Aa

ADAS 

Short for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Includes technology such as autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist. 

ADAS platform

A device onto which can be mounted soft targets for automotive testing. Some ADAS platforms move autonomously, others are guided. 

ADAs target 

A soft construction mimicking the appearance and shape of various things including cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians. Used in automotive testing and mounted on ADAS platforms. 

AEB 

Short for Autonomous Emergency Braking. A system that automatically applies a vehicle’s brakes when it detects an object in front of the vehicle. See ADAS. 

AGV 

Short for Automated Guided Vehicle. Commonly used in ports, AGVs follow pre-defined paths using technology such as magnetic strips.

AHRS 

Short for Attitude Heading Reference System. Aviation term for a system that provides real-time data on orientation and heading.  

AMR

Short for Autonomous Mobile Robot. A broad term covering any robotic platform or vehicle that is navigated autonomously

Autonomous navigation 

Any form of navigation system that can operate without human intervention. 

AUTOSAR 

Short for AUTomotive Open System Architecture. Industry standardised software framework and open system architecture for intelligent mobility. Generally used in automotive circles. 

Bb

BeiDou 

A GNSS constellation that OXTS INS devices can use to receive position data, owned and operated by China. See GNSS. 

BNS

Short for Blended Navigation Solution. Any navigation solution that uses a combination of localisation technologies, such as a GNSS/INS. 

Boresight calibration 

A method of precisely aligning the reference frames of two sensors, usually a GNSS/INS and a LiDAR, to improve the quality of the final data output. 

Cc

CAN

Short for Controller Area Network. A method of connecting systems in a vehicle. Many OXTS GNSS/INS devices can connect via CAN to receive data from a vehicle’s onboard systems. 

CBNS 

Short for Combined Blended Navigation Solution. Refers to INS firmware combining xBNS and xDEV running on the xRED3000 and Wayfinder. 

Covariance 

A mathematical concept used in OXTS systems to express the confidence in how accurate a piece of data is.

Dd

DARM 

Short for Dual Antenna Roof Mount. A roof mount capable of holding two GNSS antennas for improved accuracy

Datum 

A fixed point on the earth from which you can build a geographic coordinate system. WGS84 is a popular global datum, used by GNSS systems. 

DGNSS 

Short for Differential GNSS. A system of enhancing GNSS accuracy through the use of base stations. Real-Time Kinematics is also considered a DGNSS technique.  

DGPS

Short for Differential GPS. A DGNSS solution that only uses the GPS constellation. See DGNSS.

DO-160 

Aerospace testing standard for hardware. It indicates a high level of robustness and protection against physical, environmental and electromagnetic interferences. 

Driving robot 

Any robotic system designed to operate any part of a car. Commonly used for testing purposes. Not to be confused with autonomous cars. 

DTS

Short for Driverless Test System. A collection of robotic systems and path following software that can operate a car in place of a driver. 

Ee

EKF

Short for Extended Kalman Filter. The algorithm that an INS uses to estimate various measurements based on IMU and GNSS data. 

Ff

FOG

Short for Fibre Optic Gyro. A FOG INS uses a fibre optic gyro to achieve high levels of precision, though it can be expensive and bulky. 

Frame 

A point of reference for localisation data. Frames help ensure data from different sensors align properly when being used to estimate localisation measurements. 

Gg

GAD 

Short for Generic Aiding Data. An OXTS term for data provided by an external sensor to the INS for localisation purposes. 

GAD Interface

The interface through which users can pass data from external sensors to an OXTS GNSS/INS. See GAD.

Galileo 

A GNSS constellation that OXTS INS devices can use to receive position data, owned and operated by the EU. See GNSS. 

Gearchange robot 

A robot that can operate a gearbox from the car cockpit. Commonly used in automotive testing. 

Georeferencing 

The act of applying location and position information to an existing dataset (such as a LiDAR survey) to give that data a fixed position on the earth. 

GLONASS 

A GNSS constellation that OXTS INS devices can use to receive position data, owned and operated by Russia. See GNSS.

GNSS

Short for Global Navigation Satellite System. A network (or constellation) or satellites used to provide position data on the earth.

GNSS/INS

An INS that also uses data from GNSS antenna(s) to provide accurate position and orientation data. All OXTS products are, or contain, a GNSS/INS. 

GPS

Short for Global Positioning System. A GNSS constellation that OXTS INS devices can use to receive position data, owned and operated by the US.  See GNSS.

gPTP

Short for Generalised Precision Time Protocol. A method of synchronising device clocks in a network, with more advanced features than PTP.

Ground truth

High-precision position, orientation and movement data used to validate performance of vehicles or sensors. 

gx/ix

An OXTS technology that tightly couples GNSS and IMU data to protect accuracy in areas where GNSS signal, and speed up RTK reacquisition after GNSS outages. 

Ii

IMU

Short for Inertial Measurement Unit. A collection of accelerometers and gyroscopes that an INS uses to estimate position and orientation data. 

INS 

Short for Inertial Navigation System. A solution that processes IMU data to estimate position and orientation data.

IP

Short for Ingress Protection. An international standard that rates a device’s protection against the ingress of water and dust. 

ISR

Short for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Term describing surveying missions, usually airborne, for defence, military or emergency services. 

Kk

KF 

Short for Kalman Filter. An algorithm used to estimate various measurements based on other data in linear systems. An INS will use an Extended Kalman Filter, as it is a non-linear system. 

Ll

Latency 

The time taken for an electrical signal to travel from a transmitter to a receiver. The lower the latency, the faster the communication is. 

