A new surveying and mapping textbook is now available on the OPEN Textbook network.

Written in English, the book provides an academic introduction to the field of surveying and mapping. It is based on handouts and readers written for the third-year course “Surveying and Mapping” in the civil engineering bachelor’s program at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

The textbook covers a wide range of measurement techniques, from land surveying using GPS/GNSS and remote sensing to the associated data processing, the underlying coordinate reference systems, and the analysis and visualization of the acquired geospatial information.

Although a few parts of the book are specific to The Netherlands, for the most part the material is applicable globally.

Surveying and Mapping

Authors: Christian Tiberius, Hans van der Marel, René Reudink and Freek van Leijen / Delft University of Technology / The Netherlands

ISBN (softback/paperback): 9789463664905

ISBN (ebook): 9789463664899

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5074/T.2021.007

The book is freely available as an OPEN Textbook by the TU Delft library.

Hexagon AB, a global leader in digital-reality solutions, has announced the following organizational changes to meet the fast-growing demand for real-time digital worlds.

Juergen Dold, employed with Hexagon since 1995 and most recently serving in a strategic leadership role across Hexagon’s Geosystems, Geospatial and Safety & Infrastructure divisions, will assume the role of executive vice president to lead key enterprise-wide initiatives.

Dold will oversee Hexagon’s focus on the content and platforms necessary to power and operate Smart Digital Reality applications and experiences that empower growth within Hexagon’s existing markets and offer rapid expansion into new market segments.

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“Bringing together data sets of all types and formats where you can build, store and share digitalized objects and environments is our sweet spot.”

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“Driving company strategy and growth in the metaverse ecosystem — the new digital reality that is emerging in both the professional and consumer markets — is key to Hexagon’s future,” said Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “Bringing together data sets of all types and formats where you can build, store and share digitalized objects and environments is our sweet spot.”

Dold’s focus will include advancing and expanding the market penetration of Hexagon’s HxDR ecosystem, which includes the HxDR digital reality platform and related business models. The platform allows the convergence and visualization of almost any geospatial or reality-capture data or file format for improved collaboration and decision making.

Artificial-intelligence-driven photogrammetry and point-cloud meshing of terrestrial and aerial data enables a geo “supermesh,” essentially creating the visual foundation for any smart digital reality. Such realities can be put to industry use, analyzing and interpreting infinite data inputs from the real or digital world to solve business problems.

The data can also be leveraged in the metaverse, described by many as the “quasi successor state” of the internet that focuses on social interaction.

“The metaverse isn’t a single place, but many digital-reality spaces and experiences that companies like Hexagon are working to make more accessible and immersive,” Rollén said. “Through virtual, mixed or augmented reality functionalities, we can provide a higher sense of presence and engagement.

“Additionally, by providing a connected space built from crowdsourced or professionally captured data, we can improve collaboration and productivity, especially for remote users and teams.

“The digital worlds and objects can be used in everything from filmmaking, gaming and tourism applications to architecture, real estate, land or utilities management, city services and more.”

Dold will continue to report directly to Rollén as a member of Hexagon’s executive management team.

Thomas Harring, president of Hexagon’s Geosystems division, and Steven Cost, president of Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure and Geospatial division, will join the Hexagon executive management team, reporting directly to Rollén.

Harring will also assume responsibilities for Hexagon’s Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) business. This includes the software AEC business, which comprises the HxGN Smart Build portfolio previously managed under the PPM division and reported under IES, as well as Hexagon’s complementary sensor-software reality-capture and visualization solutions, such as the award-winning BLK line, already managed by the Geosystems division and reported under GES.

Hexagon’s financial reporting structure consisting of IES and GES will remain the same.

Trimble has introduced Trimble Roadworks Paving Control Platform for Asphalt Compactors. It enables operators to accurately control the compaction process, while reducing unnecessary passes that can result in over compaction. The highly accurate, 3D paving control system is designed to improve the speed, accuracy and ease of asphalt compaction.

The system leverages the highly intuitive Android-based Trimble Roadworks software to maximize ease of use, shorten training times and decrease downtime for operators already familiar with the Roadworks user interface. With the proper hardware and software configurations, the new system is flexible and can support a variety of jobsite needs and specifications.

