As reported by GPSWorld: Raytheon UK has taken its first order for a pre-production MiniGAS, the
latest in GPS Anti-Jam technology, designed and manufactured by the company in
the U.K. This contract, awarded by an undisclosed customer, requires Raytheon UK
to produce demonstrator units for customer evaluation.
MiniGAS is the latest in Raytheon’s GPS anti-jam family of products, and it
aims to be the lightest and smallest GPS anti-jamming system produced by
Raytheon UK. It will have flexible form factors, suited to land, unmanned aerial
vehicles and missile platforms. Raytheon is also producing demonstration units
of its Landshield high performance digital anti-jam product for customer
evaluation.
As well as developing new products, Raytheon has also received an order for a
further 100 of its Advanced Digital Antenna Production (ADAP) systems with the
U.S. government. To date, more than 500 ADAP systems and more than 6,600 GAS-1
systems have been delivered to the U.S. government and other international
customers over the course of 15 years.
“Raytheon UK is a world leader in the production and supply of GPS
anti-jamming systems to the majority of the world’s military forces,” said
Richard Daniel, defence director for Raytheon UK. “These contracts and
milestones demonstrate that we continue to make advancements in new systems,
ensuring that Raytheon’s systems continue to meet the latest platform
requirements.”
Raytheon continues to deliver GPS anti-jam systems to Northrop Grumman Italia
to be used in the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, and the company has also
delivered a significant number of systems for the Airbus Military A400M
aircraft. The company also completed the delivery of its first order for its
latest GPS Anti-Jam Land product to the UK Ministry of Defence within six months
of contract award.
As reported by Gismodo: At bustling traffic hubs like O'Hare International, planes can spend an interminably long time waiting for their turn to land. And at airports like Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International, pilots must contend with tight flight paths to avoid crowded population centers and hills on their final approach. But thanks to a new hyper-accurate GPS-based tracking system, airliners will no longer have to contend with land-locked navigation beacons and overworked control towers.
The technology is known as Required Navigation Performance (RNP). Rather than the Eisenhower-era traffic management systems and land-based radio navigation beacons we've been using, RNP utilizes GPS satellite navigation to track planes with an accuracy of 32 feet and within 10 seconds of their arrival. It also demands that the planes fly along specific three-dimensional flight paths, resulting in a more efficient flight path for the plane, shorter flight times for travelers, reduced fuel costs for the airlines, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Everybody wins.
RNP is more a system than any one specific piece of technology. Developed by GE Aviation, it combines software, hardware, and procedure very similar to what's known as area navigation (RNAV, which differs in that it doesn't require on-board performance monitoring and alerting should the pilot screw up and fly outside the lines) to ensure that all aircraft operating within a specific airspace are doing so within bounds at least 95 percent of the time. This allows air traffic controllers to develop specific landing approaches that avoid noise-sensitive areas and geographical obstacles.
Depending on the specific topological conditions, the level of tolerance an RNP allows can vary. For example if an area has an RNP of 10, such as over oceans, all aircraft operating within that space must be able to calculate their positions within a 10 nautical mile radius. An RNP of .1, as is the case in Rio de Janiero, means they have to resolve within a tenth of a nautical mile.
RNP technology has slowly been gaining traction at airports around the world in recent years but the pace of adoption is quickening, especially with the very real cost savings the system provides. In Brazil, which has installed the system at nearly a dozen airports around the country, planes travel 22 miles less and spend 7.5 fewer minutes per landing than before, translating into an estimated 1,620 fewer pounds of emissions and $24 million in operational savings over the next five years. In New Zealand’s Queenstown airport, the system reduced monthly cumulative delays from 2,400 minutes to 200 minutes. In both Temuco, Chile and Cajamarca, Perú, the RNP system has drastically simplified approach patterns in these mountainous regions (see above), and in Cusco, Peru, on the slopes of Machu Picchu, the system has reduced weather-based flight cancellations by a whopping 60 percent.
Unlike the inductive Qi standard, Cota uses magnetic resonance to remotely charge several electronic devices simultaneously at distances of up to 10 meters.
As reported by TechCrunch: Wireless power. It’s less sci-fi sounding than it once was, thanks to
induction charging like that based on the Qi standard, but that’s still a tech
that essentially requires contact, if not incredibly close proximity.
Magnetic resonance is another means to achieve wireless power,
and perfect for much higher-demand applications, like charging cars. But there’s
been very little work done in terms of building a solution that can power your
everyday devices in a way that doesn't require thought or changing the way we
use our devices dramatically.
