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The Award Winners of the Galileo Masters 2011 for the
Most Creative Satellite Navigation Applications
In the course of the eighth European Satellite Navigation Competition, also known as Galileo
Masters, eight special prizes were awarded by partners from industry and research along
with 23 regional prizes. This year, the prototyping prize was looking for the best application
reflecting the concept of the “connected vehicle” for the first time.
Eight special prizes in different categories were presented for the best business ideas based
on GNSS.
- Gian Gherardo Calini, Head of Market Development at the European GNSS Agency (GSA),
awarded the prize for the most promising application for EGNOS, the European augmentation
system for GPS. The winning project will broaden horizons in the use of unmanned aerial
vehicles (mini-UAVs) in controlled air space. It is based on an innovative positioning module
with a GPS/EGNOS receiver, which is able to locate other aircraft and automatically avoid
collisions. At the same time, the UVA can be continually identified and monitored by traffic
authorities. The project, initiated by Jordi Santucuana of the Spanish company CATUAV, has
also been chosen as the winner of the new region Catalonia.
- The €10,000 Innovation Prize of the European Space Agency (ESA) went to Timo Friesland
and his team from Germany for the project twofloats. This GNSS-based innovation is an
efficient and scalable software-as-a-service for detecting proximity amongst large numbers of
moving objects. Based on positioning, users – of social networks, for example – are notified
whenever they approach each other, even if no predefined connections exist between them.
The prize was awarded by Frank Salzgeber, Head of the Technology Transfer Programme Office
of the European Space Agency (ESA).
- Dr Rolf-Dieter Fischer, Head of Technology Marketing at the German Aerospace Center
(DLR), presented the DLR Prize to the novel GNSS signal authentication method SARA, which is
based on using available GNSS signal information on a best-effort basis. The innovative
technique, developed by Dr Antonio Pujante Cuadrupani from the Spanish company
Panamnav, is applicable to all kinds of GNSS receivers in order to detect fake signals intended
to induce a JMS (jamming/meaconing/spoofing) event. SARA focuses on the professional
market, where signal authentication and safety are a major requirement.
- The General Manager of the TÜV SÜD subsidiary NavCert, Martin Grzebellus, and Dr Günter
Heinrichs, Head of Business Development at IFEN, awarded the GATE Prize, which includes the
possibility to test the winning application at the German Galileo Test and Development
Environment (GATE) for a period of three days. This year’s winner was Dr Antonio Pujante
Cuadrupani (who also won the DLR special topic prize) with TIMEWISE, an elegant and
effective method and technology for authenticating time references obtained from GNSS
systems. TIMEWISE provides protection to critical infrastructures and key economic sectors
that now rely on GNSS receivers to synchronise their networks, such as in telecommunications
or energy distribution.
- For the second time, the GNSS Living Lab Prize was awarded by Thorsten Rudolph, Managing
Director of Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), to the best GNSS-related
product or service ready to be tested – and ideally, implemented – at one of nearly 300 Living
Labs in Europe and around the world. Che-Tsung Lin of the Industrial Technology Research
Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan has developed Geo-Coupon, an on-demand smartphone app based
on GNSS. It provides purpose-driven digital coupons according to predetermined rules, such as
whether the user has visited branch stores within a limited timeframe. The €10,000 prize is
supported by the European Union as part of the FP7 project GAINS.
- The University Challenge Prize for the most creative location-based services was presented
by Dr Bernd Eisfeller of the Universität der Bundeswehr (Munich) to Jan Schindler and
Matthias Wuest of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) for their idea to enhance the
mobility of visually impaired people. The proposed idea is a digital white cane that
incorporates a navigation device – or connects to a smartphone – as well as tactile and audio
information that can guide the visually impaired safely to their desired destination. The device
is based on precise Galileo navigation coordinates and capable of warning the user about
highways and other hazardous areas.
- Hsu-Kai Tsai, Deputy Manager of the Information & Communication Research Laboratories of
the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, Taiwan), presented the Prototyping Prize – a
first in this year’s competition. Fabian de Ponte-Müller of DLR Oberpfaffenhofen won the prize
for his prototype development in the domain of “connected vehicles”. His solution is a novel
safety application that enables a vehicle to locally circumnavigate potholes and other road
damage detected by other vehicles. Through special on-board sensors, a vehicle can detect
this type of hazard and communicate with other road participants by means of vehicle-to-
vehicle communication. The €10,000 prize also includes an invitation for eight finalists to
Taiwan to personally demonstrate their application in the ITRI test environment.