Roadworks helps contractors save on fuel costs and reduce both machine wear and tear and operator hours. In addition, asphalt temperature mapping provides color-coded data to allow operators to compact at the correct temperature, reducing material waste and rework.

In addition to helping operators achieve greater accuracy and efficiency, Roadworks is available at various pricing levels to help meet the needs of each contractor. New compactor licenses make it possible for contractors to pay for only the functionality they need, and office-only licenses provide increased functionality in the office. Users can also benefit from ongoing Roadworks platform development.

“We’re expecting there to be an influx of projects over the coming months and years as the result of increased infrastructure funding,” said Kevin Garcia, general manager, Trimble Civil Specialty Solutions. He said the release was important because more departments of transportation and private owners are building technology requirements into their requests for proposals (RFPs).

Connected Site Functionality. Roadworks is compatible with Trimble WorksOS and Trimble WorksManager software. This enables contractors to send construction-ready models from the office to the machine as well as to remotely monitor jobsite progress and activity. In addition, productivity data collected from the machine is automatically synced back to the office.

ComNav Technology has announced major upgrades to its T300 and T300 Plus GNSS receivers for the global market, including an upgrade to its GNSS K8 platform on both receivers and a tilt-sensor replacement for the inertial measurement unit (IMU) on the T300 Plus.

The upgraded T300 and T300 Plus provide reception of more GNSS channels and increased reliability, the company said.

More channels. The powerful full-constellation tracking ability on the K8 platform enables reception of all current and future GNSS signals, including GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC and SBAS. Signal support and tracking for QZSS L1/L2/L5, Navic L5, Galileo E6 and Altboc as well as GLONASS L3 are also available. After the upgrade, T300 and T300 Plus each receive 965 GNSS channels, and offer robust GNSS tracking performance.

Improved reliability. The advanced GNSS real-time kinematic (RTK) technology on the K8 platform provides continuous centimeter-level positioning within a short period of time. To alleviate the influence on authentic satellite signals, the K8 platform enhances interference detection and mitigation. The interference, for example, between buildings or in the dense jungle, will not affect the positioning results.

With the upgrades, users can expand the reach of their GNSS rovers and obtain reliable positioning results even in complex environments.

Low power consumption. In static mode, power consumption is reduced to 1.92 W, extending  working time to 16 hours and providing a smooth workflow without an external power supply.

T300 Plus tilt compensation. Combined with the inertial measurement unit (IMU), the T300 Plus can support tilt compensation up to 60° and keeps the accuracy within 2.5 centimeters, which significantly improves the fieldwork with increased efficiency, convenience and reliability without magnetometer and accelerometer calibration.

The upgraded T300 and T300 Plus GNSS receivers are available now.

Inertial Labs has launched a new GNSS-aided inertial navigation system. INS-DM is an IP68-rated version of the company’s new generation of super ruggedized units, shielded from electromagnetic interference. The fully integrated device combines the inertial navigation system (INS) with an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) and air data computer (ADC).

The high-performance strapdown system determines position, velocity and absolute orientation (heading, pitch and roll) for any device on which it is mounted. Horizontal and vertical position, velocity and orientation are determined with high accuracy for both motionless and dynamic applications.

The INS-DM can support multiple types of micro-electromechanical (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMU) developed by Inertial Labs. The INS-DM also supports other IMUs like the Honeywell HG4930.

The INS-DM uses different multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS) GNSS receivers such as the NovAtel OEM7 series or the u-blox F9 series.

The optional ADC is supported by two Honeywell barometric sensors and the ability to support an internal fluxgate or external stand-alone magnetic compass. The INS-DM contains Inertial Labs’ new onboard sensor-fusion filter, state-of-the-art navigation and guidance algorithms, and calibration software.

