California-based Topcon Positioning Group recently joined hands with the telecom giant Vodafone to work on a new mass-market positioning system. As per the reports, the advanced system will be able to locate IoT devices, machinery and vehicles with enhanced precision than is currently possible with individual global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).
Vodafone claims that the service, which is named Vodafone GNSS Corrections, will allow secured real-time monitoring of vehicles, scooters and even the likes of robot lawn mowers to within a few inches – rather than feet –when connected to Vodafone’s IoT network. Topcon technology corrects inaccuracies from navigation satellite signals from a huge net of GNSS reference stations.
Vodafone GNSS Corrections trials will begin in Germany, Spain, and the U.K. later this month. According to Vodafone, e-bike users will be able to alert other road users of their presence by communicating their precise location with this new system.
The director of Vodafone Business Platforms and Solutions, Justin Shields said, “As new technologies like autonomous cars and connected machinery continue to evolve, Vodafone is providing the critical connections to support these new services with greater precision, more safety and at scale. Our customers want to be able to better locate their devices, and the collaboration with Topcon complements our existing asset tracking and fleet telematics solutions.”
With this collaboration, it is expected that the Vehicle to Everything (V2X) technology will get a major boost. V2X tech brings major benefits related to road safety as it allows vehicles to communicate with other vehicles, road users and infrastructure. Companies like Audi have demonstrated V2X’s capability to reduce road accidents on tests with emergency vehicles and school buses. But generally, the unavailability of required precision makes its wide deployment tough.
