NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

SENSEFLY DRONES HELP MONITOR LAKE WINNIPEG ICE HAZARDS senseFly fixed-wing drones have been used to track and monitor the formation of lakeice hazards on Lake Winnipeg by NextGenEnvironment Research, aCanadian company based in Winnipeg.The project, conductedaspartofthe Canadian SpaceAgencies Earth Observation Applications Development Program (EODAP), aimed to identify and monitor the levels of lakeice and detectcracks and pressureridges to raise awarenessamong local communities and first responders about the risks of lakeice travel. With studies projecting areduction in lakeice mass overthe coming SCHNEIDER DIGITAL’S 3D PLURAVIEW years,ice safetyisbecomingacritical STEREO MONITOR consideration formanypopulations Thereisanincreasing demand forimproved,high-qualitystereovisualization solutions who use the lakes to travelfor in the growing professional 3D /VRmarket. The3DPluraViewfromSchneider Digital is commercial and leisureactivities. the passive3D-stereo system with thehighest user satisfaction and acceptance of all Theonset of melting ice –which 3D displaysystems currently on the market. Launched in 2016, the PluraViewmonitors begins in spring –isacritical time have quickly established themselves as the 3D stereo reference with up to 4K resolution, formonitoring ice,asitcan result 10-bit color and screen diagonals up to 28”.The PluraView3D-stereo monitor is ideal for inpressureridges,leads and cracks all stereo softwareapplications, covering awide range of industries: GIS, mapping, appearing and expose open water. photogrammetry, oil &gas prospecting,molecular research anddesign, CGI/3Dvideo www.sensefly.com editing,CAD &mechanical engineering,crystallography/biochemistry, laser scanning and industrial measuring,simulation&VR training,3Dcitymodel visualization, archaeology, ESRI ACQUIRES NFRAMES but also Computer Tomography(CT)and Magnetic ResonanceImaging forsurgical TO ENHANCE ITS 3D planning and medical training. www.3d-pluraview.com CAPABILITIES Esri, the global provider of location intelligence,announced the acquisition of nFrames,atechnology companythatdevelops SURE, GMV ANNOUNCES THE MERGER OF ITS UK an imageryand lidar 3D surface COMPANY AND NSL reconstruction software. This will GMV Innovating Solutions Limited,the UK enable the fusion of imagery with aerospace companybelonging to the Spanish 3D GIS,allowing nFrames and Esri technology multinational GMV,has signed a users to seamlessly captureand merger agreement with Nottingham Scientific analyse 3D data from aerial,drone, Limited (NSL). GMV trades in the aerospace, and ground-based sensors in an defence,ICT andintelligent-transportation- automated end-to-end process.SURE systems markets while NSL is UK leader in satellite scales 3D data creation to large city navigation and critical applications.After the and countrywide airborne image agreement GMV becomes sole shareholder of datasets and projects while giving NSL and sets up the companyGMV NSL, to be professional photogrammetry integrated seamlessly intoGMV’s set of companies. workflows improved precision, speed, Back in 2013, as partofits international expansion, and simplicityonpremises or in the GMV rolled out abusiness development strategy cloud.Through this acquisition, Esri in the UK.This involved setting up anew company, gains arobust production engine that which came on stream in late2014 to join the suite transforms imageryand lidar data of companies and offices in Spain, USA, Germany, intopoint clouds,photo-textured 3D France,Poland,Portugal,Romania, TheNetherlands, meshes,and true orthos. Malaysia and Colombia. www.gmv.com www.esri.com

