Indoor Positioning

Technologies, Features and Prospects

Outdoor positioning and navigation techniques using GNSS have been well explored and are now a vital part of daily life all over the planet. Since GNSS was initially designed to support the military during open-air combat, there was no need for the signals to be able to pass through walls and roofs. Indoor positioning therefore requires the alternatives to GNSS. How can geomatics contribute to the deployment of indoor positioning solutions? In aiming to find answers to that question, this article also examines current technologies and the various types of applications they originate from. An indoor positioning system is a... (read more)

2013-10-28 01:54:29

GNSS Positioning

Status and Features

Nowadays, GNSS receivers have scores – and often hundreds – of channels, enabling them to track GPS, Glonass, Galileo and Compass signals simultaneously. The whole workflow from satellite tracking to calculating the coordinates of the position in a preferred reference system can be conducted automatically in real time. The price of GNSS receivers has dropped steadily since the first GPS receivers came onto the commercial market in 1982. In conjunction with the latest product survey results for GNSS receivers (available at www.geo‑matching.com), the author puts today’s GNSS status and features in perspective. (By Mathias Lemmens, senior editor, GIM International, The... (read more)

2012-12-18 01:53:20

Indoor Positioning

Wouldn’t it be great if we could find our way around anywhere and at any time using a small in our hand, pocket or bag? What a relief it would be to know that we couldn’t get lost when arriving at a railway station in a foreign city…positioning would be an ongoing process, and the voice of our digital guide would pilot us through corridors, and up and down stairs and escalators, as easily as if we were checking emails on our smartphone. Alas, a universal positioning system that operates in all conditions and is unaffected by the type of... (read more)

2013-05-27 12:46:05

French Topcon Positioning Partner

Topcon Europe Positioning co-operates with a new partner in the France. With Laser Equipement, Topcon aims to provide its customers with a strong basis for further expansion of its sales and support capabilities for positioning products. The company, established in 1978, is managed by Director Mr. Florent Deperrois and has 35 employees at the moment. With over 25 years of experience in sales and support of positioning solutions Laser Equipement can be marked as pioneer in the French construction market. With Topcon’s line up it further strengthens its position through the versatile and enhanced product portfolio resulting in a... (read more)

2010-03-22 03:16:22

Combining GNSS Positioning Capabilities

Topcon Positioning Systems recently unveiled the IP-S2, a vehicle-mounted, mobile 3D precision mapping and survey system. The IP-S2 combines dual-frequency GNSS signal tracking and positioning and inertial measurement to integrate laser scanning and digital imaging. Using 3D laser scanners, LIDAR, and/or cameras, the data collected is integrated, time-stamped and geo-referenced. The customer can then quickly and accurately combine LIDAR "point cloud" and digital imaging data to build 3D models of the areas driven. Sensor integration creates unlimited applications for the technology in GIS, construction, agriculture, mapping, and machine control -- all areas where Topcon has market leadership. With its... (read more)

2009-07-15 02:27:22

Precisely Flexible Positioning

Pay-as-you-go Software-defined GNSS

As users push for more capabilities, today’s location apps for smartphones and tablets are running up against frustrating limitations. Higher accuracy can increase the performance of location-aware applications, but the costs and complexity have presented barriers to entry for many potential developers and their customers. Now, the Trimble Catalyst software-defined GNSS receiver is shifting the emphasis from hardware to software and cloud-based services, and is set to bring new users to the GNSS arena. GPS first appeared on mobile phones in the mid-1990s, but the concept of location-based services using a device’s built-in GPS receiver did not really take hold... (read more)

2017-08-31 09:48:25

Surveying and Positioning Systems

North Group

The world of surveying and positioning is experiencing an amazing transformation that began just recently, and goes hand in hand with the superior push in technology democratisation due to the popularity of consumer and professional hand devices. Almost any phone is now more powerful than our first desktop computers and satellite positioning seems to be permeating into everything from locating friends to autopilot planes and cars. North Group has experienced this change in technology since its first totally automated truck fleet management system was put to work in 2000 in Europe, USA and Mexico. The hardware and communications involved in... (read more)

2013-02-25 01:50:58

AdVance RTK Precise Positioning

NovAtel Inc. (Canada) has launched its new Real Time Kinematic (RTK) precise positioning solution – AdVance RTK. NovAtel’s GNSS OEMV-2 and OEMV-3 receivers will now be available with the new AdVance RTK as part of the Version 3.100 firmware release. AdVance RTK delivers significant performance enhancements, including more reliable ambiguity solutions and faster narrow lane convergence on short, medium and long baselines. Time to ambiguity resolution on baselines up to 20 kilometres is virtually instantaneous. As a result, AdVance RTK enables users to work more reliably and efficiently in a wider range of conditions. (read more)

2006-11-28 12:00:00

Affordable Precise Positioning

OxTS

GPS is good for perhaps 70% of surveying needs. Inertial Navigation is the forgotten friend of GPS. Traditionally complex and expensive, Inertial Navigation has become competitive, easy-to-use and cost-effective. Need position? Use GPS. It's obvious enough. But when you can't use GPS the cost of surveying rapidly increases. Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) are positioning systems alternative or complementary to GPS. They have traditionally been expensive and restricted mainly to military applications. Their use in missile-guidance has induced governments to place export restrictions on them, while specifically military interfaces make most virtually unÂusable to civilians. Anyone trying to purchase a military... (read more)

2007-09-19 12:00:00

Positioning Becoming a Commodity

GIM International Interviews Ewout Korpershoek, Director Marketing & Sales, Topcon Europe

"Welcome to the future!" This was how Topcon greeted Intergeo visitors to their stand. It was impossible to overlook. So what is so special about that future? And how is Topcon preparing for it? An alumnus from Delft University of Technology, Ewout Korpershoek in July this year became Director Marketing & Sales, Topcon Europe Positioning BV. Freshly in post, he gives an inspiring view on a surveying world in continual flux and a survey market broadening by the day. Welcome to the future! With this catch phrase you invite Intergeo participants to Topcon City, the capital of Intergeo. What is... (read more)

2005-11-21 12:00:00