NovAtel® Technology enables Canada’s First on-street test of an Autonomous Vehicle Connected to live City infrastructure on Public Streets

NovAtel technology was on display in Ottawa, for Canada’s first on-street test of an autonomous vehicle connected to live City infrastructure on a public road. NovAtel’s SPAN GNSS+INS positioning technology integrated into the Blackberry QNX autonomy platform was used for centimetre-level real-time vehicle positioning. A NovAtel GNSS base station operated from the BlackBerry QNX building was also used to generate a local GNSS corrections broadcast to enable the highest level of GNSS positioning accuracy of the autonomous car.

Allan MacAulay, Business Development Manager, Safety Critical Systems, attended the event and said “NovAtel is excited to be involved in this first of its kind road test in Canada. With our automotive GNSS+INS positioning solutions and global GNSS Corrections Services, the future of autonomous driving can rely upon assured positioning at the performance level required for functionally safe operations. With our global headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, we are proud to represent Western Canada in the Ottawa AV cluster (http://www.ottawaavcluster.com/) through our collaboration with Blackberry QNX and Invest Ottawa.”

Through their partnership with BlackBerry QNX and its Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Centre (AVIC), Ottawa now has the facilities and technology to further the advancement of driverless car testing on active public streets. NovAtel will continue to contribute to the Ottawa initiative as a key technology partner, providing access to industry leading GNSS positioning solutions tailored specifically for safe positioning of autonomous vehicles. By continually testing the latest advances in autonomous vehicles and associated sensors in the Ottawa area, unique lessons will be learned and more robust solutions will emerge that must be designed for safe operations through Canada’s four seasons -  including winter.

NovAtel has a long history of providing high-precision GNSS+INS positioning technology for autonomous systems, delivering solutions that are not only of the highest quality but are also incredibly reliable. In early 2015, NovAtel took an important step towards delivering positioning solutions to the automotive and autonomous driving industries for serial production by forming a specialized Safety Critical Systems (SCS) group. The SCS group is comprised of highly skilled engineers with backgrounds in functional safety as well as all aspects of GNSS and Inertial Navigation Systems technology. The SCS group is focused on creating positioning products that will meet the exceptional performance and safety requirements of autonomous vehicles at the necessary production volumes and the required price point.

About NovAtel 

NovAtel designs, manufactures and sells high precision OEM positioning technology. Developed for efficient and rapid integration, our products have set the standard in quality and performance for over 25 years. State-of-the-art, lean manufacturing facilities in our North American headquarters produce the industry’s most extensive line of OEM receivers, antennas and subsystems. All of our products are backed by a team of highly skilled application engineers.

NovAtel Inc. is part of Hexagon (Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXA B; hexagon.com), a leading global provider of information technology solutions that drive productivity and quality across geospatial and industrial landscapes.