6 November/December 2020 | GeoConnexion International Magazine NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

FIRST HIGH-RESOLUTION, HOMOGENEOUS SPACE FLIGHT LABORATORY ANNOUNCES DIGITAL SURFACE MODEL (DSM) FOR LAUNCH OF ATMOSPHERIC MONITORING AND GERMANY EARTH OBSERVATION MICROSATELLITES Hexagon’s Geosystems division announced that it has been Space Flight Laboratory(SFL), adeveloper of 52 distinct awarded acontractbythe German Federal Agencyfor microspace missions,announced the successful launch Cartographyand Geodesy (BKG) to provide ahomogeneous, and deployment of the GHGSat-C1greenhouse gas comprehensivedigital surface model (DSM) forGermany.The monitoring microsatellite and the Slovenian NEMO-HD data is provided via the HxGN Content Program,alicensed, Earth observation microsatellite.SFL developed the small high-qualitygeospatial data service from Hexagon. Theprogram satellites at its facilityinToronto. Both satellites were in contact was launched in 2014 and is currently availableinEurope and with groundcontrol within hours of their launch on September North America. TheBKG has data sets with general height 2, 2020, aboardanArianespace Vega rocket from the Guiana information of the Earth’s surface across its entirefederal Space Center in French Guiana, South America. Thesatellites are territory. However, these can varyfromstatetostatebecause healthyand operating as planned.Established at the University theyare generated from different source data. An up-to-date, of Toronto Institutefor AerospaceStudies (UTIAS) in 1998, homogeneous and high-resolution DSM is required by SFL has developed CubeSats,nanosatellites,and microsatellites organizations operating across stateborders,such as the Federal that have achievedmorethan 126 cumulativeyears of operation Agencyfor Technical Relief (THW), the German Air TrafficControl, in orbit. These microspace missions have included SFL’s trusted the German Armed Forces Geoinformation Centreand the attitudetude control and, Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. in someome cases, www.hexagon.com formmation-flying capabilitiespabilities. Othherer core SFL--ddeevveelopedloped componentsmponents includeude modulardular (scalable)alable) powweerrssystystems, onboarboardradios, flighthtccomputomputers, andd control software. wwwww..utias-sutias-sfl.n.neett

PIX4D ANNOUNCES PIX4DMATIC TELEDYNE DALSA RELEASES POWERFUL SUITE OF IMAGE Pix4Dmatic has been created to suit an evolving demand as professionals map bigger PROCESSING AND ARTIFICIAL and bigger areas around the world. Projectsthat would have previously been mapped INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE by aircraftare nowbeing surveyedwith drones.With Pix4Dmatic,these expertprojects Teledyne DALSA, aTeledyne aremade possible and easier.Drone flights beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS), Technologies companyand global when permitted by law, areoften considered the next frontier of drone mapping. provider of machine vision, announced Pix4Dmatic nowoffers supportalso forthe large datasets resultingfrommultiple flights SaperaTM Vision SoftwareEdition 2020- by easily processing over 10,000 images without compromising the results’accuracy. 09 is nowavailable.The latest Sapera This softwarewill potentially open the door to anew era of drone mapping. Digital Vision Softwaresuiteincludes Sapera photogrammetry has become an essential part of everymodernsurveyors’toolkit and Processing and the new Astrocyte has inspired hundreds of newdrone mapping businesses around the world. Pix4Dmatic is graphical application forartificial nowunlocking another scale in digital photogrammetrybymaking the processing faster intelligence (AI). Thesoftwaresuite and the experience moreintuitive. www.pix4d.com offers field-proven image processing and artificialintelligence functions to design, develop and deployhigh-performance machine vision applications.This latest version of Sapera Vision Software includes AstrocyteTM1.0, anew AI- based graphical application dedicated to training neural networkson2Dimages forawide range of applications.Through its highly flexible graphical user interface, users can train neural networksto perform classification, objectdetection, segmentation and noise reduction on existing images.Astrocytecan then exportmodels to Sapera Processing for integration intoafinal application. www.teledynedalsa.com

www.geoconnexion.com 7 NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

CREAFORM ANNOUNCES NEW AND COMPLETE R-SERIES SUITE OF AUTOMATED DIMENSIONAL QUALITY CONTROL SOLUTIONS Creaform, aworldwide provider 3D measurement solutions,announced the latest release in its R-Series lineup, including the new MetraSCAN-R BLACK|Elite as well as the addition of four different models in the CUBE-R 3D scanning measuring machine. Creaform also launched the brand-new VXscan-R digital twin environmentsoftware module,which completes the company’s turnkey automated qualitycontrol solution suite. www.creaform3d.com