That’s where Cota by
Ossia comes in. The startup is the brainchild of physicist Hatem Zeine, who
decided to focus on delivering wireless power in a way that was commercially
viable, both for large-scale industrial applications and for consumer use. Zeine
has been hard at work developing his wireless power technology and refining its
delivery for over a decade now, and has built Ossia under wraps, managing to
raise an impressive $3.2 million along the way while also keeping the startup
almost completely invisible to the outside world.
Today, however, Zeine is ready to show what Ossia can do, and he’s presenting
the first public demo of the Cota wireless charging prototype on-stage at
Disrupt and revealing his company Ossia publicly for the first time. Despite the
fact that no one’s heard of Ossia, the Cota prototype in its current form
already managed to deliver power wirelessly to devices over distances of around
10 feet, delivering around 10 percent of the total original source power to
recipient devices using the same unlicensed spectrum that powers Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, Zigbee and other wireless communication standards.
“I got fascinated by electromagnetic radiation, the way that light and optics
and radio waves are the same thing,” Zeine said, explaining how he got
interested in the subject while studying physics as a student. “And I got
thinking about ‘what can you really do beyond this?’ there is something about
the linearity of physics and the non-linearity of physics. most people are
familiar with the linear version, which is the common sense version, where two
apples are twice the weight of one, for instance.”
“In wave theory and electromagnetic systems, you don’t get linearities
everywhere,” he added, describing the science behind Cota. “There are situations
where double could mean for more, like double could mean squared, or 3 plus 3
apples could result in a net total of 9 apples, so to speak. When you move from
the linear version to the power version, things happen that were quite
surprising.”
Zeine started doing computer simulations to figure out what he was on to, but
says unlike Thomas Edison, for example, who started with a problem and tried to
solve it but came up with many failures before success, he started out with a
solution and found many problems that it does solve, including questions around
health, safety, interference with other wireless signals, delivering power to
multiple devices, non-line of site, around and behind walls and more. “I was
always thinking ‘What’s the catch?’,” he said, “But sometimes an invention just
solves the problem and goes all the way. This was one of them, we had something
here that was much, much different than what people expect.”
When Zeine then decided to turn Cota’s wireless charging into a company, he
faced understandable and considerable skepticism. Naysayers suggested he
couldn't deliver wireless power safely, or with adequate efficiency to be
useful, or consistently, or any number of objections you yourself are probably
cycling through at this moment. Skepticism aside, Zeine stuck to his guns and
set about commercializing his discovery. In 2007, Zeine filed his first patent
for the tech, formed Ossia in 2008 and continued to file patents, and he says
now the company has a much deeper understanding of how it works. They've built
the prototype they’re demoing on stage, and have another in the works to debut
later this year.
“What we’re doing uses the same frequencies as Wi-Fi,” he explained. “It’s
the unlicensed spectrum that’s used by Wi-Fi, and many phones, Bluetooth and
Zigbee devices and so on in our lives. The nice thing about this frequency is
that it’s just the sweet spot for our technology for distance, safety, for the
size of the antennas and the hardware that we use, it’s just a perfect level.
Also it’s well understood, since people have had Wi-Fi in their homes for a long
time now.”
Typical remote wireless charging has used inductive power
transmission - similar to forces found in a transformer. However
power delivered is inversely proportional to the distance between
the receiver and the transmitter.
Obviously health and safety is going to be a foreground concern when it comes to
new wireless tech of any kind, but something that’s designed to be able to
provide enough energy to power up devices will definitely raise eyebrows. Aside
from being at a late stage in terms of gaining FCC clearance, Zeine says Ossia
also benefits from using the same kind of spectrum that Wi-Fi broadcasts at, and
says Cota offers the same kind of health risks that Wi-Fi in-home does. Academic
research on how much that actually is may differ, but consumers definitely seem
willing to accept the risks associated with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other similar
specifications.
“Cota is the only wireless power technology that can deliver one watt of
power at a distance of 30 ft safely,” Zeine said on stage today at Disrupt,
highlighting range as well as health and safety. During his presentation, Zeine
showed an iPhone 5 being charged remotely from his version one prototype
wireless power transmitter, which was greeted by plenty of applause from those
in attendance.
Current wirelessly charged smartphone devices are required
to be in close proximity of the wireless signal, such as the
powermat shown above. While the device doesn't need to be
connected, it does need to be lying on the mat in order to get
an adequate charge.
