GeoNumerics was invited to present the mapKITE project and technology at the Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day, held at the European GNSS Agency (GSA), in Prague, on 12 October 2018.

Castelldefels, 14 October 2018. GeoNumerics is proud to inform that its past Horizon 2020 project mapKITE was presented by Ismael Colomina, company’s CEO, on occasion of the Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day, organized and hosted by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), in Prague, on 12 October 2018. The GSA selected mapKITE together with two other projects, FOSTER ITS and GOEASY, to showcase past and ongoing R&D dealing with innovative applications of the satellite navigation systems Galileo and EGNOS.

MapKITE, an invention of GeoNumerics, is a new method for simultaneous aerial and terrestrial geodata acquisition for 3D mapping of corridors (highways, railways and waterways) and urban areas. In a mapKITE mission, geodata is acquired from the air –from a drone– and from the ground –from a van, with a mobile mapping system– where the drone follows the van at an approximate constant height above ground. The method goes beyond traditional mapping using drones; it is a new mapping concept as it introduces a new surveying paradigm, new mathematical models, new ways of fusing sensors and a new “map” product. MapKITE is protected by the Spanish patent 201231200 and U.S. patent no. 14/417,435, and with pending patents in Brazil and Europe.

The company ENGEMAP –GeoNumerics’ partner in Brazil for mapKITE– has been awarded the first official authorisation for a mapKITE commercial mission by the MD and the DECEA.

In August 2018, along the highway BR-259 (state of Espirito Santo, Brazil), the company ENGEMAP conducted a mapKITE geodata acquisition campaign. The [simultaneous, tandem terrestrial and] aerial campaign was the first mapKITE flight officially authorized by the Ministry of Defence (MD) and the Department of Airspace Control (DECEA).

In the campaign, terrestrial measurements were collected with SENSORMAP’s SMM mobile mapping system while aerial measurements were collected from a UAVision’s UX Spyro drone equipped with SENSORMAP’s SAAPI-V photogrammetric payload for drones from. The resulting mapKITE block consists of 11435 aerial and 316000 terrestrial images along 104 km. Approximate flying altitude above ground was 120 m. With these type of data, 3-dimensional corridor mapping of the BR-259 and its ±100 m environment “can be optimally performed” according to César Francisco, ENGEMAP’s Chief Executive Officer.

GeoNumerics, GEOSAT and Telespazio France have concluded a geo-data collection campaign at Cap Ferret, France, to measure coastal erosion at the Atlantic French coast, based on GeoNumerics' patented mapKITE concept.

On September, 20th and 21st, the project HYCOS concluded its last test campaign by operating a tandem system composed by a Mobile Mapping System (MMS) from French company GEOSAT and a drone equipped with navigation and remote sensing equipment, operated by Octocam-maps. The goal was to collect aerial and terrestrial 3D simultaneous geo-data and compare it to a similar acquisition performed in March, 2018. By doing so, HYCOS is addressing the hybridization of multi-platform, multi-resolution observation methods (satellite, drone and mobile mapping) to measure coastal erosion at the Atlantic French coast. HYCOS becomes therefore one more application of mapKITE, the novel air/ground 3D mapping technology patented by GeoNumerics.

The tests specifically covered the area of Cap Ferret, a popular French coastal area, located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Arcachon, in which natural erosion combined with the severe winter storms in recent years has made the site particularly unstable and dangerous. Naturally, the project has arisen the interest of local authorities and press, and has been featured on local TV.

On 11 September 2018 the New EASA Basic Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018,–  that include the first EU-wide rules for civil drones of all sizes, has entered into force.

GeoNumerics is happy to learn and further disseminate that, as of yesterday, drone operations start to be regulated in a uniform way across the European Union (EU). The New Basic Regulation (NBR), as part of updated aviation safety rules and a revised mandate for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), was approved by the EU Parliament on 12 June and by the European Council on 26 June, then published on the EU Official Journal on 22 August and, finally, it came into force yesterday. By the end of 2018, the EU Commission and the EASA, shall complement the NBR with and implementing regulation on operations of small drones and with a delegated act for marketing drones in the EU.