CGG GEOSOFTWARE IXBLUE BUILDS CAPACITY FOR SIMULTANEOUS LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE WELL PATH PLANNING OPERATIONS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TASMAN TECHNOLOGY iXblue announced the awardoftwo significant hydrographic charting projects this CGGGeoSoftwarehas launched month. Theprojectswereawarded by the Australian GovernmentDepartmentof WellPath, anew interactive3Dwell Defenceand Land Information NewZealand (LINZ) under their respectiveannual path planning solution foroptimal survey and charting programs.Despitethe challenges posed by the COVID19 pandemic well planning in unconventional this year,iXblue will be exercising newin-house capabilities to undertakeboth major and fractured reservoirs and offshore projects simultaneously.The LINZ project, partofiXblue’s programonthe Hydrographic development platforms,aspartof Suppliers Panel, will see nearly 2,000 linear nautical miles of high resolution bathymetry its InsightEarth 3D visualization data collected in coastal waters off the Coromandel Peninsula – a highly trafficked and interpretation softwaresuite. waterway on the east coast of the North Island. To complete this project, iXblue will WellPath shows the complexityofthe employ a 32-metre mothership and the 8-metre DriX – iXblue’s specialist Uncrewed subsurface drilling environment in 3D Surface Vessel (USV). www.ixblue.com so that drillers can quickly plan and QC horizontal wells on high-density, multi-lateral pads or large offshore platforms.Drilling engineers now have the powertoperform interactive directional well path planning while adhering to the constraints of geological targets and engineering design. Drillers can optimizeplans based on fractures, facies,geobodies,and reservoir attributes while avoiding hazards,legacy wells,and recent completions prevalent in certain areas,such as the Permian Basin of west Texas. www.cgg.com

EAST VIEW GEOSPATIAL PARTNERS WITH ALLSOURCE ANALYSIS East View Geospatial (EVG)and AllSource Analysis have established anew partnership to bring forwardauthoritativegeospatial intelligence and analytical products.AllSource Analysis is a provider of geospatial intelligence with aworldwide network of expertanalysts and access to the most cutting-edge tools and technologies.This partnership combines EVG’s unparalleled data sourcing and production capabilities with the finished geospatial intelligence expertise of AllSource Analysis,enabling clients to makeinformed decisions with the utmost confidence.With this newpartnership,East View Geospatial is able to offer a full suiteofnew geospatial intelligencesolutions including but not limited to descriptiveand predictive imageryanalysis,GEOINT/IMINT reports,countryorregional-based foundational inventoryof keyassets and locations,and automated validation and support. www.geospatial.com

8 November/December 2020 | GeoConnexion International Magazine NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

EVOLOGICS PRESENTED THE NEW PINGGUIN AUV EvoLogics presented the PingGuin, an autonomous underwater vehicle with low-drag bionic design. Thevehicle was developed as partofthe MUM (“Modifiable Underwater Mothership”) collaborativeR&D projectand was first demonstrated in Kiel, Germany, in June 2020. Outstanding hydrodynamic properties of apenguin’s body became the starting point forthe AUVdesign within the NaviMUM subproject, assigned to EvoLogics. One of the EvoLogics co-founders, Dr.Rudolph Bannasch studied Adélie penguins and the effectiveness of their locomotion since the 80s,undertaking several field trips to the Antarctic and performing numerous wind tunnel and water tank experiments in Berlin. This research demonstrated that spindle-shaped flow bodies,modelled afterpenguins,achieve ultra-lowdrag coefficients in the water. www.evologics.de

VIRTUAL SURVEYOR OFFERS ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY IN FREE VERSION OF DRONE SURVEYING SOFTWARE In release 7.4, Virtual Surveyorhas added newfunctionalityto the free pricing levelofits popular drone surveying software. The“Valley”plan of Virtual Surveyornow allows users to create engineering CADmodels from drone orthophotos and/or LiDAR data sets.Available under three pricing plans,the Virtual Surveyor softwareenables surveyors to derive topographic information from drone data that engineers need forconstruction, mining, and other excavation projects.The softwarehas become popular among surveyors and engineers because its tools allowthem to work effectively with drone data.Virtual Surveyorgenerates an interactiveonscreen environment wherethe surveyorselects surveypoints and breaklines to createahighly accuratelightweight CAD model forfurther use in engineering designpackages. www.virtual-surveyor.com

www.geoconnexion.com 9 NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

ROADCLOUD TO OFFER PREMIUM ROAD DATA ON THE HERE MARKETPLACE RoadCloud,the connectedvehicle data platformthat provides real-time informationfor transportationservices and systems,and HERE Technologies,alocation data and technology platform, announced that theyhave teamed up to makeRoadCloud road friction estimates, road condition data and weather data available via the HERE Marketplace.Asaglobal location data exchange hub,the HERE Marketplace enables RoadCloud to benefit from its global reach across industries and ecosystems and help the companytobroadenits total addressable marketand revenue opportunities.Byequipping commercial vehicle fleets with high-fidelitysensors,RoadCloud continuously collects high qualitydata on the stateofthe entireroad network,including road pavement quality, black ice and potential aquaplaning scenarios. www.here.com

