T.O. Johnson Builds Automotive Testing Solution with Polaris RTK

The Problem: Unreliable and Geographically Limited RTK Solutions

T.O. Johnson is a company that specializes in sensors and data acquisition systems for automotive, transportation, aerospace, and energy. The company tests vehicles for all modern car companies, as well as offroad manufacturers of heavy truck equipment, as well as for agricultural and motorsport applications.

CEO Ty Johnson was unhappy with his current RTK network solution and found himself struggling often with the Michigan’s Department of Transportation (DOT)’s RTK network, as their service proved to be unreliable and spotty. Ty often did demonstrations and tests throughout the country. He needed an nationwide RTK network, not just a local one, for car testing demonstrations outside of Michigan. Not wanting to rely on the patchwork of local RTK networks from other DOTs, Johnson started looking for a single, stable and nationwide RTK solution.

The Solution: Highly Accurate RTK with Polaris for Automotive Testing

Johnson’s automotive clients needed reliable positioning both on their proving grounds for testing (ADAS) and autonomous development, and in real world testing. Centimeter-level accuracy was another requirement as their LiDAR, radar and camera tests require centimeter-accurate precision for positioning. Adaptive cruise control systems tests rely on location data to be able to use exact car acceleration information in Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS), combined with the angle that test vehicles are on the road.

Johnson found Point One’s Polaris RTK network and tried it at several different locations. “Polaris was extremely easy to set up, integrate and utilize at all of my test sites. It is my preferred RTK network. Polaris provides stable network connectivity, which means less support calls that originate from a lack of connectivity.”

By integrating Point One Navigation’s RTK corrections into GeneSys Elektronik‘s automotive dynamic motion analyzer (ADMA also GNSS aided IMU), T.O.Johnson was able to provide the complete necessary motion and navigation measurement tool chain with precision up to +/- 1cm  for his client’s tests.  GeneSys Elektronik’s automotive dynamic motion analyzer ADMA is a high-end INS sensor that gives very accurate 6DOF (Degrees of Freedom) when built into a testing car. That data is fused with GPS data corrected by Polaris, resulting in smooth positional cm-level accuracy.

The Results: Vehicle-to-Vehicle Centimeter-level Accuracy for Localization and ADAS Applications

Adding Point One’s RTK corrections to the mix of available test data gives Johnson’s automotive clients the centimeter-level accuracy they need for localization and various applications for ADAS, vehicle to vehicle. Vehicle dynamics testing also benefits from RTK correction data: combined IMS data and precise location data allows vehicle dynamics test engineers to see precise positioning in dynamics tests (ie: what happens with a car in a curve when exiting a fast-speed ramp). This can help improve electronic stability control testing and allows for safer automobiles.