Navigation Engineering & 3D Spatial Sciences

Navigation Engineering & 3D Spatial Sciences

Technical Overview

The 3D_SAM technology is specifically designed for both current and future machine control and guidance projects, drawing from the company’s extensive experience in delivering precision satellite and sensor based navigation solutions. By facilitating “true 3D spatial awareness”, (volume occupation, orientations and separations vectors), for both “host platform self”, and that, of other adjacent moving cooperating machines and/ or surrounding static 3D scenery.

3D-SAM takes a different approach to the usual “map-as-you-go” approach currently adopted by the global automotive industry as it pushes forwards with driverless car technology. Where, a high emphasis is placed on real time perception technologies (Cameras, Radar and Lasers) updates, while, typically employing simpler 2D navigation foundations.

Identical to a modern multi-player 3D computer games and similar to aviation’s new pilot augmented reality / reduced visibility displays, 3D-SAM marries real time precision navigation technologies with high accuracy / survey grade 3D models for surrounding terrain and individual platforms, all immersed in a 3D spatial environment. 3D-SAM is specifically tailored for the high reliability 24/7 applications where the all the participating moving platforms models are 3D spatially well defined and immersed in a well defined 3D terrain environment. As required, perception technologies can be added later to form a secondary navigation and/or obstacle avoidance layer.

Application examples include:

The important distinction is that 3D-SAM is a generic product that can quick be and reliably deployed in many applications, with or without pre existing 3D scanned models being available.

The existing 3D-SAM architecture currently being delivered to Australian mining customers employs a powerful micro compact Linux I7 Quad Core processor. As an example of the internal Spatial Intelligence Engine’s computational performance, a single machine’s 3D-SAM unit could typically simultaneous process Qty 5 moving complex machines, all immersed in a complex 3D static environment and then deliver vast amounts of 3D spatial information (3D machine positions, orientations, spatial separations, body dynamics) at 5Hz rates or greater. Typically, the output survey grade 3D spatial data is intended for external networked automation systems, and/ or, as augmented/ virtual reality information for human supervisors or managers to view synthetically.

The company is pleased to announce future 3D-SAM product enhancements which we expect to be available in 2018 Q2. Where the real time navigation aspects (GNSS +IMU ) and a new Spatial Intelligence Engine high performance FPGA fabric implementation, are all integrated into a single portable unit as shown. With the highly optimised FPGA fabric implementation of the internal Spatial Intelligence Engine, it’s anticipated that computational speeds will increase from between 20 to 40 times above current performance..!

Enclosure
GNSS-IMU-FPGA