GPS World, September 2016

TAKING POSITION Olympics Reflect Tech Changes 8 GPS WORLD WWW GPSWORLD COM SEPTEMBER 2016 Q Buyers get little guidance as to how specific receivers react to interference particularly in critical infrastructure Is there a need for receiver testing and certification along the lines of Underwriters Laboratories to guide purchase and acquisition A Exhaustive seven nines testing and verification is expensive takes a long time and stymies innovation Yet simple and pragmatic testing can reveal faults very quickly Numerous receivers fail to recognize that interference is occurring and or produce hazardously misleading position with no warning to the user Simple algorithms can detect problems quickly and receivers should implement them UL style testing would reveal gross deficiencies in receivers and would provide a basis for selecting receivers A Whether its a circular saw or a GNSS receiver safe use of a tool requires understanding its capabilities and how to use it I have heard all kinds of reports of the wrong type of receiver being used for critical applications An authoritative process that clarifies receiver capabilities and appropriate use would greatly help buyers educate themselves Ultimately it would make us all safer A Most high end receiver manufacturers have worked for many years on GNSS interference resilience Jamming incidents have pushed manufacturers harder for solutions because customers demand more We dont need legislation market pressure alone continues to bring about better interference solutions If youre using a low end receiver its probably somewhat processor and memory constrained so its hard to build in better signal processing Time will inevitably fix this problem in the meantime buy a better receiver LOGAN SCOTT PRESIDENT LSC DANA GOWARD PRESIDENT RESILIENT NAVIGATION AND TIMING FOUNDATION TONY MURFIN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR GPS WORLD BY Tracy Cozzens MANAGING EDITOR T he Olympics are great for technology Yes the competition held every four years highlights amazing athletes But its vast support network relies on numerous technologies including GNSS GNSS technology helped fans follow the canoe sprint and rowing events in Rio in more detail than before With GPS devices attached to every vessel spectators were abl e to see key data such as speed and direction information that helps when following a lengthy race taking place offshore For the first time Olympic athletes used high tech wearables to give them an edge Solos Smart Eyewear was designed for the USAs Cycling team with features that allowed cycl ists to see key metrics such as speed power distance cadence and heart rate plus more data from any number of connected sensors Drones Aloft Drone technology has exploded since the London 2012 Ol ymp i c s I n R i o broadcasters experimented with hovering cameras The BBC worked with Open Broadcast Service to provide international broadcasters with drone coverage of the rowing As for hobbyists dronemaker DJI updated its firmware with Olympic geofences preventing drones from flying over events Not every drone manufacturer implements geofences so the Brazilian military was equipped with new devices to jam dronecontrol signals mid flight The IACT DroneBlockers blast incoming drones with radio signals effectively jamming the signal from the controller Beware Zika Meanwhile mapping technology is helping to track the spread of the Zika virus Before the games the World Health Organization launched a Zika app to provide information about the disease After the Olympics IBM will provide local authorities with ways to track weather social media data and travel patterns Esri is supporting local authorities and coordinating field workers to track and contain the disease in Brazil and elsewhere Whats next Well find out in Tokyo in 2020 T C