GLOBALSTAR SATELLITE IOT DEVICE DEPLOYMENTS FOR RELIEF AGENCIES DOUBLE IN 12 MONTHS FOR SPECIALIST RESELLER TRAKSAT Globalstar Europe SatelliteServices Ltd,announces that specialist Value Added Reseller,Traksat, has deployed over 1,200 Globalstar-enabled safety and tracking devices forhumanitarian organisations internationally.Prominent NGO Humanity&Inclusion (HI) is deploying SPOTGen3 satellite messengers and SmartOne Solar IoTtracking devices to protectrelief workers and supportoperations in severalAfrican nations,aswell as in South America. International Rescue Committee,rescue.org, headquartered in NewYork, uses SPOTGen3s in numerous Africancountries to safeguardand track relief workers. ACTED is similarly using SPOTGen3s in Niger.Traksat reportsdramatic uptakeof its NGO-centric solution with Globalstar technology as its backbone.The number of Traksat-provided Globalstar devices being used to support humanitarian efforts has doubled in the last 12 months. www.globalstar.com COVID-19: E-GEOS (TELESPAZIO/ASI) WILL DEVELOP A SOLUTION TO MONITOR THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY e-GEOS, an ASI (20%) /Telespazio (80%) company, has signed acontractwith the European Space Agency(ESA) forthe development of asolution capable of integrating and analysing large amounts of both satelliteand non-satellitedata, to help monitor the economic recovery afterthe COVID-19 outbreak,inparticular in the port,logistics and freighttransport sectors. Theproject,called “COVID-19 economic impactassessment from Space in Italian Portsand Logistic Centres -Enabling IndustryGrowth”, will be funded in the contextofthe permanent ESA call “EO Science forSociety”,aimed at supporting solutions and services using Earth Observation data forthe benefit of citizens.e-GEOS will lead ateam composed of the start-up CherryData, spinoff of the Politecnico di Milano, and the companyExpertLAB,headquarteredinRome. www.e-geos.it

EXACTEARTH ANNOUNCES SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF THE ESAIL MICROSATELLITE exactEarth, aprovider of Satellite-AIS data services,announcesthe successful launch of the ESAIL microsatellite. Developed under ESA’s ARTES Partnership Projectfor global ship tracking,the ESAIL satellitewas launched September 3rdonboardthe ArianespaceVega (VV16) flight,fromEurope’s spaceportinKourou,French Guiana. Thesatellitewill undergo commissioning testing over thenextfew months and then will be brought intoservice to provide advanced high-performance vessel detection and tracking capabilityaspartofexactEarth’s global constellation of morethan 70 high performance automatic identification system (AIS) satellites providing real time monitoring of the global shipping fleet. VV16 is Arianespace’s first Vega Small SpacecraftMission Service (SSMS) rideshareflight that injectedatotal of 53 satellites intoorbit. At approximately 52 minutes afterlaunch, ESAIL was released intoasun-synchronous orbit with Local Time at Descending Node (LTDN) of 10:30 am at an altitude of 515 km. www.exactearth.com

