GPS World, August 2015

BUSINESS THE Industry news and developments GPS Galileo GLONASS LOCATION BASED SERVICES Next Generation Tracker Debuts StickNTrack an award winning low power tracker from Sensolus is now active in eight European countries StickNTrack guards and tracks position journeys motion and status of any non powered asset without the hassle of charging batteries managing SIM cards or an intrusive installation Sensolus said StickNTracks web based service platform is tailored for low power asset tracking communicating over the French based Sigfox Because Sigfox is an ultra lowpower communication network it significantly reduces StickNTracks power needs so that it consumes up to 40 times less power and lowers lifecycle costs by 50 percent compared to existing compact GPRS GPS products Sensolus said The trackers power can last up to five years In the third quarter an upgraded version will be released with extended battery lifetime up to nine years according to Kristoff Van Rattinghe who developed StickNTrack along with Laurence Claeys Johan Criel and Koen Van Vlaenderen Users can access the StickNTrack web portal with any smartphone running Android OS or iOS The full feature set can be accessed on a tablet or laptop Features include interactive timelines intuitive geofencing email alerting and optimized energy savings The ruggedized waterproof StickNTrack is 120 x 50 x 25 millimeters and weighs 255 grams It can track assets on the water such as yachts or buoys providing automated logbooks alerting users when assets enter or exit specific zones such as harbors and providing real time journey information for those at home StickNTracks developers took third place in the 2014 European Satellite Navigation Competition after taking first in the Flanders regional competition It also won the European Space Agencys Innovation Award Dubbed a distruptive innovation by the European Satellite Navigation Competition ESNC StickNTrack opens up an abundance of new business opportunities in tracking trailers containers machinery tools bikes and more Future accuracy and availability improvements based on GNSS will trigger additional advancements such as by automating supply chains for packages and their delivery Ultimately StickNTrack is a next generation location tracker that significantly lowers the barriers to embedding even more GNSS technology into our daily lives DESIGN TEST QinetiQs New GNSS Receiver Ready for Galileo PRS QinetiQ has developed a robust navigation receiver that will use the Galileo Europes satellite navigation system in particular the secured Public Regulated Service PRS QinetiQs new high performance next generation GNSS receiver is multi constellation and multi frequency and is designed to process encrypted signals from the Galileo PRS service as well as open services such as GPS The receiver now a in prototype form is a significant step towards developing an end user product for navigation tracking and timing QinetiQ said It will offer highly secure accurate and reliable position velocity and timing intended for users with a mission critical need such as governments the military and emergency services across Europe The next step is working to refine the product family and preparing it to be brought to market Davies said This includes developing additional features and reducing its size to that of a postage stamp in a form factor similar to Qinetiqs Q20 receiver THE PROTOTYPE held by a senior engineer GPS World August 2015 www gpsworld com 10