Lever arm 

A set of measurements that describe the distance between two components of a localisation solution, such as a GNSS/INS and an external sensor. 

LiDAR 

Short for Light Detection And Ranging. A sensor designed to calculate the distance of specific points from the sensor. Commonly used in surveying and autonomous navigation. 

LIO

Short for LiDAR Inertial Odometry. An OXTS technology that uses LiDAR data to estimate velocity measurements for constraining position drift when GNSS signal is poor. 

LKA

Short for Lane Keep Assist. A system that can steer a vehicle in order to keep it from straying across lanes. See ADAS.

LKW

Short for Lane Keep Warning. A system that alerts the driver if their car starts to drift over lane markings on a road without being steered. See ADAS. 

LMM 

Short for LiDAR Map Matching. An OXTS technology that uses real-time LiDAR data compared to a survey of the same space to provide repeatable position data. 

Mm

MEMS 

Short for Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System. The technology of microscopic devices incorporating mechanical and moving parts. Many IMUs are MEMS. 

Mobile mapping

Blanket term for surveying missions carried out using moving vehicles such as cars or drones. 

Nn

NCOM 

A communication format that all OXTS devices use.

NTRIP 

Short for Network Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol. Protocol for streaming differential GNSS (DGNSS) corrections over the internet in real time. 

Oo

Open-road ground truthing 

The gathering of ground truth data on the open road, as opposed to the test track. See Ground truth.

Pp

PNT 

Short for Position, Navigation, and Timing. A term referring to any data providing position, heading, orientation, and timing data. A GNSS/INS produces PNT data. 

PPK

Short for Post Process Kinematics. A method of improving the accuracy of the data gathered by a GNSS/INS in post process. 

PPS

Short for Pulses Per Second. PPS is how many computers measure internal time. PPS can be used to measure time down to the nanosecond, and is very stable. 

PTP 

Short for Precision Time Protocol. A method of synchronising device clocks in a network. Also see gPTP. 

Qq

Quad-constellation 

The ability to receive GNSS data from the four major constellations: BeiDou, Galileo, GPS, and GLONASS. See GNSS. 

Rr

RD File 

Short for Raw Data File. RD files are created by a GNSS/INS, containing all the raw data from a session. 
  

RLG 

Short for Ring Laser Gyro. A RLG INS uses a ring laser gyro to achieve high levels of precision, though it can be very expensive and bulky. 

Robotaxi 

An autonomous vehicle that operates as a taxi. 

ROS

Short for Robot Operating System. An open-source framework for robotic control systems. The current standard is ROS2. 

RTCM 

Short for Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services. A standardised data format used for DGNSS corrections. See DGNSS.

RTK

Short for Real-Time Kinematics. A method of improving position accuracy in real-time and form of DGNSS. 

Ss

SBAS

Short for Satellite-Based Augmentation Service. The use of additional satellite messages to improve the performance of navigation systems. 

SDK 

Short for Software Development Kit. A collection of tools, libraries and instructions to help developers add capabilities such as the OXTS GAD Interface into their software. 

SLAM

Short for Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping. An algorithm that creates a map of the local environment while also tracking your position within that environment. 

Steering robot 

A robotic arm that manually turns a steering wheel. Commonly used in automotive testing.

SWAP 

Short for Size, Weight, And Power. Commonly used in relation to drones. A ratio to help engineers balance size, weight and power of components according to their objectives.

Uu

UAS

Short for Unmanned Aerial System. The combination of a UAV, its ground-based control systems, and the systems for communicating between them. 

UAV 

Short for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. An aircraft that flies without a human on board, controlled remotely, by autonomous control systems, or a mixture of both. 

UCOM

A data format used to send data from your GNSS/INS to a computer. Designed for efficiency, and to only includes the measurements from your GNSS/INS that you specifically request.

UDP

Short for User Datagram Protocol. A core communication protocol used in internet communications.

Urban Canyon

An urban area where the large volume of tall buildings block GNSS satellite signals, making it hard for a GNSS/INS get a reliable signal and therefore accurate position data. 

UWB

Short for Ultra WideBand. A localisation technology that uses radio waves to estimate distance. Commonly used for indoor localisation. 

Vv

V2L 

Short for Vehicle To Lane. Automotive testing term that describes any tests of systems such as lane keep warning/assist where the vehicle is interacting with lane markings on a road. 

V2V

Short for Vehicle To Vehicle. Automotive testing term that describes any tests of systems such as AEB where the vehicle is reacting to another vehicle.

Vehicle Dynamics 

The study of vehicle motion. In automotive testing, vehicle dynamics tests evaluate how a vehicle responds in various situations such as cornering and braking. 

VRU (vertical reference unit) 

Marine term for a system that provides real-time data on orientation and heading.  

VRU (vulnerable road user) 

Automotive term for pedestrians and cyclists; many ADAS tests use soft targets to represent VRUs when testing systems like emergency braking. 

VUT 

Short for Vehicle Under Test. Automotive testing term referring to the vehicle being tested.  

Ww

WGS84 

The global datum used by GNSS systems for determining positions on the earth’s surface. See Datum. 

WLAN

Short for Wireless Local Area Network. Any local network where traffic is transmitted wirelessly. The WiFi in your home or a local coffee shop is a type of WLAN. 

Xx

XCOM

OXTS’ proprietary transport layer, based on the Ogg format. XCOM is a wrapper used to transmit NCOM and UCOM data packets from a GNSS/ININS to a processing computer.