10 November/December2020|GeoConnexion International Magazine NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

GOLDEN SOFTWARE IMPROVES SURFER FILE NOVARA GEOSOLUTIONS AWARDED THE ESRI HANDLING FOR FASTER MAPPING RELEASE READY SPECIALTY DESIGNATION Golden Software, adeveloper of 2D and 3D scientificmodelling Novara GeoSolutions,amulti-disciplined organization providing packages,has made it faster and easier than ever to createmaps solutions forasset management, compliance,integrity in the latest version of its Surfergridding,contouring,and 3D management, operational improvement and other geospatial surface mapping product. Additionally,Surferusers will find it needs announces it has been awarded the Esri Release is simpler to present, shareand displaytheir work with the Ready Specialtystatus. This significant recognition is given softwarepackage.Surferhas been relied upon formorethan 30 to partners that showinnovation with Esritechnology,are years by scientists in numerous disciplines to easily visualizeand committed to developing their wide-ranging expertise and offer interpret complexdatasets. Knownfor its fast and powerful expert technical support foravarietyofEsrisolutions and contouring algorithms that regularly outperform moreexpensive products.Novara’s enterprise-leveltechnology solutions,off-the- packages,Surferenables users to model data sets,apply an array shelf GIS applications,and cloud based platformprovide clients of advanced analytics tools,and graphically communicatethe with the tools to manage their mission critical operations.The results in ways anyone can understand. Release Ready Specialtysupports not only Novara’s mission as an www.goldensoftware.com Esri Gold Partner to supportclients with the newest and most reliable geospatial technology on the market, but it also illustrates its ongoing dedication to deploysolutions on proven platforms that have the flexibilitytointegratewith external hardwareand sensors to enhance the overall results. www.novarageo.com

TELEDYNE CARIS AI SOFTWARE ONBOARD SUCCESSFUL UTAS USV MISSION AIDASH TAPS UP42 EARTH OBSERVATION Teledyne CARIS, aTeledyne Technologies company, was an integral partof PLATFORM TO CREATE VEGETATION the illustrious team involved in the ground-breaking uncrewed offshore MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES survey mission in the Atlantic Ocean. Teledyne CARIS’Mira AI and CARIS AiDash, asatelliteanalytics companybased in Santa Clara, Calif., Onboardsoftware were present on the vessel to enable autonomous has launched apredictivevegetation management productfor surveyand real-time processing operations.The mission’s Uncrewed Surface utilities that leverages the UP42 Earth observation marketplace. Vehicle (USV)built by SEA-KIT mapped over1000 sq kmsofthe ocean floor AiDash’s satellite-powered IntelligentVegetation Management in 22 days,while beingcontinuously monitored via satellitecommunications System (IVMS) has already reduced outages and slashed at its Remote Operations Center in Essex, United Kingdom. Aspecialized vegetation management costs foraFortune 500 electric utility. team comprised of the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation Alumni Team Keeping vegetationtrimmed near powerdistribution lines is an operated the surveyequipment andprovidedqualitycontrol of the data expensiveand time-consuming –yet critical –task forelectric from various‘work-from-home locations’around the world. TheSEA-KIT USV utilities.Encroachment by bushes and trees can cause wide- surveyedapredominately unsurveyed area at thesouthwesternedge spread outages and sparkdevastatingwildfires.Energy utilities of the UK Continental shelf.The image displays the initial results following a worldwide spend billions of dollars each year to continuously fully automated processing workflow. www.teledynecaris.com monitor vegetation in their powerline corridors from the ground and the sky, oftenusing manned and unmanned aircraft. OGC AND ODA ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP wwwwww.up42.c.up42.comom TheOpenGeospatial Consortium (OGC), the international consortium driving the creation and adoption of open geospatial standards,and Open Design Alliance (ODA), theproviderofCAD and BIM interoperabilitysolutions,announced astrategic partnership to promoteand strengthen theuse of open standards forthe location and geospatial industries.ODA is anot-for-profit technology consortium that builds Software Development Kits (SDKs) forpopular CAD and BIM standards including IFC, .dwg, and Autodesk Revit files.ODA softwareisused by morethan 1000 companies world-wide,and itssolutions arearecognized standardinthe industry. OGC’s leadership in creating open standards formsanatural synergy with ODA’sexpertise in standards implementation. Thepartnership between OGC and ODAis intended to develop and strengthen this synergy to the benefit of both organizations and the broader community. www.ogc.org

www.geoconnexion.com 11 NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

EUROGEOGRAPHICS PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR UN-GGIM FOCUS ON AUTHORITATIVE GEOSPATIAL DATA EuroGeographics has welcomed the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) intention to focus on issues concerning authority, custodianship and legal issues fordata forthe public good.The Association, which represents Europe’s National Mapping,Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, has pledged to supportthe UN-GGIM Working Group on Legal and PolicyFrameworksinits aim to better understand the definition and importance of authoritativedata. It is also offering access to its extensivenetwork to help gather examples of best practice and to facilitate information sharing. EuroGeographics is an observeronthe Working Group,which was formally renamed at the tenth session of UN-GGIM and is nowknown as the Working Group on Policyand Legal Frameworksfor Geospatial Information Management to alignwith IGIF Strategic Pathway2–Policyand Legal. www.eurogeographics.org

