The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) is an annual international innovation competition that recognises downstream applications of satellite navigation. Anyone is free to enter. The ESNC was inaugurated in three regions in 2004 under the patronage of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and is organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO). Since 2011, the competition is also supported by the European Commission . Until 2006, the ESNC was called “Galileo Masters" in reference to the European satellite navigation system Galileo. [1]
The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) seeks to gather innovative ideas and solutions for commercial applications of satellite navigation technology and promote individual ideas by offering prizes. It provides the opportunity to present and promote ideas – and eventually put them into practice. [2]
The ESNC is supported by more than 20 regional and national partners, including more than 130 organisations that host regional challenges. Many of the ideas submitted in previous years have already been implemented and successfully brought to market.
The ESNC's total prize pool is valued at approximately EUR 1 million, which includes cash, business incubation, business coaching, patent consulting, technical support, access to testing facilities, prototype development, publicity, marketing support, market and feasibility studies, access to experts and public funding, licenses and much more. The following special prizes will be awarded in 2016: • European Space Agency (ESA): ESA space solutions Prize • German Aerospace Center (DLR): Entry into Service – Head Start with Galileo Services! • Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) – PRS applications – reliable services for a secure digital society • BELS – Building European Link toward South East Asia in the field of EGNSS: Innovative GNSS Solutions for South East Asia • The ESNC University Challenge: From the Lecture Hall to the Board Room • GNSS Living Lab Prize
All of the winners will be recognised at the Awards Ceremony to be held at the end of October.
2013: KINEXON The overall winner of 2013 submitted an augmented-reality application that conducts precise localisation and monitoring for sports and healthcare. The KINEXON CELL is a revolutionary wearable sensor that uses the latest space technology to track the positions of individuals and objects with centimetre accuracy. The corresponding KINEXON APP is a secure cloud-computing platform with a smart analytics application. It transforms big sensor data into valuable information in real time. [3]
2012: ULF-MC The overall winner of 2012 submitted a solution that allows accurate indoor navigation with existing smartphones. ULF-MC will enable you to navigate indoors and receive location-based information relevant to you and your friends. The system is based on relative location IDs that are transferred to absolute positions involving the last GNSS fix. This technology has been designed for use on existing smartphones through utilisation of their threeaxis hall sensors (electronic compasses). [4]
2011: True3D™ Head Up Display The overall winner of 2011 submitted an augmented-reality application that involves a disruptive technology in LBS and mapping. The Head Up Display provides a translucent location guidance that shows users a Virtual Cable and Virtual Signs (such as icons or road signs) in their forward view. This information seems to appear beyond the user's windshield (from a distance of two metres to infinity) and is generated by linking GNSS, map, and POI data.
2010: Wikitude Drive The 2010 winner developed a navigation system that uses augmented reality in combination with global maps to superimpose directions onto a live smartphone video stream. This enables drivers to follow suggested routes based on real-world imagery instead of abstract maps. [5]
2009: Osmógrafo The Galileo Master 2009 created a device to assist search-and-rescue coordinators in determining whether an area has been fully searched by canine teams. It consists of a GNSS tracking device for dogs and a wind sensor that sends information to a central monitoring unit. [6]
2008: Real-Time Rescue - A Personal GNSS tracker In 2008, the winners developed a small electronic device to be worn by ship crew members. In case they fall overboard, a unit on the ship logs the position and initiates an audio and visual alarm. [7]
2007: Algorithm, Procedure and Device for the Protection of Financial Transactions The winning project in 2007 proposed a new encryption procedure which is supposed to make financial transactions safer. This procedure combines encryption algorithms already in use with time signals delivered by Galileo. [8]
2006: Geosynch The Galileo Master 2006 created a product that helps predict natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It provides increased accuracy thanks to its use of time signals from Galileo satellites. [9]
2005: VU Log The winner in 2005 developed a web-based service that tells registered users where to find the nearest available electric car. This car-sharing initiative also includes a common pool of compact electric cars. [10]
2004: Marine Navigation for Fishermen using GPS and IPWV (Integrated Precipitable Water Vapour) Technique The first Galileo Master had an idea for low-priced GPS surveillance equipment that would enable fishermen in developing countries to receive weather forecasts and locate fish populations. [11]
The European Satellite Navigation Competition is organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO). This company was founded in 2004 by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs in Oberpfaffenhofen (near Munich, Germany), a prominent hub of the aerospace industry.
