GSA Awards Special Topic Prize at Galileo Masters Competition

October 26, 2009

The European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) awarded its 2009 European Satellite Navigation Competition Special Topic Prize at the prestigious Residenz in Munich, Germany, October 21. The honor went to a new precise outdoor navigation system for smart phones.

GSA Executive Director Pedro Pedreira handed the GSA Special Topic prize to entrepreneurs Raphael Volz, Sara Brockmans and Markus Noga from Germany. Their Nogago system exploits the unique properties of EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service).

Volz explained, "Nogago is a family of smart phone applications that turn modern existing smart phones into outdoor navigation devices." The team, he said, plan to create three product variants to accommodate different outdoor navigation needs: Theses include Nogago Outdoor for hiking and trekking, Nogago Guide for sightseeing and pedestrian navigation, and Nogago Sport for running and biking.

Nogago turns conventional smart phones into a full substitute for dedicated high-end consumer outdoor navigation devices, thereby enabling significant cost savings for consumers who already own a smart phone. "No one will have to buy expensive dedicated devices," Volz said. The trick is to combine GPS information with data already on the device."

"While we received some very strong proposals, we liked the fact that EGNOS corrections would greatly enhance performance in outdoor situations in the absence of map matching," Pedreira said. "We were also impressed that by using the smart phone platform, Nogago can reduce the cost of outdoor devices for users while taking advantage of the innovation speed offered by smart phones versus dedicated devices. Plus, using open source for content reduces costs even more, and ensures it stays up to date."

Nogago uses the same GPS functionality available in modern smart phones, either internally to the mobile phone or externally with GPS devices connected to the phone via BlueTooth. But it will also use SBAS-Systems such as EGNOS, WAAS, MSAS, and GAGAN to increase accuracy of the positioning. Eventually, Galileo will provide even higher accuracy, availability, and reliability, helping Nogago deliver a better outdoor navigation experience to its users, Volz said.

As GSA Special Topic Prize winners, the Nogago team will now have the opportunity to realize its idea at a suitable incubation center of its choice within the EU27 for six months, with the option of an additional six months based on evaluation after the first period.

Award Criteria

The GSA Special Topic Award is given on the basis of a number of criteria:

Uniqueness and originality of the idea
Business potential (technical feasibility, commercial feasibility, size of market and time to market, credibility of the applicant)
Contribution to success of EGNOS/Galileo programme in terms of exploiting EGNOS/Galileo unique features, promoting EGNOS/Galileo awareness and bringing EGNOS to new markets.

The sponsorship of a Special Topic Award at the annual European Satellite Navigation Competition is part of the GSA’s overall program to foster new applications for EGNOS, and, later on, Galileo. The applications must provide economic and social benefit to Europeans and to European industry.

The European Satellite Navigation Competition is an international competition that awards the best ideas for innovative applications in satellite navigation. It has been held annually since 2004 under the patronage of the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport, and Technology.

Market Development for EGNOS and Galileo

The GSA, a European Community agency, works with the European Commission on a range of market development activities aimed at helping European entrepreneurs and businesses — especially high tech small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), business incubators and related networks — commercially exploit EGNOS and Galileo. Such promotional activities will ensure that European industry maintains a competitive edge in the global satellite navigation marketplace.

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