Opening of Doors Previously Riveted Shut

A new SAE standard for GPS receivers  is a natural complement to a newly receptive posture toward innovation unmistakably expressed at high levels in FAA and Mitre (ICNS 2018).  Techniques introduced over decades by this author (many on this site) can eventually become operational.

1980s euphoria over GPS success was understandable but decision-makers, lulled into complacency, defined requirements in adherence to antiquated concepts. Familiar examples (full-fix-every-time, with emphasis on position irrespective of dynamics) only begin a broad range revealing opportunities long deferred. “Keep it simple” produced decades of over simplification, strangling efforts to overcome adversity. “Integration” became a misnomer, inappropriately bestowed as “legacy systems” slavishly followed paths precluding resilience.

Not all of the issues presented to the National Advisory Board for Satellite Navigation in 2015) are obvious, even to experienced designers. A crucial point is insight  (the video under that title provides an illustration outside the realm of navigation), without which even a mathematically flawless formulation and program can fail operationally; real-world examples illustrating that point are included in coursework described below.

As widely accepted procedures are finally considered open to revision, courses taught by this author offer capabilities needed over a wide range (inertial, magnetometer, radar, optical, GPS pseudorange, carrier phase, … ).

Comments by former Inst-of-Navigation presidents  (no stone unturned ; teeming with insights that are hard to find or unavailable elsewhere   … ) are likewise true of the course material which, in common with the book (provided as part of the advanced course registration), has a major focus on robustness so urgently needed in coming developments for navigation plus myriad modes of tracking as well).