SeamlessIntegrationwith your preferred deviceSatlab Geosolutions introduces the SLC, a multi-purpose GNSS receiver that integrates with your preferred devices.

IntroductionLooking beyond the current modern tablets and smartphones, which allows for effective data collection using internal sensors, onboard software or background maps, these integrated GPS receivers have now become the standard for positioning applications. App stores across all operating systems also offer a massive variety of mapping and GIS software solutions.

The importance of locational accuracy can make or break a GIS.

The real question is how accurate are they?

The positioning accuracy of integrated GNSS chips in smartphones or tablets might be sufficient for some applications, however its reliability is an estimated 3 to 5 metre accuracy, which makes it questionable. In order to achieve high accuracy data that is reliable, an external GNSS sensor is crucial to couple with a smart device.Created for high positional accuracy data, you can easily connect your tablet or phone to a precise GNSS receiver/sensor which also serves as a mount for the preferred device.

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Your trusted GIS CompanionMade by Sweden, the Satlab Geosolutions’ SLC is designed to be a high precision GNSS RTK receiver which can send up to cm level positioning NMEA data to the users’ preferred device.

The SLC includes a mounting plate to place the users’ device which acts as the handheld’s display.

Connect wirelessly using BlueTooth to send all your positioning data in high frequency rates to your work station. Alternatively, the SLC also includes a USB/RS232 port which can connect to your tablet to serve as a charging station for your equipment.

Based on your surveying requirements, the SLC can be customized accordingly with an optional remote antenna, pole or fixed mount accessory, this sensor is ready for various machine control applications.

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Geolocation vs National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA)

There are different ways to obtain positioning information from an external GNSS receiver. The easiest method is through Geolocation, which is readily available in any mapping software. The user can simply activate a mock function on an iOS or Android phone, and pair it with the external device. Once the connection is established, the position from the phone would be overwritten by the position from the external GNSS receiver.

The Geolocation method, however, has a limited number of attributes to represent location information, such as latitude, longitude, heading or speed. There is no need to obtain any positioning data as well as DOP values, even without the standard deviation information.

In contrast, the NMEA parsing method is more complex, and it is widely supported by professional surveying and GIS software. The NMEA protocol sends all relevant position data to a designated terminal. These data can be easily decoded and used by the application software, the user is able to see his current positioning status. All that’s left now is to wait for the green light to appear on the screen when RTK position is fixed with enough healthy satellites.

Satlab SLC Toolbox

Running on Android or Windows, the Satlab SLC Toolbox is a simple software con-figuration tool that is used to define internet connection parameters. It is capable of receiving GNSS correction signals as well as NMEA streams. Supporting both men-tioned methods, Geolocation and NMEA, of providing positioning information. After the initial setup, the user can control the SLC to check the status by controlling the LED’s on receiver’s front panel.

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Stay Connected via iOSSerial Port Profile (SPP) is the most widely used service for serial communication, which is valid for both Windows and Android. In order to connect to serial communication via Bluetooth in iOS devices, it can be done in two ways – MFi or BLE.

MFi is the hardware that controls serial communication over Bluetooth and requires certification. However, the Bluetooth firmware upgrade is dependent on the iOS update.

BLE, a software controlled serial communication over Bluetooth, that does not require any further interface as the driver is developed within the application itself. It is the better option and safer way of communicating with an iOS-based device.

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Sample Applicationon iOS

In order to show that iOS connection over BLE works smoothly, we have developed a sample application using ESRI resources as per following screenshot.

Reliability in Your HandsAt Satlab Geosolutions, we pride ourselves in creating solutions with Swedish engineering and technology. A great deal of research has gone into producing the SLC to make it compatible with any tablet or smartphone, as well as any type of data collection application software that runs on Windows, Android or iOS. This solution can be used for various industries from land surveying, high accuracy GIS, web-based facility management and precise farming, even to hydrography, geophysics and aeronautics.

With an emphasis on mobility, the SLC has a built-in battery and GNSS antenna which can last for up to 12 hours of portable operation. It also includes an industrial grade GSM modem for operation as an RTK base or rover, which transmits or receives corrections from NTRIP networks or our own free internet RTK service. The Satlab internet RTK allows you to stream corrections from one of our 3 servers located around the world through an IP connection. Any Satlab rover device can connect to the same IP connection to receive these free corrections to increase your positioning accuracy.

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Forestry management and survey

Our forests are of great significance for our present and future generations, and it is our prerogative to analyze the current situation of forest management activities.

With many reference points in the forest, many receivers are unable to provide up to centimeter accuracy. However, using the Satlab SLC GNSS receiver, we are able to measure the external and inner structure of the forest with centimeter accuracy.

The office for forest management and forest surveying in Poland used this receiver to mark points easily for new forest roads. Data is collected for empty areas to accurately measure the trees and calculate their dimensions or distances between each tree for analysis on efficient tree clearing. Using an internal vector map, they also able to calculate tree planting or tree clearing after a few years.

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