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) serves as the main mission control centre for the European Space Agency (ESA) and is located in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC's primary function is the operation of uncrewed spacecraft on behalf of ESA and the launch and early orbit phases (LEOP) of ESA and third-party missions. The Centre is also responsible for a range of operations-related activities within ESA and in cooperation with ESA's industry and international partners, including ground systems engineering, software development, flight dynamics and navigation, development of mission control tools and techniques and space debris studies.
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It does not require the user to transmit any data, and operates independently of any telephone or Internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the usefulness of the GPS positioning information. It provides critical positioning capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users around the world. Although the United States government created, controls and maintains the GPS system, it is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.
Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that went live in 2016, created by the European Union through the European Space Agency (ESA), operated by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), headquartered in Prague, Czechia, with two ground operations centres in Fucino, Italy, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The €10 billion project is named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) developed by the European Space Agency and EUROCONTROL on behalf of the European Commission. Currently, it supplements the GPS by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of their positioning data and sending out corrections. The system will supplement Galileo in a future version.
A mission control center is a facility that manages space flights, usually from the point of launch until landing or the end of the mission. It is part of the ground segment of spacecraft operations. A staff of flight controllers and other support personnel monitor all aspects of the mission using telemetry, and send commands to the vehicle using ground stations. Personnel supporting the mission from an MCC can include representatives of the attitude control system, power, propulsion, thermal, attitude dynamics, orbital operations and other subsystem disciplines. The training for these missions usually falls under the responsibility of the flight controllers, typically including extensive rehearsals in the MCC.
Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies, electrical engineering, and computer science. Telematics can involve any of the following:
Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) is a GNSS augmentation system that often significantly improves the startup performance—i.e., time-to-first-fix (TTFF)—of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). A-GNSS works by providing the necessary data to the device via a radio network instead of the slow satellite link, essentially "warming up" the receiver for a fix. When applied to GPS, it is known as assisted GPS or augmented GPS. Other local names include A-GANSS for Galileo and A-Beidou for BeiDou.
A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). As of 2024, four global systems are operational: the United States's Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the European Union's Galileo.
A positioning system is a system for determining the position of an object in space. One of the most well-known and commonly used positioning systems is the Global Positioning System (GPS).
The Romanian Space Agency is a public institution that coordinates Romania's national space technology research programs and activities related to space research. ROSA, established in 1991, is subordinate to the Romanian Ministry of Education.
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, using the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo or BeiDou system, are used in many applications. The first systems were developed in the 20th century, mainly to help military personnel find their way, but location awareness soon found many civilian applications.
The European Union Space Programme is an EU funding programme established in 2021 along with its managing agency, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme, in order to implement the pre-existing European Space Policy established on 22 May 2007 when a joint and concomitant meeting at the ministerial level of the Council of the European Union and the Council of the European Space Agency, known collectively as the European Space Council, adopted a Resolution on the European Space Policy. The policy had been jointly drafted by the European Commission and the Director General of the European Space Agency. This was the first common political framework for space activities established by the European Union (EU).
An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a network of devices used to locate people or objects where GPS and other satellite technologies lack precision or fail entirely, such as inside multistory buildings, airports, alleys, parking garages, and underground locations.
A satellite navigation device, satnav device or satellite navigation receiver is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice. Depending on the software used, the satnav device may display the position on a map, as geographic coordinates, or may offer routing directions.
Wikitude is a mobile augmented reality (AR) technology provider based in Salzburg, Austria. Founded in 2008, Wikitude initially focused on providing location-based augmented reality experiences through the Wikitude World Browser App. In 2012, the company restructured its proposition by launching the Wikitude SDK, a development framework that uses image recognition and tracking, and geolocation technology.
LOCOPROL has been a project to research the integration of satellite navigation into railway networks targeting low-density track lines. It is supposed to extend the ERTMS train protection systems. The partner project LOCOLOC was looking into cab signaling and speed control measures.
A software GNSS receiver is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver that has been designed and implemented using software-defined radio.
The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is a space agency, managing the European Union Space Programme as one of the agencies of the European Union (EU). It was initially created as the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Supervisory Authority (GSA) in 2004, reorganised into the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency in 2010, and established in its current form on May 12, 2021. EUSPA is a separate entity from the European Space Agency (ESA), although the two entities work together closely.
Frank Stephen Tromp van Diggelen is a Distinguished Engineer at Google. His work concerns GPS/GNSS navigation. He helped to create some of the first GPS chips used in commercial smartphones. Van Diggelen is a fellow of the IEEE, Institute of Navigation and Royal Institute of Navigation.