and detecting landslides
and subsidence. Geological
hazards nearroads and
railways can disrupt business
and communities,especially
in remote locations.
As a result, owners and
operators of transport infrastructure increasingly
need to understand geohazards to better manage
their exposure, mitigate risk
and improve planning and
response to incidents when
they occur.
The Live Land demonstration project will monitor these
MILLIMETER PRECISION
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 33
MARKET WATCH
UAV
Keep Your
Distance
perating in industrial
environments, where
no margin for error is
tolerated, is complex,
stressful and delicate. The distance
from an in-flight UAV to the industrial
asset that it is observing or inspecting
obviously has critical importance
for safety, data precision nand costeffectiveness. The AiRobot Ranger
counters this problem by displaying
the distance between the UAV and the
object of interest on multiple smart
phones or tablets, ensuring the extra
situational awareness that is crucial for
professional UAV operations.
The Ranger consists of an add-on
sensor module that can be easily
attached and detached, a ground
station and iOS/Android apps.
Everyone involved in an operation can
simultaneously log in on the ground
station to receive real-time situational
feedback. In adition to visual feedback,
the Ranger also offers audio feedback,
via voice commands, beep tones and
adjustable target zones.
Passive and independent, the system
Airborne Ranger (top left) continuously monitors the distance between itself and the
silo, transmitting the separation to pilot and payload operator (foreground).
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
>>
MARKET WATCH
UAV
I
Photo: Industrial Networks
Automated Equipment Identification
(AEI) scanner, leading to faster data
collection and reduced workforce
requirements.
INets current collection of AEIscanning tools includes stationary and
handheld readers, and automates data
collection in the field.
WERE
HIRING
ENGINEERS
Swift Navigation is looking for outstanding
engineers to push the state of the art in
satellite navigation technology.
Help make high accuracy positioning
ubiquitous across a wide variety of industries
and applications for UAVs, robotics and
autonomous transportation.
Learn more and apply at
www.swiftnav.com/jobs
Competitive salary, benefits, equity
Open vacation policy
In SF, close to public transport
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 35
MARKET WATCH
UAV
36 G P S W O R L D
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xponential.org | #auvsiXPO
APRIL 2016
MACHINECONTROLUPDATE
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 37
DEFENSEUPDATE
The U.S. Air Force Predator B ER's longer wings boost range and endurance.
38 G P S W O R L D
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
APRIL 2016
will be "considered."
Binskin said the department was keeping an
open mind given the rapid
improvements in armed
drones or unmanned
combat aerial vehicles, also
known as UCAVs.
MOBILEUPDATE
G P S WO R L D CO N T R I B U T I N G E D I TO R
M
>>
APRIL 2016
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 39
MOBILEUPDATE
>> Continued from page 39
unlike cellular positioning,
said Tom Wrappe, NextNav
vice president, ecosystem
development.
Industry veteran Wrappe
was with SnapTrack and
went to Qualcomm when
that company purchased
the assisted-GPS company
that helped spur location in
cell phones. Gary Parsons,
former XM Satellite Radio
CEO, heads the companys
board of directors.
Trusted Location. The acquisition of TeleCommunications Systems by Comtech
Telecommunications for an
estimated $431 million was
completed during MWC.
The company will not see
ENC 2016
40 G P S W O R L D
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APRIL 2016
MOBILEUPDATE
in Europe: fleet, payment,
healthcare and network security, to name a few.
Success in Europe. Waze is
seeing big growth in central
Europe, particularly in Italy
and France, said Carlos
Gomez of Waze. We are
improving the product to
tailor it to European driving
in city centers, he said.
Part of Google, Waze
doesnt sell any data it
collects f rom users of
the crowd-sourced map
product. We dont sell it
and are concerned with
companies who sell data to
third parties, Gomez said.
Security issues. As companies roll out products,
and differentiation is important, security and data
Tutorials: June 6
Show Dates: June 7-8
Dayton Convention Center,
Dayton, Ohio
Sponsored by:
The Military Division of
The Institute of Navigation
www.ion.org/jnc
WWW.GPSWORLD.COM
G P S W O R L D 41
INNOVATION
FLYING SAFE
42 G P S W O R L D
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APRIL 2016
INNOVATION
INSIGHTS RICHARD B. LANGLEY
BY
WHATS THE WEAKEST THING ABOUT GNSS? Literally, its the signals. The
strength of GNSS signals is notoriously low as anyone who has tried to operate
a consumer-level device inside a steel and concrete building can readily attest.
