Jun 5 2008

Major new features in the 8.10 release include:

• Support for NovAtel’s proprietary on-the-fly (OTF) AdVanceTM RTK (ARTK) engine.. ARTK has the ability to fix carrier phase integer ambiguities at longer baseline lengths with improved reliability, and shorter time to fix than GrafNavTM software’s existing KAR algorithm.

• Precise Point Positioning (PPP) Filter improvements. Accuracies have been improved by up to 40% by providing an additional processing pass and higher-order corrections. Accuracy improvements are especially noticeable on shorter duration projects.

• Tropospheric bias correction. For high altitude or long distance data sets, much of the tropospheric error can be removed by the addition of a Kalman filter bias state. GrafNavTM software’s PPP processor can now compute the tropospheric bias for each base station and verify the base station coordinates.

• GrafNavTM software now has an API/DLL interface That has many of the same capabilities as the command line interface including complete feedback during processing and exporting.

• Multiple user-interface improvements to ease data processing and results analysis.

• HTML report output and improved Google Earth export.

Oct 17 2007

NovAtel’s Waypoint Products Group is pleased to announce the release of Inertial Explorer version 8.00. Inertial Explorer is a powerful GNSS/IMU data processing package that provides an accurate position, velocity and attitude solution by combining raw GNSS observations with data from an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The program is receiver and manufacturer independent, so that data from virtually any GNSS receiver and IMU can be combined to generate an accurate solution. Inertial Explorer also easily integrates with NovAtel’s real-time GNSS/INS product, SPAN, to provide a fully integrated GNSS-Inertial suite.
New features in the 8.00 release include:

• Tightly coupled integration of the IMU and GNSS data for improved performance in challenging GNSS conditions such as urban canyons.
• Improved API functionality for automated data processing
• Improved processing and back smoothing of low or variable data rate inertial data
• Support of ½ hour time zones for data export
• Support of dual event inputs from the SPAN system
• Better IMU data time gap analysis
• Ability to utilize the OmniSTAR position from the SPAN BESTGPSPOS log in post-processing.

Software updates are available free of charge to customers within their support period. Please contact our customer service or sales department.

Aug 9 2007

NovAtel has received a purchase order worth US $750,000 to supply its GII reference receivers to Honeywell in support of the Australian Ground-based Regional Augmentation System (GRAS)program.
The NovAtel reference receivers will be built into an initial GRAS long baseline ground reference network, which monitors GPS satellite performance and provides augmented GPS information to aircraft. It is anticipated that this ground
network will be expanded to extend coverage in subsequent phases of the GRAS program.
This purchase order from Honeywell follows on from an award to Honeywell in August 2006 by Airservices Australia, the Australian government’s air navigation service provider, to develop a new system that will enhance the accuracy and
integrity of global positioning system (GPS) navigation. This system is expected to improve air safety by providing much needed vertical guidance and will enable many smaller airports without traditional navigation aids to continue operations in reduced visibility conditions.