Key Features

• Commercially exportable GNSS-aided INS
• 3-in-1 strapdown system: INS + AHRS + ADC
• Embedded industrial, tactical or navigation-grade Honeywell or Inertial Labs MEMS IMU
• Novatel OEM7 or u-blox ZED-F9P high-precision GNSS receiver
• GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS and real-time kinematic signals supported
• Total and static pressure sensors for calculating indicated airspeed
• SBAS, DGPS, RTK and PPP corrections supported for precise real-time operation
• GNSS measurements and IMU raw data for post processing
• Advanced, extendable (based on application) embedded Kalman-filter-based sensor fusion algorithms
• State-of-the-art algorithms for different dynamic motions of helicopters, UAVs, marine vessels and ground vehicles
• Full temperature calibration of all sensing elements
• EMC, EMI and ERD protection (MIL-STD-1275)
• Environmentally sealed (IP68)
• Aiding data: wind sensor, air-speed sensor, Doppler shift from locator (for long-term GPS-denied environments), external position and external heading.

The INS-DM is the result of more than 20 years of Inertial Labs’ experience developing and supplying INS solutions to land, marine and aerial platforms around the world.

NextNav participated in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) alternative positioning, navigation and timing (APNT) evaluation in Ispra, Italy. At the trial, NextNav showcased an alternative PNT backup to GNSS, TerraPoiNT.

According to the JRC, the trial is analyzing the technologies “which could deliver positioning, and/or timing information, independently from GNSS, to be effective backup in the event of GNSS disruption, and if possible to be able to provide PNT in the environments where GNSS cannot be delivered.”

The test furthers the European Union’s creation of a backup to GNSS and is intended to assess which technologies could strengthen and expand the European PNT capacity.

PNT services are critical for the global economy, with studies estimating a contribution to the European GDP of approximately 10%. Today, GNSS services are the backbone of PNT, with an increasing role in new services and technologies, including car-sharing, autonomous vehicles, ship and aircraft navigation, smart logistics and precision agriculture.

It’s About Time

The timing capabilities of PNT are heavily utilized today by critical infrastructure, which is strategic from a commercial and societal perspective, including telecom, energy, finance and transportation. Published studies estimated economic losses of around 1 billion EUR per day if GNSS were unavailable.

NextNav’s TerraPoiNT trial focused on measuring the precision of timing delivery across alternate timing sources to better understand performance in GNSS-free environments — including instances of outages, spoofing and jamming. As a part of the trial, NextNav also demonstrated its capabilities in providing both indoor and outdoor z-axis vertical location.

TerraPoiNT is a system for assured PNT that uses terrestrial transmitters deployed around a service area to triangulate the location of a device. Unlike national space-based systems, the proximity of NextNav’s transmitters makes the signal strength 100,000 times that of GPS.

“The trials are part of the global trend to develop a resilience layer to space-based GPS/GNSS systems that is more secure and available,” said Ganesh Pattabiraman, NextNav CEO. “We are redefining the capabilities of APNT technologies and look forward to working with the European Commission on furthering these initiatives to build a GNSS backup layer that can deliver highly precise PNT across use-cases.”

Trials for U.S., Europe

The U.S. and countries across Europe continue to invest in both understanding and taking steps towards creating a resilient PNT layer in each nation. Participation in the JRC trial builds upon the recent evaluation of APNT technologies in the United States, including a 2021 U.S. Department of Transportation report, where TerraPoiNT was found to be the best performing APNT solution across use cases.

Further, NextNav recently created an APNT testbed in the San Francisco Bay area that was developed as part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security demonstration used to evaluate the precision and resilience of NextNav’s TerraPoiNT network.

The JRC is expected to report results from the evaluation this spring.

The U.S. Air Force will equip its 21,000 general-purpose vehicles with Geotab fleet-management technology after the company was awarded a sole-source contract.

Geotab received FIPS 140-2 validation for its cryptographic library in February 2019 as well as FedRAMP authorization and ISO 27001 certification for its telematics platform. These compliance certifications and authorizations validate Geotab’s system and organizational processes, enabling the company to offer its fleet-management services to all levels of federal, state and local government agencies.

Geotab’s fleet-management technology for the Air Force is secure and customized. It includes the following features to help the service more effectively manage its vehicles:

• automated odometer capturing
• engine diagnostics
• problem predictive analytics
• fuel data
• custom reporting
• GHG reduction dashboards
• fleet right-sizing reporting

Selected for its integration capacity and proven commitment to information security, the sole-source award from the Department of the Air Force yields an Authorization to Operate (ATO) within the Department of Defense (DoD). The authorization will allow other DoD agencies to leverage Geotab services by piggybacking off of this DAF ATO.