Unlike mobile phone signals, GNSS signals are too weak to survive the attenuation of walls, floors, and ceilings and so typically cannot provide a dependable
signal indoors for most receivers. Even outdoors, the signals can be significantly
attenuated by dense wet foliage and completely blocked by buildings and other
objects. The GPS C/A-code signal generated by the transmitter in a satellite is
approximately 27 watts. If such a transmitter were operated on Earth it would
provide a decent signal even inside a nearby building. First responders, for example, can communicate with each other using portable transceivers with even
lower-powered transmitters. However, GPS satellites are about 20,000 kilometers away at their closest and the signals they transmit spread out as they travel
to the Earth and even with the directivity of the satellite transmitting antenna,
by the time the signals reach the surface of the Earth, their power density is only
on the order of 10-13 watts per square meter. And thats outdoors. This signal is
so weak that it is buried in the receivers background noise, which is similar to
what you hear when you tune an AM radio between stations. So how can GPS
possibly work with such a weak signal? The received signal is actually spread
out over several megahertz of radio-frequency spectrum by the pseudorandom
noise ranging code. It is this known noise-like code that allows receivers to determine the biased-ranges to satellites and from those ranges determine their
positions. Knowing the code, the receiver de-spreads the weak received signal,
concentrating it and lifting it above an acceptably low background noise.
All is fine and well as long as the received signal density doesnt drop much
below the 10-13 watts per square meter level but also the background noise level
mustnt rise much above the acceptable level for which the receiver is designed.
Both of these criteria are reflected in the carrier-to-noise-density ratio, or C/N0,
of the signal. Why might the noise level change? The noise comes from the receiver itself as well as from naturally produced electromagnetic radiation from
the sky, the ground, and objects in the receiving antennas vicinity. The sky noise
includes so-called cosmic noise from the sun, Milky Way galaxy, other discrete
cosmic objects and radiation left over from the Big Bang as well as radiation
from our atmosphere. For the most part, the noise from these sources is small
but occasionally the sun can have a radio outburst that can significantly increase
the noise level at GNSS frequencies and actually overpower the GNSS signals as
happened with GPS in December 2006.
But the noise level can also be impacted by human-made electrical devices
in the vicinity of a GNSS receivers antenna. This radio-frequency interference,
or RFI, can come from devices such as radio transmitters, microwave ovens,
motors, relays, ignition systems, switching power supplies and light dimmers.
So, when siting the antenna of a GNSS receiver or designing a GNSS-based navigation system, electromagnetic compatibility is an important concern. This is
particularly true for airborne platforms. In this months column we take a look at
how RFI can impact GNSS equipment on unmanned aircraft systems and how
robustly can the equipment navigate those systems.
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12
40
10
8
6
4
38
36
34
32
2
0
42
C/N0 (dB-Hz)
14
30
10
15
20
25
30
35
Time (seconds)
40
45
50
55
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10
15
20
25
30
Time (seconds)
35
40
45
50
55
RTK POSITIONING
RTK positioning is a high-accuracy
GNSS positioning method that
involves a base station and one or more
rovers. The receivers operate in two
distinct modes, fix or float. When a
receiver is in float mode, the number
of integer wavelengths in the carrierphase measurements has not been
resolved yet. In fixed mode, these have
been resolved. This is also known as
ambiguity resolution. The accuracy
is greatly improved if ambiguities are
resolved to their correct integer values.
During dynamic cases (and even
sometimes during static cases), the
receiver may change between the two
modes repeatedly.
RTK for UAS. RTK positioning can be
very useful for UAS, as it can provide
a better accuracy in a lot of cases
compared to traditional positioning. It
can be used for navigational purposes,
or for positioning of scientific payloads
carried on board a UAS.
