GPS World, July 2015

THE BUSINESS SURVEY MACHINE CONTROL Hemisphere GNSS Debuts Atlas GNSS Correction Service Hemisphere has released Atlas its new entrant into the GNSS global correction services market Atlas is delivered via L Band or the Internet at accuracy levels ranging from meter level to sub decimeter level Atlas support is being introduced across a wide range of hardware including Hemispheres new AtlasLink smart antenna also launched Atlas comes out of a change of culture and focus Hemisphere CEO Chuck Joseph told GPS World in an extensive interview Read the full interview at gpsworld com Atlas is available for subscription at the dedicated Atlas web portal across a range of Hemispheres multi frequency RTK capable products such as AtlasLink R330u V320 and VS330u Since joining Hemisphere I have heard from customers large and small that they need a different option when it comes to high accuracy corrections one they can buy from their provider of choice and with little to no impact on their operating budgets Joseph said We listened hard to what they told us and built Atlas to answer their needs a totally new service that delivers freedom of choice to our customers along with industry leading corrections at dramatically reduced prices We formed a team of our most experienced GNSS professionals with the task of developing a roadmap for the future of correction services business and technology in the world assessing current needs and also what users across the globe will be looking for over the next decade or two said Rodrigo Leandro Hemisphere director of engineering Atlas not only introduces Hemisphere as a business and technology leader in the correction services industry today it provides an essential platform for delivering multiple levels of correction services to a very wide range of users spanning commercial business and consumer application use Joseph explained the development process On my first day on the job we divided the staff into five working groups and told them you are now startup companies entrepreneurs with six people each team Go away and come back with big ideas Go build a business plan Out of that we got Athena released last month Atlas AtlasLink and a couple more new products coming out in the months to come Systems supporting Atlas use the newly released Athena GNSS engine To be able to utilize Atlas corrections users of supported systems need to update to Athena firmware and purchase a subscription through the Atlas portal For Tony Murfins Professional OEM column on Hemisphere see www gpsworld com opinions Features of Atlas Positioning accuracy Competitive positioning accuracies down to 2 cm RMS in certain applications Positioning sustainability Position quality maintenance in the absence of correction signals using Hemispheres Tracer technology Scalable service levels Atlas is designed to serve all It is capable of providing virtually any accuracy precision and repeatability level in the 5 to 100 cm range Convergence time Convergence times of 10 40 minutes Agnostic capability Atlas is an agnostic positioning system SmartLink technology allows an AtlasLink antenna to be used as an Atlas signal extension for any GNSS system compliant with open communication standards Network RTK augmentation BaseLink technology allows Atlas capable receivers to self calibrate self survey and automatically manage the transmission of RTK correction data to augment or extend established or new GNSS reference networks in areas of poor Internet connectivity PASS TO PASS RESULTS The relative accuracy of Atlas between two tracks of a tractor can get down to 25 centimeters useful for agricultural applications www gpsworld com July 2015 GPS World 15