Photo: SparkFun
SparkFun Electronics has launched the RTK Torch, designed for high-precision geolocation and GIS needs. It has tri-band reception, tilt compensation and millimeter accuracy.
The RTK Torch can provide millimeter-grade measurements. Users can connect a phone to the device over Bluetooth and receive the NMEA output and work with most GIS software.
The RTK Torch features Zero-Touch RTK technology, which gives connected devices WiFi credentials for a hotspot or other WiFi network. The device will begin receiving corrections without any further setup, with no NTRIP credentials required. These corrections are obtained over WiFi from u-blox PointPerfect and are available in the United States, Europe and various parts of Australia, Canada, Brazil and Korea.
The system includes a one-month free subscription to PointPerfect. Additional subscriptions can be purchased if desired. If PointPerfect coverage is not available in the area, corrections from a local base station or service can be provided to the device over NTRIP, delivered via Bluetooth or WiFi.
It is housed in an IP67-rated enclosure. It is waterproof when submerged up to 1 m for up to 30 minutes when the USB cover is closed. Under the hood of the SparkFun RTK Torch is an ESP32, a UM980 L1/L2/L5 high precision GNSS receiver from Unicore, and an IM-19 for tilt compensation.
The addition of the L5 reception makes this portable GNSS device ideal for densely canopied areas where normal L1/L2 reception may have problems.
The device can be used for:
- GNSS Positioning (~400mm accuracy) – also known as “Rover.”
- GNSS Positioning with RTK (8mm accuracy) – using a local base station.
- GNSS Positioning with PPP-RTK (14 to 60mm accuracy) – using PointPerfect corrections.
- GNSS Positioning with Tilt Compensation.
- GNSS Base Station.
- GNSS Base Station NTRIP Server.
The post SparkFun launches RTK technology first appeared on GPS World.