The next step for Cota is delivering a commercial-grade product capable of
replacing the numerous wired power connections for sensors and monitors in
sensitive facilities like oil and gas refineries with wirelessly powered
devices, which decreases risk by minimizing the number of potential
opportunities there are for generating sparks, since there are fewer live cables
lying around. Commercialized versions should be ready to ship in the next couple
of months, Zeine says, with consumerized versions following in 2015. Neither
would’ve been possible in terms of cost alone 20 years ago, he adds, but
advances in the tech of Cota system components have made it possible to do with
thousands what would once have cost millions.
Long-term, the vision of Zeine and Ossia is one where you’re never out of
wireless charging range – charging networks spanning home, public spaces and
offices would make it possible to build devices like phones and remotes with
only small batteries, that are constantly topped off and that never need to be
plugged in. He says the aim is not just to disrupt the battery, but eventually
even to eliminate the concept of “charging” as a conscious act altogether.
Lincoln, Neb. - based Crete Carrier Corp., which has nearly 4,000
trucks and more than 35,000 followers, uses distinct phone numbers
and websites URL when it posts job opportunities on Facebook.
As reported by CCJ Digital: Charles Duhigg’s best-selling book, “the Power of Habit,” explains a simple
scientific equation of habit formation that is pre-programmed into our brains:
cue, routine, reward.
This “habit loop” occurs so frequently and naturally that it might be easy to
miss. If your phone chirps during a meeting (the cue), you glance down to read
the new message (the routine) that shows a Facebook friend has commented on your
status, and you enjoy a mild rush of endorphins (the reward).
Changing or otherwise improving habits is the core of any business strategy.
Driver safety is all about identifying and improving driving habits. Marketing
means to increase brand awareness and influence buying habits.
Social media has become an essential strategic tool for influencing a market
audience’s habits. The point of using Facebook – at least for transportation
companies – is to become part of the existing social habits of drivers,
customers and other prospects.
Driver recruiting
Drivers are a fleet’s primary Facebook audience. More than 96 percent of
company drivers have a Facebook account, according to Randall-Reilly Market
Intelligence. For many carriers, Facebook has become the go-to resource for
drivers looking to change careers.
“(Drivers) look there often when they are researching a company,” says John
Elliott, president of Lansing, Mich.-based Load One, a 350-truck expedited
hauler.
Elliott feels that Facebook is most useful to help prospective drivers
understand the company’s culture. While some carriers use Facebook to promote
job opportunities directly, Load One has taken a more indirect – but perhaps
more effective – strategy for recruiting.
Celadon - a 3,000 truck diversified carrier based in Indianapolis
sees Facebook's value as a community where drivers can network
and make friends.
The carrier – which has more than 5,800 followers – uses Facebook to
recognize all new driver hires, driver birthdays, community charitable work,
company events and other aspects that showcase its culture. Load One receives
several job inquiries each day through Facebook, Elliott says.
However, Facebook can be a double-edged sword: People often use corporate
pages to complain or spread negative information, which Elliott says has to be
addressed quickly. Also, drivers and others that ask questions expect a quick
response, he says.
Celadon – a 3,000-truck diversified carrier based in Indianapolis – sees
Facebook’s value as a community where drivers can network and make friends. It
also uses Facebook for recruiting, but in a more indirect way: Drivers do most
of the talking and sharing of company information.
“At least (drivers) will know our name if they are looking,” says Allie
Whalen, marketing manager.
Lincoln, Neb.-based Crete Carrier Corp., which has nearly 4,000 trucks and
more than 35,000 followers, uses distinct phone numbers and website URLs when it
posts job opportunities on Facebook to monitor the page’s recruiting
effectiveness, says Justin Gibson, web designer.
Facebook also can be a valuable driver retention tool – who doesn't like to
be recognized along with their friends and peers? – and can help drivers feel
connected to the fleet while isolated on the road.
For Celadon, the most popular posts are those that highlight events taking
place at the office, as drivers get to know the staff and feel more involved and
included, Whalen says.
Each month, the company recognizes drivers who achieve the top performances
in on-time delivery, idling, mileage and other categories, none of which are
announced ahead of time. The winning drivers are routed through headquarters and
featured in Facebook videos and short articles that explain how they earned the
recognition.
Driving engagement
Many strategies can be used to increase engagement with Facebook users and
influence the audience’s “buying” habits in areas such as safety, performance,
health and fitness.
One way Celadon tries to increase engagement is by asking drivers to submit
scenery pictures, the best of which are included in the company’s newsletter.
