Geo Week News

January 11, 2021

Honeywell Inertial Navigation Systems Provide Highly Accurate Data for Mobile Mapping

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Obtaining accurate geospatial data is crucial to support infrastructure, safety and other systems for modern cities. Having outdated or inaccurate data can not only slow critical services, but even put lives at risk. The Honeywell HGuide team works with its partners and customers to develop systems to meet the needs of broadening applications for mobile mapping – leveraging advanced technologies to solve challenging problems.

Improving Emergency Response Time in Difficult Mobile Mapping Areas

As a company focused on the integration of sensor and video technology via their own mobile mapping software, Horus View and Explore is no stranger to the challenges of collecting accurate data, especially in areas dense with infrastructure, bridges and trees. To gather data that would speed emergency service response times for local governments, Horus View and Explore utilizes Honeywell’s HGuide n580 inertial navigation system for mapping challenging,GNSS-denied areas to improve accuracy. .

“It’s very important for governments to frequently measure the condition of their assets. Having the ability to compare past data with today’s information allows you to see degradation over time.” -Dirk Aalbers, Sales Manager Geospatial, Horus

Horus’ mobile mapping software and Honeywell’s HGuide n580 inertial navigation system continuously work together to provide highly reliable navigation data without any additional aiding sources. According to Horus, they’ve been able to achieve location accuracy of 10-20 centimeters while driving through a city with high buildings since using Honeywell’s HGuide n580 inertial navigation system.


Improving Our World’s Mobile Mapping Systems with Highly Accurate Inertial Navigation Systems - Read the Case Study >

Navigation Accuracy is Paramount for Tricky UAV Applications

As UAV technology and sensor payloads advance, aerial mapping applications are intricate and require highly accurate and stabilized inertial navigation systems. Aeroscout deploys their unmanned helicopters to inspect power lines, bridges, critical infrastructure, and even search and rescue. The accuracy of the UAV’s location and spatial orientation is vital for these precise and up-close tasks, especially in GNSS-denied environments.

“Sometimes our UAVs are operating two or three kilometers away from our crew and there can be a lot of movement due to wind. For our customers’ applications, a small error in attitude or position information can have a significant influence on the quality of data you obtain.” – Aeroscout founder and general manager, Dr Christoph Eck.

Having tested several different inertial navigation systems, Aeroscout had gained valuable information on how different models behave in poor flight conditions and how they deal with vibrations and the movement of their UAVs. Aeroscout found that Honeywell’s HGuide n580 inertial navigation system is the most competitive option for size, weight, power and performance. With this increased accuracy, the team at Aeroscout has avoided repeating collection flights for missed data and are able to operate in windy conditions and difficult-to-map mountain valleys.


Aeroscout Trusts Honeywell’s HGuide n580 for its Surveying and Mobile Mapping Needs - Read the Case Study >

Mobile Mapping Versatility in the Sky and on the Ground

In their experience manufacturing lidar and 3D manufacturing equipment, LiDAR USA has specialized in making light and affordable units that could meet a variety of mapping needs. For 3D mapping, portability can often mean a trade-off in performance. To accommodate their customer’s growing requirements, LiDAR USA needed to find a solution that would allow them to maintain portability and affordability without sacrificing quality. LiDAR USA’s answer? Utilizing Honeywell’s HG4930 MEMS inertial measurement unit in its LiDAR systems.

“We tested the daylights out of several different configurations from many different companies. We were able to test the HG4930 alongside four or five other inertial measurement units, and it didn’t take long for us to notice that it outperformed the competition and gave us exactly what we need,” said Jeff Fagerman, owner LiDAR USA.

The HG4930 was found by LiDAR USA to be the most competitive in overall value when comparing size, weight, price and performance, and its lightweight and rugged design helps customers improve the speed and maneuverability of their UAVs. In addition, the innate location accuracy enabled by the HG4930 helps customers who are using LiDAR USA to create mobile maps from a ground-based vehicle.


LiDAR USA Achieves Greater Mobile Mapping Location Accuracy On The Ground and In The Air with Honeywell IMU - Read the Case Study >

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