GNSS summer school for young engineers to be held in Tokyo this August

Doctoral-level graduate students and early-career engineers, researchers and instructors from Japan and the rest of the world are invited to a weeklong summer seminar this August in Tokyo, sponsored by the Institute of Positioning, Navigation and Timing of Japan.

The summer school will take place in from August 19 through August 24 at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT). Classes wil be held in English.

Locata Installation Supports U.S. Vehicle Crash Avoidance Research

In announcing the selection of its terrestrial positioning system as the core PNT technology for the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Vehicle Research Center (VRC), Locata Corporation has opened up a new front in its campaign to augment or replace GNSS in application environments where the latter technology is unreliable or unavailable.

Topcon Launches OEM Precise Heading Product

Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has announced the MR-1 Heading System, an OEM GNSS solution for high-performance positioning and heading applications on moving platforms.

Using the MR-1 receiver and Topcon’s patented MG-A8 antenna, the system provides “centimeter-accurate RTK positioning and better than 1/10 of a degree heading accuracy in challenging environments,” said Doug Langen, TPS GNSS product manager.

NovAtel Launches New Series of SPAN IMUs

NovAtel Inc. has announced its new SPAN-IGM series of micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) inertial sensor products, including the IMU-IGM-A1 MEMS enclosure and the SPAN-IGM-A1 GNSS/INS enclosure.

The IMU-IGM-A1 is a small , rugged enclosure that houses a MEMS inertial sensor, which can be configured from the factory as an integrated GNSS + Inertial Navigation System (INS) or as a standalone IMU sensor for pairing with a customer’s existing SPAN-enabled OEM6 receiver. Its dimensions are 152 (length) x137 (width/diameter) X 51 (height) millimeters.

Furuno to Launch New Multi-GNSS Receiver Chips, Modules This Summer

Furuno Electric Company has announced that new multi-GNSS receiver chips eRideOPUS 6 and eRideOPUS 7 — with active anti-jamming, multipath mitigation, and dead reckoning interfaces — will be available to the market beginning August 2013.

The eRideOPUS 7 receiver chip can process GPS and GLONASS signals (with a combined antenna), satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) transmissions, Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), and — with a software update —Galileo signals. The eRideOPUS 6 is not GLONASS-capable.

GNSS Interference Detection from ITT Exelis

ITT Exelis offers the Signal Sentry 1000, a system designed to detect, geolocate, and characterize sources of intentional and unintentional interference to GPS and other GNSS ssignals and provide actionable intelligence to the user.

Study Predicts $81 Billion United States Market for UAS

Dee Ann Divis

EU$1 Million in Prizes for 2013 European Satellite Navigation Competition

With the 10th edition of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) set to begin on April 1, 2013, competition organizers are inviting submission of innovative GNSS application ideas.

CSNC 2013 Focuses on BeiDou, Applications

The 4th China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC 2013) will be held on May 15-17, 2013 in Wuhan, China. It will incorporate a wide range of activities, such as academic exchange, high-level forum, and technical presentations.

A China Satellite Navigation Technology and Application Achievement Exhibition will be held all three days in parallel with the event.

IFEN Opens U.S. Operations

IFEN has announced the opening of its U.S. subsidiary, IFEN Inc., to address the American market for GNSS test equipment.

The Poing, Germany–based company has named Mark Wilson as vice-president of sales at IFEN Inc. Wilson, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the GNSS market, said he was "very excited to join the IFEN team. . . . Our exceptional products offer unrivalled flexibility and capability, at realistic prices providing huge advantages to our customers.”