Celadon also is developing a new driver portal through blogs, community posts
and social media feeds.
To grow its Facebook presence, Load One posts a sign at all company events to
remind people to check for their photos on the company’s page.
Crete periodically runs ads directly through Facebook that can be targeted to
a certain demographic such as truck drivers. It also has simple contests where
community members can like a post to enter.
While social media presents many opportunities for a fleet to broaden its
influence, it can be time-consuming and difficult to manage. A variety of online
software applications such as Sprout social can be used to manage social media
activities, increasing efficiency and providing useful tools and analytics to
engage users in this new and fast-moving world.
As reported by TechCrunch: One of David Marcus’s biggest challenges when taking on the role of President
of PayPal was extending the platform into point of sale, and making it easier to
pay with PayPal than swiping your credit card. But changing consumer behavior is
an enormously difficult task. So he thought that the only thing more alluring
than swiping a card is simply doing nothing when you check out of a store. Today
the company is one step closer to making this a reality. PayPal is debuting Beacon, a new
add-on hardware device for merchants that leverages Bluetooth technology to
enable consumers to pay at stores completely hands-free.
When thinking through the problem, PayPal played with geo-location leveraging
GPS and Wi-Fi for iOS and Android. These technologies are what powers Square’s
hands free payment system 'Pay with Square'. But they found that it ended up
being a poor experience for the consumer because it sucked the battery life out
of their phones.
Plus Marcus tells us that the company wanted to find a solution that would
scale across point-of-sale systems.
PayPal began experimenting with Bluetooth Low Energy (aka BLE), which allows
connected devices to communicate with each other while keeping the energy
consumption by the devices at a very low level. Last June, PayPal recruited some
of its best engineers and designers (and brought on a few hardware experts as
well, says Marcus), including Mike Mettler, Hasty Granbery and Josh Bleecher
Snyder to start developing the connected device. The initial goal was to develop
a prototype that would leverage BLW to enable a transaction to take place
without having an app running, without GPS being turned on, and even without
phone signal for those places with thick concrete walls.
It’s important to note that in iOS 7, Apple is debuting iBeacon, which could
provide similar services for apps. But VP of global product Hill Ferguson
maintains that this does not extend to Android, and Beacon will work for any
smartphone.
Beacon was developed, and started being tested on PayPal’s San Jose campus in
January. So what is Beacon? Essentially it is a small hardware device, that runs
on its own WiFi, plugs into an outlet and serves as a ‘beacon’ to other
connected devices. Any store running compatible point of sale systems, including
Erply, Leaf, Leapset, Micros, NCR, ShopKeep and Vend, will simply plug a PayPal
Beacon device in a power outlet in their store, and the device can be
integrated. The device itself runs updates on its own, and Granbery says that
the merchant doesn't have to touch it at all. When plugged into an outlet, the
device, which takes a triangular shape similar to PayPal Here, lights up. We’re
told Yves Behar, who also designed Here, was the brains behind the design of
Beacon.
Consumers have to have downloaded the PayPal app, and opted into ability for
retailers to use Beacon to use hands-free check-in and payments. Once this is
activated, any time a consumer walks into the store the technology will trigger
a vibration or sound to confirm a successful check in (this happens in
milliseconds), your photo will then appear on the screen of the merchant’s
Point-of-Sale system so you can be greeted by name. The app does not have to
open on the consumer’s smartphone. You order or pay for your goods, and paying
only requires a verbal confirmation, and the checkout is complete. A receipt
will be emailed to the consumer.
PayPal also warns that it is aware of the potential privacy issues so PayPal
Beacon won’t constantly track your location unlike other technologies. If you
enter a store and decline to check in, or just ignore the prompt entirely, no
information is transmitted to PayPal or the merchant. PayPal has also said that
there will be no ads served via the platform.
The broader vision for Beacon is to have an open platform from which
merchants can create compelling, friction-less experiences for their consumers.
As part of the announcement today, PayPal is giving developers access to the
PayPal mobile in-store API. So for example, a drugstore could populate your
prescriptions as you walk into the store so you could automatically pay for your
bill without having to swipe a card. Or you could automatically add your name to
a wait list for tables at a restaurant by walking in.
Marcus says that PayPal has been showing the device to retailers, large and
small, and they “love it.” Part of the reason, he says, is that not only does it
help them connect and potentially bring in customers, but it also integrates
seamlessly with their existing point of sale systems. “I want to create an
operating system for the retail environment,” he tells me.
