USA, 19 April 2007: Boeing and an industry team are planning to tackle how to navigate precisely and effectively if signals from the Global Positioning System were not available, under a concept development contract awarded recently by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
The objective of the research programme Robust Surface Navigation (RSN) is to develop technologies that can exploit electronic waves emanating from satellites, cell phone towers and even television transmission towers, to provide precise location and navigation information to ground troops when GPS signals are being electronically jammed or blocked by natural or man-made obstacles, such as foliage or buildings.
“The challenge is to develop an integrated system that can use all available signals not just GPS to provide accurate navigation information through one small receiver, thereby eliminating the need for an expensive, fixed infrastructure,” said Bart Ferrell, Boeing Phantom Works program manager for Precision Navigation Programs. The Boeing-led Robust Surface Navigation team is beginning its 15-month Phase 1 concept development contract.