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC RELEASES ARCFM MOBILE 11.2.1 Schneider Electric,aprovider of Geographic Information System (GIS) solutions forutilities and communication providers, announced the latest release of ArcFMMobile XI, the utility- scale mobile GIS solution designed forfield crews. ArcFM Mobile 11.2.1 nowsupports afull digital design-construction workflowinthe ArcFMXIecosystem built for Esri’s Utility Network.ArcFM Mobile 11.2.1 helps minimizethe need for paper construction plans and optimizes as-built data capture with powerful newcapabilities.ArcFM Mobile XI is partofthe SKYWATCH AND PICTERRA JOIN FORCES TO MAKE ArcFMSolution XI Series,anecosystem of applications that GEOSPATIAL INSIGHTS AVAILABLE TO ALL streamline the designand construction workflow, enabling Picterra announced their partnership and anew unique joint program. utilities to get work donemoreefficiently.ArcFM Editor XI, SkyWatch is building the infrastructurefor the automated distribution ArcFMWeb XI, ArcFMGeodatabase Designer XI and ArcFM of Earth observation (EO)data. SkyWatch EarthCache provides Designer XI fill out the rest of the ecosystem. www.se.com developers with the tools theyneed to cost-effectively add EO data intotheir applications and workflows.PicterraisanML/AI Software- as-a-Serviceplatform enabling businesses to autonomously extract intelligence &analytics from satellite, aerial,and drone imagery. It comes with aready-to-use IT infrastructure: in afew clicks,it’spossible to process terabytes of imagerywith Picterra’s auto-scaling,GPU-enabled infrastructure. www.skywatch.com

BENTLEY SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF OPENGROUND CLOUD BentleySystems announced the availabilityofOpenGround Cloud, anew cloud service that enables geotechnical professionals to access reliable geotechnical data for better engineering decision support and to improvecollaboration across the entiresupply chain. OpenGround Cloud offers acomplete solution forplanning,data entry, borehole log production, lab data management, reporting,visualization, and more. Thecloud TALLYSMAN INTRODUCES A LINE OF service improves collaboration across multidisciplinaryproject EMBEDDED FULL-BAND AND TRIPLE-BAND teams and significantly increases the value of geotechnical data by VEROSTAR GNSS ANTENNAS making it easily accessible to keyprojectstakeholders.Now,with Tallysman Wireless announced four new OpenGround Cloud,geotechnical engineers can readily access game-changing embedded VeroStar Minnii reliable,high-qualitycurrent and historical geotechnical data for products to itsline of antennas.The ultra-- the modeling,simulation, and analysis of infrastructureprojects’ compactand lightweight embedded ground conditions. www.bentley.com VeroStar Mini models offer the same keyfeatures as the full-sizeVeroStar modelsbut in asmaller,lighter package, with either a90-mm (58 g) or 106-mm (6969 g) integrated ground plane,both 32.4 mmm in height. TheVSM6028, VSM6028L, VSM6328, and VSM6328L embedded VeroStar Mini antennas aredesigned and craftedfor high-accuracypositioning.With an exceptionally lowroll-off from zenith to the horizon, VeroStar antennas provide the best- in-class tracking of GNSS and L-band correction signals at low elevation angles.Also,the optimized axial ratio at all elevation angles results in excellent multipath rejection, thus enabling accurateand precise code and phase tracking. www.tallysman.com

