Thales Navigation, a global provider of GPS solutions including Magellan and Ashtech product lines, has announced the Ashtech Sagitta(TM), Aquarius(TM), 3011(TM), ADU3(TM), and Aquarius(2)(TM). With these five new solutions, Thales Navigation is significantly expanding its professional line of solutions for marine positioning and navigation — now under the Ashtech brand, and introducing for the first time the capability to deliver precise attitude and positioning simultaneously.
The announcement marks the first time Ashtech marine survey GPS solutions will be offered in the U.S. In 2001, Thales Navigation was formed when Thales, a global electronics, aerospace, and defense company, acquired Magellan Corporation, with its Magellan consumer and Ashtech professional GPS brands, and merged it with Thales Navigation, S.A., with its MLR consumer and DSNP professional brands. As a result, Thales Navigation can now leverage the marine survey expertise of the former DSNP and offer time-tested, quality marine survey GPS solutions in the U.S., as well as in Europe, under the Ashtech brand.
Positioning solutions
- Ashtech Sagitta is intended for small- and medium-scale marine applications for which precise positioning and ease of use are equally important. It meets a wide variety of requirements, as it can be upgraded from single to dual-frequency technologies to provide meter-level to centimetre-level accuracy, and can be used either as a base station or as a mobile solution. Small and lightweight, Sagitta provides precision in a ready-to-go solution.
- Ashtech Aquarius is the “positioning machine” that offers Ashtech’s Real-Time Kinematic solutions for single and dual-frequency GPS technologies, including KART and LRK(R) for centimetre accuracy up to 40 km. Two main features make this solution stand as the new benchmark in the marine survey industry. First, up to two internal radio links can be fitted into the Aquarius receiver, thus ensuring high performance and reliability of differential corrections on different frequency bands. Second, the ease of use and interfacing capabilities have been significantly expanded, as a result of the screen terminal and keypad integration and the availability of five data I/O communication ports — all offered as standard features.
Positioning, heading and attitude solutions
- Ashtech 3011 is the new GPS compass developed by Thales Navigation. This is the ideal course measurement instrument for meeting the requirements of modern navigation systems, such as OVERLAY radar, ARPA radar, and automatic pilot, which are increasingly being used by navigation professionals. The 3011 GPS compass measures the vessel’s course with an accuracy of 0.5 degrees. It is easy to install and to operate, with one single down link cable as well as automatic calibration capability. The 3011 offers the features of a gyrocompass at a much lower price and without periodic maintenance.
- Ashtech ADU3 provides three-dimensional attitude: heading, pitch, and roll, along with three-dimensional position and velocity for static and dynamic platforms. It employs four antennas with 14-channel receiver configurations. It also incorporates differential corrections from satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) such as EGNOS and WAAS as well as DGPS corrections from 300kHz beacon stations using an embedded 2-channel beacon receiver. With all that, the ADU3 offers 3-meter autonomous positioning and sub-meter differential positioning.
- Ashtech Aquarius(2) brings heading capabilities to precise positioning. In addition to the Aquarius functionality, the Aquarius(2) adds a second set of GPS/GNSS channels which allows users to reach dual-frequency heading accuracy of 0.01 degrees or single-frequency heading accuracy of 0.1 degrees (2 meter baseline), depending on the configuration used. This is made possible by Thales Navigation’s exclusive Gyrosky(R) technology.
This new family of marine survey GPS solutions has been designed to meet the expectations of the rigorous and demanding world of marine surveying. Precision, reliability, speed, and ease of use characterize these new Ashtech-branded solutions offered by Thales Navigation.
