OEM
The Septentrio PolaRx5 GNSS receiver.
GNSS receiver
Next generation for precise scientific and geodetic applications
The PolaRx5 offers 544 hardware channels for robust and high-quality GNSS tracking. The receiver supports all major satellite signals including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou, as well as regional satellite systems including QZSS and IRSS. Septentrio’s Advanced Interference Mitigation (AIM+) technology enables it to filter out both intentional and unintentional sources of radio interference, from narrowband signals over high-powered pulsed signals to chirp jammers and Iridium interferers. Septentrio’s APME+ multipath mitigation technology eliminates short delay multipath without introduction of bias and guarantees superior measurement quality. The user can deactivate APME+ to obtain unmodified measurements.
Septentrio, www.septentrio.com
Flexible antennas
Folding design for plug-and-play integration
Bentoni is a positioning antenna for all of the global public satellite constellations: GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo. It is designed to be used in trackers, portable devices, network components, drones and wearable electronics. It offers high performance and maintains good isolation in situ within a device. Bentoni is a flexible FPC antenna in Antenova’s flexiiANT product range. They are supplied with an I-PEX MHF connector and a 1.13 mm RF cable in a choice of three lengths. They can be folded to save space in operation within a device, with the aim being plug-and-play simplicity. The antennas are self-adhesive mounted so that they can easily be fixed inside an electronic device.
Antenova, www.antenova-m2m.com
The Tallysman TW2926.
L-Band antenna
OEM antenna can be custom-tuned
The Tallysman TW2926 antenna is an unhoused OEM version of the TW2920, designed for simultaneous reception of L-band correction signals and all of the upper band GNSS signals, including GPS L1, GLONASS G1, Galileo E1 and BeiDou B1. The TW2926 is 56 millimeters in diameter and has four drilled plated holes for secure mounting within customers’ products. It can be custom tuned to ensure optimal performance within an enclosure. The 1-dB bandwidth of both the TW2920 and TW2926 covers 1525–1559 MHz for the L-band downlink and 1559–1610 MHz for the upper-band GNSS. The LNA provides 28-dB of gain. The antennas employ Tallysman’s Accutenna technology, which provides strong cross-polarization rejection for greatly improved multipath rejection, low axial ratio and tight phase center variation.
Tallysman, www.tallysman.com
NFC controller
Enables tiny antennas for mobile, IoT, wearables
The Near Field Communication (NFC) 88NF100 controller with active load modulation (ALM) is desgined to support the smallest antenna sizes critical to mobile, the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable and automotive applications. Adhering to NFC Controller Interface (NCI) Technical Specification version 1.1, the 88NF100 provides an extended operating range and is extremely energy efficient to enable extended battery life for power-critical applications. ALM technology supports the smallest antenna sizes to enable OEMs to implement NFC capabilities into small form-factor designs. The controller has extremely low power operation in polling mode to provide increased battery life for power critical applications and three single-wire protocol (SWP) interfaces to secure element (eSE) devices for secure payments. The two-pin antenna interface supports a maximum distance of two meters between the chip and antenna.
Marvell, www.marvell.com
Survey & Mapping
![mapping design book]()
Introduction to Mapping Techniques
Available as print or ebook
Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users, second edition, is an updated and comprehensive guide to creating maps that communicate effectively. Cartographer Cynthia A. Brewer covers the basics of good cartography, including layout design, scales, projections, color selection, font choices and symbol placement; she also describes her ColorBrewer application, an online color selection tool. The second edition includes a new chapter on map publishing. One reviewer wrote, “It is also worth a look by experienced cartographers who seek a refresher and a few new tips.” Brewer is a professor and chair of the Department of Geography at Pennsylvania State University and map and atlas design consultant.
Esri, esripress.esri.com
RTK NTRIP Android app
Eos Pro Tools is tightly integrated with google map
Eos Pro Tools is a comprehensive RTK NTRIP app for Android that works with its Arrow line of RTK GNSS receivers. An Arrow GNSS receiver combined with the NTRIP app turns an Android smartphone or tablet into a powerful data collector capable of recording 1-centimeter accurate GIS data in real-time. The app, named Eos Tools Pro, has user-configurable audible and visual alarms to alert the user of high PDOP, lost RTK correction, unacceptable correction age and several other important metrics. It supports all current and future constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou). Detailed satellite information such as a skyplot that plots each visible satellite, whether it’s being used or not, and signal strength bar graphs from each constellation are also displayed. Finally, a terminal screen displays the NMEA data flowing and allows the user to send commands to the receiver.