In addition to the special topic prizes, 23 winners were selected by the expert panels of the
ESCN partner regions. The prizes were awarded in six thematic areas:
Smart Moving
Phillip Elbert’s team from ETH Zürich and HESS AG (Switzerland) managed to win over the
Swiss jury with AHEAD, a solution that aims to minimise CO2 emissions of hybrid-electric buses
used in public transport based on a predictive energy management strategy. Public buses
typically follow a predefined route. Therefore, relevant data on the road profile can easily be
recorded. Based on the road data and exact positioning of the bus, energy management can be
adapted in advance to the bus route. The Swiss team’s new predictive strategy helps cut the
CO2 emissions of hybrid-electric buses by 5-15%, and by as much as 25-30% in comparison to
diesel buses.
Dr Jörg Pfister of pwp-systems GmbH was named the winner of the Hesse region and –
together with the Czech regional winner – the joint third-place finisher in the overall running
for PTbox. PTbox is a robust positioning unit that aims to make public transport more
attractive while reducing CO2 emissions. The application is designed to improve the full range
of public transport operations and provide real-time synchronisation of schedules.
Ali Alaswad and Nusaif Ali from the Bahrain company iCOL Plus were selected as the winners
from the Arab Middle East & North Africa region for iTrack21 Dispatcher. This touchscreen
device for the advanced iTrack21, a tracking system for online-based fleet management,
enables cost-efficient communication with vehicle drivers and can be used simultaneously as a
navigation system.
Andreas Sisask and his team from the service company Logica were chosen as the first winners
from the new partner country Estonia. RENEV is a smartphone app that enables electric
vehicle users to reach destinations outside their battery range as quickly and cost-effectively as
possible. The idea aims to achieve greater public acceptance in support of the transition
process from combustion-engine to electric vehicles.
Frank Tsai from the Taiwanese Institute for Information Industry won Taiwan’s prize for a
smartphone app that facilitates local taxi dispatch management without the need for a
centralised call centre. On basis of positioning data, only taxis nearby will respond to a
passenger’s service request. The app thus reduces fuel consumption and eliminates the usual
communication costs among passengers, call centres, and taxi drivers.
Mobile Location-Based Services
The Australian jury awarded Venkatraman Ramkumar for his idea for the technology-enabled
golfing equipment NavRange. The application consists of a smartphone app and the NavBall,
which is a golf ball with a built-in GNSS sensor and further sensors that gather all of the
relevant information as the ball travels during play. This information can be downloaded and
combined with visual animations of the golf course and ball trajectory to show the user how
the ball was hit in near real-time. The data can also be used for personal training education
and improvement, as well as for media coverage of golf tournaments.
The Polish students Michal Wojtysiak and Maciej Piotrowski took home Bavaria’s regional
prize for YETI (Your Entertainment & Tracking Interface), a smartphone app with various
location-based functions for winter sports. In addition to enhancing safety on the slopes, for
example, the app provides skiers with value-added information, such as weather forecasts or
where the shortest lift queues are. Furthermore, local rescue teams or nearby skiers can be
notified instantly in case of an accident.
Mark Habgood and his team were chosen as the winners from the United Kingdom & Ireland
for a car accident reporting application. The application assists in the aftermath of traffic
accidents by fusing digital photography and geo-positioning with access to secondary datasets
to gather the required insurance documentation. Its primary purpose is to reduce stress on the
unfortunate victims involved in traffic accidents and to enable quick handling by the insurance
companies involved.
Industry Applications
The regional prize of Baden-Württemberg and the second prize in the overall running went to
Jens Rieder and his team from the Universität Heidenheim an der Brenz for SkyAmps, a highly
efficient, fully automatic wind power plant based on two kites. The green energy solution uses
GNSS positioning data to precisely measure the vertical movements and current position of
one kite relative to the ground station and the second kite. The unique idea of using two kites
instead of done provides for a maximum efficiency rate.
Vytautas Siozinys and Linas Markevicius from the Kaunas University of Technology won
Lithuania’s prize for a new system that protects high-voltage transmission lines based on
precise time synchronisation through GNSS signals. The application can identify grid faults and
provides accurate localisation, thus reducing calculation error rates from 10% (using traditional
methods) to less than 1%.
The first prize of the new partner region Medjimurje/Croatia was awarded to Leon Sagovac
and Boran Loncaric from GDi GISDATA. The winning application is a Europe-wide cloud-based
service gateway for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs). The range of applicable fields
includes fleet management, transportation planning, workforce tracking, sales force tracking,
office time tracking, and remote video surveillance.
