Communications

Industry’s first untethered 3D dead reckoning module

17th February 2016
Nat Bowers
0

Hailed as the industry's first, the NEO-M8U Untethered 3D Dead Reckoning (UDR) module has been introduced by u-blox. With no connection to the vehicle other than power, the NEO-M8U provides accurate positioning even where GNSS signals are weak or not available by combining multi-GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo) with an onboard 3D gyro/accelerometer.

The u-blox module provides superior multipath suppression, which improves position accuracy even in tough environments, such as urban canyons, tunnels or parking garages. For example, in London’s city centre area, the NEO-M8U is typically three times more accurate than a traditional GNSS receiver. In addition, the module offers instantaneous position immediately after power-up, without the need to wait for a first fix as with regular GNSS receivers.

One of the key advantages of the NEO-M8U is the ease of product development and installation. It looks and behaves just like a regular GNSS receiver and does not require any special mounting or connection to the vehicle. Thanks to its intelligent sensing and continuous self-calibration, the device can be installed in the vehicle in any orientation.

Other features are its real-time update rate of up to 20Hz, benefiting a smooth navigation behaviour, as well as the high-speed access to the raw sensor data allowing for driving behaviour analysis and detection of sudden acceleration, such as during an accident.

Andrew Miles, Product Manager, Dead Reckoning, u-blox, commented: “NEO-M8U, with its performance and simplicity, is a game changer for a range of new use cases such as navigation, fleet management, road pricing, usage-based insurance and even ‘find-my-car’ applications. The gain in accuracy by NEO-M8U in three dimensions will enhance any vehicle based application in cities with high-rise buildings and narrow streets.”

NEO-M8U will be available in early Q2, 2016. It can upgrade any existing NEO design due to the inherent pin and software compatibility to other NEO modules.

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