Geotab fleet-management products are used by more than 2,000 government agencies and departments at all levels to capture, measure and analyze crucial fleet data with deep granularity. “Winning this sole-source contract from the Department of the Air Force further solidifies Geotab’s ability to collaborate with agencies that operate at the highest levels of national data security and to provide a customized and highly secured telematics solution,” said Dan Zdarko, business development manager, federal government, Geotab.

“It is vitally important that the technology we deploy in our fleets meet the highest standards of data security put forth by the U.S. government,” said Tim Patterson, program management flight chief from the U.S. Air Force’s 441st Vehicle Support Chain Operations Squadron at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. “Our objective is to enhance fleet-management strategies and reduce the total cost of ownership longer term across the Department of the Air Force.”

MapTiler has created a single image of the entire world detailed enough to find a specific house. If printed, the map would cover nearly 16 soccer fields.

To create the world image, satellite imagery was processed to remove clouds and balance shades and tones, and then carefully stitched together to create a seamless map layer with beautiful colors. The input data is recent, from 2020 and 2021, and rendered as one tiled file with zoom levels 0-13 for use in web applications.

Crafted by a small Swiss/Czech team, it is a viable, up-to-date alternative to Google maps for software developers, without privacy issues. It is available including seamlessly merged, super-high resolution aerial images for selected countries. The imagery provides more detail when users zoom beyond the satellite data.

The map’s cloud-free satellite imagery is useful for real-estate websites, mobile apps, globes, games, virtual worlds, in airplane infotainment systems, and for TV news and weather. In addition, scientists and artists can download it for their own innovations and creations.

In all, 180 terabytes of imagery have been crunched to fit on a 512-gigabyte USB stick.

MapTiler has a history of collaborating with the European Space Agency (ESA) and its Copernicus Earth observation project, and has won two Copernicus Masters Awards. Working in ESA’s Business Incubation Center also boosted the company’s ability to adapt satellite imagery into useful data.

Learn more on MapTiler’s blog.

Syntony GNSS has joined TCCA, a global representative body for the critical communications ecosystem.

With offices in France, the United States and Canada, Syntony designs and manufactures GNSS products, including receivers and simulators dedicated to mission-critical applications, transportation, aerospace and defense.

According to an industry report, the global GNSS simulators market size is set to grow from USD 106 million in 2020 to USD 165 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period. Various factors such as rapid penetration of consumer IoT, the contribution of 5G in enabling ubiquitous connectivity, and increasing use of wearable devices utilizing location information are expected to drive the adoption of the GNSS simulators hardware, software and services.

Syntony GNSS manufactures SubWAVE, a solution that enables GPS to work underground and makes possible critical safety services. SubWAVE enables emergency call location in underground tunnels and stations from any smartphone. It also provides the location of any first responder using a compatible P25 or TETRA receiver.

SubWAVE is typically deployed in underground subway networks (stations and tunnels). It covers 100% of the underground stations of the Stockholm subway, for example. It is also suitable for underground road and rail tunnels, underground parking, and in the mining industry.

“We invented SubWAVE to save lives: to be able to precisely locate a firefighter inside a tunnel, for example, is critical to his or her safety, and this is what our system does,” said Joel Korsakissok, Syntony president and founder. “Also, being able to pinpoint the location of emergency calls made from road or rail tunnels will enhance first responders’ ability to provide assistance and rescue. We are very proud to become a member of TCCA, whose DNA is focused on life-saving through critical communications.”

“Reliable GPS/GNSS coverage in underground and denied locations such as subways, rail and road tunnels and mining is now an essential requirement for emergency services and asset operator personnel navigation and response as well as citizen safety,” said Kevin Graham, TCCA CEO. “General citizens and many businesses now rely on GPS/GNSS signals for their navigation and tracking use cases. We welcome the expertise of Syntony GNSS to enhance knowledge within TCCA of this critical area, and look forward to working with Joel and his team.”