12 November/December 2020 | GeoConnexion International Magazine NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

SAPCORDA EXPANDS SAFETY-CRITICAL GNSS UP42 PARTNERS WITH HEXAGON TO OFFER AUGMENTATION SERVICES FOR AUTOMOTIVE HXGN CONTENT PROGRAM AERIAL IMAGERY WITH POWERFUL L-BAND SATELLITE LINKS ON GEOSPATIAL MARKETPLACE Sapcorda Services GmbH announced that testing of its first High-resolution aerial imageryfromthe HxGN Content Program global navigation satellitesystem (GNSS) augmentation services is nowavailable on the UP42 developer platformfor Earth forL-band signal is underwayinNorth America and Europe, observation data and analytics.UP42 customers maynow laying the foundation forits December 1, 2020 launch of the choose from nearly 11 million squarekilometers of 30 cm strongest, most reliableGNSS augmentation signal for safety- orthorectified imagery forNorth America and Europe and over critical navigation in autonomous vehicles and machinery. 500,000 sq km of 15 cm data formajorU.S. cities in the Hexagon Available in areas without GSM coverage or mobile internet aerial image library. UP42 givesusers directaccess to extensive signal,the newSapcorda L-band beam solutions from two Earth observation data sets and advanced processing geostationarysatellites provide PPP-RTK data-feed redundancy algorithms –along with cloud computing power–to create in real-timebyswapping to asecond data feed when internet their owngeospatial solutions easily and inexpensively.The connectivityisnot available.This automated swapping platformprovides all the tools UP42 customers need to develop significantly improves reliabilityfor life-critical applications such geospatial workflows, applications,and even commercial as autonomous cars. www.sapcorda.com products. www.up42.com

www.geoconnexion.com 13 NEWS & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

TRIMBLE AND BOSTON ALTEIA ACCELERATES THE DEPLOYMENT OF ITS ENTERPRISE AI DYNAMICS ANNOUNCE SOLUTIONS AND ANNOUNCES GLOBAL ALLIANCES WITH GE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE DIGITAL AND MICROSOFT Trimble and Boston Dynamics Alteia, the provider of Visual Intelligence forEnterprise,lands twomajor partnerships with announced astrategic alliance to GE Digital and Microsoft. TheAlteia platformcombines the best of computer vision and integrateavarietyofconstruction data artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.Itprovides developers,data scientists,and business collection technologies with Boston analysts one common and securedatabase forall of their visual data, enabling them to Dynamics’Spot robotplatform. collaborateand rapidlydevelop,deployand improveovertime AI based applications. Thejointly-developed solution will These alliances will allowcustomers to streamline the adoption of AI designed to address combine the Spot robot’s autonomous issues likeinventory, energy management, predictivemaintenance and equipment mobilitywith Trimble’s data collection reliability. With the combined expertise of GE Digital and Alteia’s platform, this alliance is sensors and field control softwareto designed to help fast-track the deliveryofenterprise-scale industryand domain-specific enable automation of repetitive AI applications, shorten the time to value and accelerate the scaling of mission-critical tasks such as sitescans,surveying solutions. www.alteia.com and progress monitoring,while taking advantage of the robot’s unique capabilities to navigatedynamic and potentially unsafeenvironments.The relationship givesTrimble exclusivityto sell and supportthe Spot robot with integrated scanning,total station and GNSS technologies forthe construction market. www.trimble.com

INMARSAT AND COBHAM SATCOM ENABLE MALDIVES FISHERIES SUSTAINABILITY WITH FLEET ONE Inmarsat, the provider of global mobile satellite communications,and Cobham SATCOM, the provider of radio and satellitecommunications solutions,have been awarded anew contract to connect732 fishing vessels activein the Maldives Economic Exclusion Zone to Inmarsat’s Fleet One maritime broadband services.Cobham’s SAILOR Fleet One utilises the existing Inmarsat-4 satelliteconstellation to deliver the most reliable global voice calling and internet connectivityvia acompact, lightweight antenna, and asimple installation process.The technology’s affordabilitymakes it particularly accessible forsmaller boats looking to access maritime satellitecommunications forthe first time. www.inmarsat.com

TDI-BROOKS INTERNATIONAL COMPLETES EBS PROGRAM OFFSHORE IVORY COAST TDI-Brooks International teamed with the French environmental firm Créocéan and Benthic Solutions,has completed an Environmental Baseline Studies (EBS) forTOTAL E&P Côte d’Ivoire, IvoryCoast. TDI- Brooks safely and efficiently deployedthe R/V Proteustoblocks CI-705 and CI-706 to conductseawater sampling and profiling (CTD rosette) as well as planton sampling (bongo net) at 7stations,sediment sampling (Mega BoxCore) at 45 stations and livefeed benthic video sled at 24 transects.The twoblocks coveranareaofapprox. 3,200 sq kms,and present multi-target hydrocarbon prospects in water depths ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 meters.The TDI-Brooks vessel earmarked forthis projectwas the R/V Proteus,amulti-use vessel suited fora wide varietyofoceanographic research duties. www.tdi-bi.com

14 November/December 2020 | GeoConnexion International Magazine