He also adds that the company focused particularly on design. “PayPal was not
a hardware company,” he says. But steadily with the debut of mobile payments
device and platform PayPal Here, and now Beacon, the payments giant is
definitely digging deep into hardware. He adds that this was the most
sophisticated piece of hardware to ship to date and right now the company is not
focused on making a profit on Beacon. PayPal says that the cost of the device
has not been determined yet but it will be in the double digits.
PayPal says it will start piloting Beacon enabled shopping experiences in Q4,
and the full roll-out is planned early 2014.
It’s no secret Marcus has been working
tirelessly to create more of a startup
culture at PayPal to drive further innovation at the company. If there was
anyone who could make this work, it is Marcus, who has been a serial
entrepreneur until PayPal acquired his mobile payments company Zong a few years
ago. He, along with the engineers I spoke to, said that this launch was much
different than launches past. They all said the launch and collaboration felt
more engrained in the startup culture. Not only did the team feel like what they
were doing was cutting edge and unique, but written in go (code),
As evidenced by PayPal latest
app update from last week, the company is making a big bet on creating an
in-store experience for both consumers and retailers. It’s ambitious to say the
least because not only does the payments company have to change the behavior of
the consumer (from just swiping a card) but it also has to convince retailers
and the 100 million plus PayPal users that it is worth it. Marcus says that
providing a frictionless experience for both parties will be the key to success
when changing behavior.
As reported by Fleetowner: A new study came out this week – compiled by the University of
Washington’s Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center – that
makes an unsurprising yet important finding: some 45% of “distracted drivers”
identified during the school’s real-time observation of 7,800 drivers across six
Washington State counties were distracted by their cell phones; either talking
on them or texting with them.
Dr. Beth Ebel, an associate professor of pediatrics at the
school and the study’s principal investigator, added that among the 3.4% of
drivers observed in the study talking on a hand-held phone, half were holding
the device near or under the steering wheel. This risky behavior diverts the
driver’s attention from the road.
“These findings suggest that distracted driving is more common than we
thought and that texting has become a major cause of distraction,” she
added.
That’s a big deal for several reasons, noted Dr. Ebel, with estimates
suggesting that up to 28% of crash risk is attributable to cell phone use or
text messaging in vehicles. She also said that prior studies show texting while
driving increases crash risk by 23 times, similar to driving with a blood
alcohol level of 0.19.
Dr. Ebel added that these are preliminary results, part of a broader study
conducted to explore the effects of law enforcement on electronic distracted
driving. In October, a “statewide report card” will be released providing more
data by county, with this “baseline assessment” designed to help county law
enforcement, prosecutors and public health officials evaluate the effectiveness
of various ways to stop distract driving.
“These recent findings provide objective support for what we’ve long
believed: texting contributes to more collisions than we can prove,” said Chief
John Batiste of the Washington State Patrol. “After a collision, drivers almost
never admit they were texting. We believe the problem has, until now, been
drastically under-reported.”
Now, trucking of course already operates under a complete
ban of cell phone use but the more important question in all of this
regards whether such “bans” really work.
As reported by the NY Times: The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the United States hit a new high of 24.9 miles per gallon in August, according to a University of Michigan study released Tuesday.
The results indicate that automakers are producing more fuel-efficient models and consumers are continuing a trend of buying vehicles that use less gasoline. The industry is not only producing more hybrid and electric vehicles, but reducing the fuel consumption of traditional gas-guzzlers, like pickup trucks and large S.U.V.'s.
The study, prepared by the university’s Transportation Research Institute, said that the average fuel economy increased one-tenth of a gallon from the July results.
Fuel economy for new vehicles has been steadily increasing since the monthly study began in October 2007, when the average was 20.1 miles per gallon.
“The 4.8 m.p.g. improvement in the course of the past six years is significant both by itself and in comparison to the change in vehicle fuel economy over the past 90 years,” said Michael Sivak, director of the sustainable transportation program at the university.
Automakers are under pressure to further improve the fuel efficiency of new models to meet stringent new government standards enacted a year ago.
The Obama administration has set a target of increasing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, also known as CAFE, to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 and 54.5 m.p.g. by 2025.
The government estimates that the 54.5 m.p.g. standard will result in average fuel savings of $8,000 over the lifetime of a vehicle and dramatically reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
The University of Michigan report said that such emissions for new vehicles have been reduced by 19 percent over the last six years.
Automakers are stepping up their development of greener cars, like hybrids that alternate between gasoline and battery power, plug-in hybrids that run primarily on batteries, and purely electric vehicles that use no gasoline.
