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May/June 2026 Launch Pad: Surveying and Mapping

Photo: Who_I_amWho_I_am / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
Photo: Who_I_amWho_I_am / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

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GNSS receiver

Enclosed multi-frequency boxed receiver

Septentrio

The AsteRx EB GNSS receiver. (Credit: Septentrio)
The AsteRx EB GNSS receiver. (Credit: Septentrio)

The AsteRx EB offers high-accuracy positioning and GNSS heading for industrial robots, port logistics, marine and scalable automation applications. Its IP67 enclosure protects the receiver from harsh weather conditions, while built-in advanced GNSS+ algorithms ensure reliable operation in environments challenging for GNSS, such as areas with foliage or near GNSS interference sources. The RAIM+ integrity monitoring system ensures truthful positioning — essential for autonomous navigation. The compact enclosure of AsteRx EB enables easy installation, reducing time-to-market. In a dual-antenna configuration, AsteRx EB delivers sub-degree GNSS heading for systems that require orientation in addition to RTK positioning. The built-in AIM+ anti-jamming and anti-spoofing technology protects the receiver from intentional or unintentional GNSS interference.

GNSS RTK platform

Real-time kinematic delivers CM-level measurements

SparkPNT

Image: SparkPNT
Image: SparkPNT

The Facet FP is a high-precision GNSS receiver designed to deliver centimeter-level accuracy with a focus on long-term flexibility, ease of use and open-source innovation. It combines multi-band, multi-constellation GNSS support with fully open-source firmware — the platform can adapt as technologies advance. Built to last, all models are contained in a robust waterproof cast-aluminum housing, with an internal structure designed for compatibility with the company’s Flex system of GNSS modules. This gives users the choice between three different modules, plus the choice of having tilt-compensation, offering six different options with a range of price points, securities and accuracies for various needs and applications.

GNSS antenna

High-precision, high-accuracy, robust

Hemisphere GNSS, Calian Group Ltd.

Image: Hemisphere GNSS
Image: Hemisphere GNSS

The A65 GNSS antenna delivers exceptional accuracy, interference protection and robust GNSS tracking performance. Designed as a drop-in replacement for the widely deployed A45 antenna, the A65 offers users a seamless upgrade path to the latest precision technology. The industry collaboration reflects a shared focus on combining advanced RF design with real-world application insight to address increasingly complex GNSS operating environments, with both teams working closely from the earliest stages of development to meet demanding original equipment manufacturer (OEM) performance requirements. The antenna architecture, including the stacked patch quad feed element and RF front end, provides Calian’s XF Filtering. Hemisphere GNSS contributed application expertise, system integration requirements and performance validation within real-world machine control, agriculture, marine and survey environments.

Airborne LIDAR

Long-range for UAV mapping and aerial surveillance

CHC Navigation

AlphaAir 6 is mounted on the X500 UAV during an urban mapping mission. (Credit: CHC Navgation)
AlphaAir 6 is mounted on the X500 UAV during an urban mapping mission.
(Credit: CHC Navgation)

The AlphaAir 6 airborne lidar system is designed for UAV-based laser scanning, drone lidar mapping and aerial surveying in high-relief and complex terrain. Combining prism scanning technology with a high-grade inertial navigation system (INS), the AlphaAir 6 delivers a maximum ranging capability of up to 2,100 m and supports efficient data capture at typical flight altitudes of 400 m to 600 m above ground level. It integrates an upgraded laser engine and a high-grade IMU with 0.3°/h bias stability to improve trajectory accuracy and point cloud quality. This design removes the need for pre-mission IMU calibration and supports stable, efficient data collection for topographic mapping, corridor mapping, and wide-area aerial survey workflows. It is available in single-camera and dual-camera configurations.

GNSS mapping app

Makes smartphones data-collection tools

Image: Fastxy
Image: Digital Mapping Group

Digital Mapping Group

The FastXY mapping application for iOS and Android enables standard mobile devices to serve as professional-grade data-collection tools for geospatial information system (GIS) and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals. FastXY allows users to collect point, line and polygon data with devices they already own. It delivers advanced capabilities including 3D basemaps, construction staking, topographic surveying, on-the-fly datum transformations, and survey-grade elevations. A built-in Bluetooth data parser allows users to configure the app to collect data from any instrument supporting BLE Bluetooth or RS-232 — echosounders, radiation sensors, laser rangefinders, barcode scanners — and marry that data with precise GNSS coordinates.