Leica Geosystems and NovAtel Inc. have executed a strategic co-operation agreement. The objective is the common development of new technologies for global positioning systems (GPS) and its advancement in the high-accuracy segment. This is particularly relevant for equipment that will be based on the new upcoming Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
These include significant contributions to the development of Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) such as WAAS, MSAS and EGNOS. Future advancements in GNSS technologies will introduce new signal structures to be transmitted by the GPS satellites (L2C, L5) and will offer additional benefits for customers. The co-operation agreement allows both companies to focus their complimentary resources for the development of future GPS and GNSS products and to therefore launch them faster and with lower costs.
NovAtel will begin immediate development of a custom version of existing GPS engines and other GPS components for Leica Geosystems. “It is an honour to partner with Leica Geosystems, the recognized leader in an industry they pioneered 80 years ago,” stated NovAtel President and CEO Jon Ladd. “Coupling NovAtel’s GNSS know-how with Leica’s broad application expertise and customer focus allows each company to exploit its primary strength. This partnership builds upon NovAtel’s proven ability to provide state-of-the-art technologies to large Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and government infrastructure programs.”
Leica Geosystems will further concentrate on developing products and integrated solutions for surveying, monitoring and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using high accuracy GPS and GNSS. This includes the further development of positioning algorithms for high accuracy, for real-time kinetic (RTK) data capturing and its conversion of RTK into real-time applications, for the long-baseline processing, the creation of reference station networks, and for the data collection for GIS and machine control applications.