Eos Positioning Systems, www.eos-gnss.com
Rugged field tablet
Lightweight, ergonomic design for the mobile workforce
The 7-inch Algiz RT7 Android tablet is fully rugged, meeting stringent MIL-STD-810G U.S. military standards for protection against drops, vibrations and extreme temperatures. Its IP65 rating means that it’s waterproof as well as fully sealed against sand and dust. The tablet comes with a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and e-compass as well as a stand-alone u-blox EA-7M GPS receiver for navigation, along with built-in Qualcomm IZat location services.
Handheld Group, www.handheldgroup.com
Receiver with open OS
Over-the-air updates enable future functionality
The i80 GNSS receiver computes a true triple-frequency real-time kinematic (RTK) tilted pole solution using all four worldwide and multiple regional constellations, providing a future-proof sub-centimeter RTK solution to surveyors and contractors. Without the need of a data collector or computer, the i80’s LCD graphic user interface allows for common workflow operations, such as static logging, autobase, autorover and UHF channel selection, to be easily performed. The CHC i80 incorporates dual hot-swappable batteries, allowing for days of uninterrupted work. While small and lightweight, it is packed with a full array of sensors and modules: multiple micro-electrical-mechanical (MEMS), internal Tx/Rx UHF, multiband cellular modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, serial and USB.
CHC Navigation, www.chcnav.com
The SXPro by Geneq.
Data collector
All-in-one GPS, GNSS and RTK Data Collector Series
The SXPro series is built for mobile survey and GIS users for applications such as water, electric and gas utilities; transportation; mining; agriculture; and forestry. The professional-grade rugged handheld receivers include a battery life of more than 10 hours on a charge as well as a large outdoor-viewable touchscreen. The handhelds are rated IP65 for protection against water and dust, and equipped with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and Microsoft utilities. The SXPro RTK (real-time kinematic) model offers 220 multi-constellation channels for centimeter accuracy with RTK networks. The SXPro GNSS offers 372 multi-constellation channels for sub-meter accuracy with SBAS corrections.
Geneq, www.geneq.com
LIDAR analysis software
New point cloud analysis and visualization capabilities
The latest release of ENVI software adds lidar point cloud analysis and visualization capabilities that previously were only available in the ENVI lidar software package. ENVI 5.3 offers users a single software interface to work with hyper-spectral, multi-spectral, panchromatic and lidar data. The out-of-the-box functionality includes 3D point-cloud visualization, derived terrain product generation (such as digital elevation models) and lidar analytics such as viewshed line-of-sight calculation. For users who need point-cloud or terrain products in an area where collecting lidar is not feasible or is too expensive, the ENVI Photogrammetry Module is able to generate synthetic 3D point clouds from stereo optical imagery to take advantage of existing imagery archives. The dimension of time can be critical for a thorough geospatial analysis of an area, and the new ENVI release has added enhancements to the Spatio-Temporal analysis toolset. Spatio-Temporal analysis visualizes change and derives statistics from data over time, enabling users to observe past events to better predict upcoming activities.
Harris Corporation, www.exelisvis.com
UAV
Precision agriculture
Smart crop-spraying drone
The eight-rotor DJI Agras MG-1 UAV can load more than 10 kilograms of liquid for crop-spraying and can cover between seven and 10 acres per hour — more than 40 times more efficient than manual spraying. It can fly up to eight meters per second and adjusts spraying intensity to flying speed to ensure even coverage. It is dustproof, water-resistant and made of anti-corrosive materials. It features DJI’s flight-control system and microwave radar to ensure centimeter-level accuracy. During flight, the drone scans the terrain below in real time, automatically maintaining its height and distance from plants to ensure application of an optimal amount of liquid. The drone’s intelligent-memory function means after the Agras MG-1 is brought back to base for refill or recharge, it will return to its last memory point to pick up spraying where it left off.
DJI, www.dji.com
Anti-drone system
One drone nets another
The EXCIPIO is an anti-drone system that uses a drone to shoot out a net to capture another drone.The EXCIPIO Aerial Netting System is comprised of a UAS equipped with a first-person view camera and a net-firing gun. When the EXCIPIO has reached the threat target, it fires a net, then can either release the net with the target ensnared or keep the net tethered. Though the initial system concept was focused on intercepting and neutralizing an airborne UAV, the conceptual applications have expanded to include manned aircraft, ground vehicles, people and animals (whether airborne or on the ground).
Theiss UAV Solutions, www.theissuav.com