Overview
Accurate and affordable positioning, navigation and timing for small devices
As satellites are critical infrastructure, it is imperative that satellite-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) operate reliably to support dependent infrastructures such as communication, transport and energy. Interruption or manipulation of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) signals pose a threat to safety and security. Meanwhile, augmentation systems that enhance GNSS performance can be very expensive. The goal of the EU-funded EGeNiouSS project is to improve existing European GNSS services by developing an accurate and economical cloud service that utilises novel multi-sensor navigation with a visual localisation component to compensate for common GNSS issues. Initially, an application programming interface will be integrated for smartphones and drones to demonstrate the service in three case studies. After validation, the service will be scaled and adapted for wider purposes.
Satellite-based PNT is a fundamental infrastructure of the EU. Its protection and improvement are strategic, as other infrastructures – e.g., communications, energy, transport, defence or banking – depend on it. However, signals of current GNSSs are easily jammed, prone to spoofing, subject to atmospheric disturbances, affected by multipath and blockage in natural and urban canyons. This poses global risks and hinders GNSS adoption in mission- and safety-critical tasks, e.g., drone delivery, urban air mobility or autonomous vehicles. Aware of that, civilian and military authorities are promoting/deploying complementary or redundant systems, a.k.a. ""augmentations”, local – e.g. aiding inertial sensors – or global – e.g., Galileo’s NMA. However, effective augmentations, local or global, that are robust, accurate and driftless are expensive.
To this end, the project EGeNiouSS will develop a cloud service based on novel multi-sensor navigation with a tightly integrated visual localisation component to overcome known GNSS issues and augment existing EGNSS services. EGeNiouSS will bring an affordable, accurate and assured positioning, navigation and timing (AAA-PNT) solution to the market in order to democratise the access to high accuracy and reliability and thus serving the professional and consumer mass markets.
The service will be accessible through a platform-independent API. During the project, the API will be integrated for smartphones and drones. With three complementary use cases, Mapping & Surveying, Bike Navigation and Drone Delivery, the entire range of the service with respect to accuracy, latency and reliability requirements will be demonstrated and validated. The development will be accompanied and driven by user and stakeholder requirements and innovative DEC measures to ensure a rapid market update. As a scalable and highly adaptive service it is easily transferable to other applications and markets, e.g. LBS, autonomous vehicles or search & rescue