How scalable high precision GPS is resetting expectations in five markets

Once available only to high value applications, high precision positioning is ready to serve the mass market. Offering accuracies of around ten centimeters, virtually boundless scalability, and simplified integration into solutions, today’s multiband RTK high precision positioning technology is finding its way into an increasingly diversified ensemble of applications, paving the way for the data-driven economy.

As end-users come to expect higher degrees of automation, navigation applications are demanding higher accuracy to increase autonomy, improve control, and boost productivity. The shift from niche high-value use cases to the mass market brings a radical shift in the make-up of the markets, the end-users, and of their respective expectations. High precision positioning should, therefore, offer maximum availability, in all environments, at a reasonable cost, and be globally deployable.

High precision GPS for surveying: A new arrow in their technological quiver

 

As an early adopter of high precision GNSS (HPG) technology, the surveying sector has deep expertise in working with GNSS technology and has proven to be quick to integrate value-adding technological innovations into its broad portfolio of solutions. With growth driven primarily by investment in infrastructure and construction works in emerging economies, there is demand for highly integrated high precision positioning solutions with lower barriers to entry, both in terms of expertise and external dependencies, to drive expansion into new application areas and emerging markets.

High precision GPS for heavy machinery: Winning with high performance and availability

 

High accuracy positioning can benefit the heavy machinery sector by offering steering guidance for partial automation of diggers, graders, cranes, and excavators, increasing productivity and saving costs as long as high expectations in terms of performance and availability are met. Driven largely by investment in infrastructure and construction, demand for small, high-quality, and easily scalable high precision positioning solutions, as well as dead reckoning technology will enable expansion into new applications and emerging markets, as solutions are deployed on ever-smaller vehicles.

 

High precision GPS for UAVs: Nurturing prosumer and commercial applications
 

UAVs have a record of being prepared to adopt the latest technology to improve their performance and quickly get it into their consumers’ hands. Currently, value growth is shifting towards prosumer and commercial applications, raising expectations in terms of positioning performance. Small, lightweight, high-quality, and real-time high accuracy positioning is enabling new use cases such as daily progress reports on construction sites; inspection of critical infrastructure including pipelines, off-shore wind turbines, and power lines; aerial surveillance; unmanned vehicle traffic management; crop growth monitoring; and UAV light shows.

High precision GPS for precision agriculture: “Treading lightly” to protect the soil

 

High accuracy GPS technology can guide tractors, sprayers, and other agricultural vehicles using lightbars or assisted steering to improve pass-to-pass accuracy, minimizing damage to the environment. Combining this with variable rate application of agricultural inputs, farmers can save costs by reducing the volume of seeds planted as well as limit water pollution and protect arable land through the efficient use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer. HPG technology also enables drone-based crop height monitoring and infrared or hyperspectral imaging. High accuracy and low barriers to entry are a must in this US$ 5.5 billion global OEM market.

High precision GPS for e-micromobility: Enforcing regulations to foster growth

 

As the global fleet of e-scooters continue its growth, municipal authorities are having to work with e-mobility providers to ensure that users comply with local laws and regulations. While needs vary from city to city based on their individual regulatory requirements, highly accurate satellite positioning is gaining importance as a tool to limit their operation and parking in geo-fenced areas. Reliably delivering the required decimeter-level accuracy in urban environments may require combining high precision GNSS with inertial sensor-based dead reckoning solutions.

u-blox solutions for high precision positioning and navigation

The u-blox F9 high precision positioning platform was designed to meet growing demand for scalable mass-market solutions for high precision GNSS positioning. The platform combines multiband satellite signal reception to speed up time to first fix with the ability to track all four global GNSS constellations concurrently.

Integrating real-time kinematic (RTK) correction data – either from a nearby base station or transmitted via satellite or internet – using embedded RTK algorithms lets the u-blox ZED-F9P high precision GNSS receiver module achieve accuracies of just a few centimeters.

Featuring an inertial measurement unit for dead reckoning technology, the u-blox ZED-F9R high precision dead reckoning module extends high precision performance to otherwise challenging urban environments.

To learn more about how scalable and secure high precision GPS can take your positioning solution to the next level, contact your nearest sales representative or fill out the project information form.