Yann Desportes and his team from YADES-SAT (Martinique) were selected by the experts of
Aquitaine/France for their GNSS-based system A.L.I.V.E. (Agricultural Localisation in Vast
Estates). The system combines a group of applications that will help managers and owners of
vast agricultural or multi-activity estates to efficiently manage their green spaces and livestock.
Equipped with a tablet device – which can also be used as a navigation system – farmers will
be able to locate their livestock and monitor the condition of grazing land.
Safety & Security Applications
Brazil’s prize was awarded to the team of Fábio Rodrigo de Oliveira for GeoCap, a
management system for automotive accidents involving hazardous cargo. A mobile application
provides real-time notifications to operators and local authorities about the risk of
contamination following accidents. Based on positioning and GIS data – on river basins, for
example – such risks can be assessed and countermeasures instantly started if necessary.
Paul Minguez Olaondo was selected by the expert panel of Gipuzkoa/Spain for his positioning-
based application for enhancing occupational safety. SWAREA (Safe Working AREA) identifies
risk zones – such as in the agricultural or construction sector – based on GNSS signals. Users
can see virtual danger zones on their mobile devices, locate areas of risk, and take steps to
avoid them.
This year’s prize from Nice-Sophia Antipolis/France went to Pierre-Marie Sarant and his team
from Guadeloupe for QuakeUp, an extensive online early-warning and crisis management
system for earthquakes. The integrated smartphone and web-based application provides three
main functions: a local alert function that warns people in the risk area, an emergency beacon
that enables survivors in the earthquake area to send their position and condition instantly to
relatives and rescue teams, and a database in which pictures, videos, and other information on
the affected site such can be collected. This data is available to rescue teams and can be used
to improve and coordinate rescue efforts.
Public & Social Services
Prague awarded Vladimír Vejvoda as its winner for Mobile Eplileptic Fit Detector (MEFID), a
mini, mobile, and remote unit that can rapidly detect signs of an imminent epileptic attack in
child patients and help save their lives. MEFID is able to recognise very early symptoms of an
epileptic attack and immediately inform the respective medical centre of the type of cramp
and the intensity of the seizure, as well as the exact location of the patient. The application
also took third place in the overall competition.
The prize of the new partner country Latvia went to Igors Homjakovs and his team for an
innovative navigation system for visually impaired people. The application focuses on two key
senses that are heightened in visually impaired people – hearing and touch. On a tactile
display, streets, crossroads, and other obstacles are presented as bold reliefs. The device is
also supplemented by a synchronised speech function. In combination with precise GNSS data,
this allows safe navigation even in previously unknown areas.
Tibor Török and Andras Kuba from Hungary won the prize of the new partner country
Macedonia for a system for toddler care in rural areas. The application allows parents to share
critical information on their babies with their paediatricians online. Doctors will be able to see
all the information sent by the parents on a central platform, and thus be able to monitor the
health of the children from a distance. Whenever it is necessary for doctors and social care
workers to visit families, they can use the GPS signals of their tablet PCs to find the shortest
route – even to several families in a row.
The prize for the region Øresund (Denmark & Sweden) went to Steinunn Anna
Gunnlaugsdóttir and Leifur Björnsson from Iceland, whose smartphone platform combines
education with gaming and outdoor activities. The SmartGuide platform enables users to
design and publish travel guides, which can then be supplemented by pictures and maps to be
enjoyed on-location via smartphones. An innovative application of this platform is the
interactive Turf Hunt Game, a treasure hunt game that leverages elements of augmented
reality and can be used, for example, in team-building activities.
High Precision
The winner of the region South Holland, Peter Buist from the Technical University of Delft, was
selected for his integrated sensor solutions for precise, reliable positioning in challenging
environments, such as urban canyons or alleys. With traditional navigation systems, such areas
are often subject to signal inaccuracy. The solution integrates GNSS with other sensors capable
of registering movements. With this innovative application, the error envelope of navigation
systems can be significantly reduced – even in challenging environments.
Michele Bavaro from One Talent GNSS was the winner of the Italian region Lombardy thanks
to an integrated solution consisting of an interference-free GNSS receiver and a raw signal
monitoring method. The system is suitable as a receiver for security-critical applications, such
as at airports or on highways. Furthermore, it can be used as an interference-detecting tool for
all kinds of GNSS signals.
We would like to thank all our partners for their outstanding support and are already looking
forward to an exciting European Satellite Navigation Competition 2012, which will run from 1
April to 30 June at www.galileo-masters.eu
Press contact:
Lena Klemm
Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen
Phone: +49(0)8105-77277-17
Email: klemm@anwendungszentrum.de