The new Duro device can be installed on vehicles and connected to onboard systems to supply pinpoint location data.Two high-tech companies have teamed up to develop a new product, Duro, that can supply pinpoint-accurate position data to truck manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers to use in a variety of applications.
Possibilities include automated parking, docking, yard management, platooning, autonomous driving and lane-level truck navigation systems, says Rob Hranac, vice president of business development for Swift Navigation.
San Francisco-based Swift Navigation, founded 2012, has about 50 employees. In February, 2017, it announced its flagship product, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver called Piksi Multi, he says.
Piksi Multi uses Swift Navigation’s real-time kinematics (RTK) technology to calculate positions with centimeter-level accuracy using signals from GPS and other satellite constellations worldwide. By comparison, most GPS-based tracking systems in the market determine location to within three meters of accuracy.
Swift Navigation recently worked with Carnegie Robotics LLC (CRL) to encapsulate its Piksi Multi product into a hardened platform it calls Duro. Easy to deploy, the Duro product protects the GNSS sensor against weather, moisture, vibration, dust, water immersion and unexpected circumstances that can occur in outdoor long-term deployments, the companies say.
Carnegie Robotics is a Pittsburg-based company that designs and manufactures components and systems for outdoor mobile robotics.
The companies’ Duro product is modular and comes with different mounting and input/output interfaces for installation on vehicles and communication with standard CANBus protocols. Duro is currently priced for about $600, Hranac says.
Other features include:
- Weatherproof external enclosure design with M12 standard-sealed connectors
- Future-proof hardware with in-field software upgrades
- Protected IO, including RS232 Serial Ports, 100mbit Ethernet, Event Inputs, PPS, PV, CANBus
- Durable UV and chemical-resistant powder-coating
- Flexible mounting interfaces