RTK use on UAS is currently limited,
in part due to the number of challenges
associated with it. These include the size
Test
Maximum C/N0
(dB-Hz)
Minimum C/N0
(dB-Hz)
Mean C/N0
(dB-Hz)
Median C/N0
(dB-Hz)
47
27
41.3
41.6
47
27
39.1
39.1
41
15
31.1
30.8
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Antenna
Low-cost
receiver
RTK
Evaluationkit receiver
RTK
Evaluationkit receiver
SPS
Professionalgrade
receiver RTK
2D RMS (meters)
9.14
2.98
3.25
0.72
3D RMS (meters)
23.78
5.99
6.96
1.43
Availability
(percent)
83
97
97
94
Metric
To other experiment
20-dB amplifier /
signal splitter
Signal splitter
Antenna powered by
reference-system receiver
Low-cost
receiver
RTK solution
(fix or float;
percent)
17
100
N/A
98
Fix solution
(percent)
12
13
N/A
61
Float solution
(percent)
88
87
N/A
39
Power
inverter
Car battery
Logging on laptop
Referencesystem
receiver
Evaluation-kit
receiver
Logging on laptop
Professionalgrade receiver
IMU
SD-card logging
Internal logging
TABLE 2 Tabulated results from the dynamic RTK experiment (N/A = not
applicable).
CONCLUSIONS
GNSS is viable for UAS navigation, but it remains to be seen
how policymakers will decide to regulate its use for this application. Many existing and emerging technologies could prove
useful in increasing not only the reliability, but also the accuracy, of the GNSS engine on board a UAS.
Although UAS share many similarities with traditional
manned aircraft, by their nature they are unmanned and would
not pose the same immediate risk for significant loss of life if
an accident were to occur. This, coupled with the fact that UAS
can vary greatly in size and operational requirements, leaves the
possibility open to using different certification requirements of
GNSS navigation for different UAS.
RFI. The RFI experiment showed a considerable impact on
C/N0 from the evaluation-kit receiver. While the number of
satellites tracked remained constant between tests, it is possible
that during slightly different operating conditions (different
UAS and/or receivers, other onboard equipment and so on),
the impact could have been more severe.
RTK for UAS. RTK systems are complex, but they have
some clear advantages to traditional pseudorange-based
standalone GNSS, with regard to accuracy. From the results
of using the evaluation-kit receiver during the dynamic
RTK experiment, it seems as though it would be only
advantageous if RTK could be used on a UAS. The only
visible difference between the SPS and RTK operation in the
experiment was a slight increase in accuracy. The availability
of the measurements (that is, how much data was available)
was the same for when the receiver used SPS versus RTK.
However, the slight increase in accuracy might not be
sufficient to compel operators to use the RTK technique for
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article is based on the paper GNSS/GPS Robustness
for UAS presented at The Institute of Navigation 2016 International Technical Meeting. The research was carried out in
cooperation with the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles in the Department of Aerospace Engineering
Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
JOSHUA STUBBS has an M.Sc. in space engineering, with a focus on
aerospace, from Lule University of Technology in Sweden. In 2015, he did
his master's thesis work at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he
focused on GNSS applications for UAS.
DENNIS M. AKOS completed his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, within the Avionics Engineering Center. He is
a faculty member with the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at
the University of Colorado and maintains visiting appointments at Stanford
University and Lule University of Technology.
MORE ONLINE
Further Reading
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his paper discusses aspects of autonomy on a smallsize multi-copter UAS for challenging environments,
addresses in detail the modified proposed navigation
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autonomous flight and the actual implementation on the
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G P S W O R L D 49
SEEN HEARD
DRONES AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS DONT MIX
Spring in Washington, D.C., means cherry trees blooming
around the Tidal Basin. The Federal Aviation Administration has
issued a video reminding visitors that theyre welcome to shoot
photos and videos, but must leave their drones at home. UAVs
are prohibited in and around the national capital region. The
airspace around Washington, D.C. is more restricted than in any
other part of the country.
THUNDERSTORM
OR TORNADO?
UAV imagery helped
categorize a South
Carolina storm as a
weak tornado instead
of a thunderstorm.
The National Weather
Services Eastern Region UAS team was set up in
2015 to study the use of unmanned aircraft for
post-storm damage assessments. In December,
the team joined SkyView Aerial Solutions to
provide aerial footage of the short-lived tornado.
GEOCACHING BUNNY
A traditional Easter egg hunt in
Merriam, Kansas, went high-tech
this year, with children using GPS
devices to track down caches of
eggs. About 90 children searched for eggs filled with candy
or toys using pre-programmed GPS devices.
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