Dependence on GPS / GNSS positioning is one of the most frequently raised accusations regarding the safe use of unmanned vessels at sea. In case of loss of satellite positioning, the operator or the control center on land is deprived of information about the location of its unit, and thus their impact on the safety of the USV and the environment becomes significantly limited. What can be a reason of positiong loss? For example GPS jamming.
Can GPS be jammed?
While the level of reliability of the GNSS systems themselves over the years of their use is beyond doubt, disrupting the receiver at the user level is extremely easy and achievable for everyone. Jammers preventing the location of for example a car, can be purchased at online auctions for tens of USD. More powerful devices can disrupt GPS signal reception over many kilometers.
Reports of GPS jamming incidents regularly appear in the media. American pilots of aircrafts, from Cessnas 172s to Airbus A300s, reported nearly 80 cases of GPS jamming observations in the USA in 2013-20161. Multiple incidents of disruption of positioning devices were reported in 2019 on ships operating in the Persian Gulf2.
The problem also concerns land applications, in particular the use of GPS locators to secure vehicles or valuable cargo against theft or unauthorized use. A spectacular case from Poland was the theft of nearly 8 million zlotys from a convoy transporting money for one of the banks. A GPS jammer was used to hide the position of the van. The initiators of the jump were captured, but the loot was never found3.
What then?
Techniques for defending against GPS jamming were available on the military market, but few civilian users could afford to protect their cargo or vehicles. Until now. K2sea has become the official distributor of the InfiniDome brand – the manufacturer of the first GPS positioning protection systems on the market, available to a wide range of civilian users. A small, easy-to-use device protects against GPS jammers, using the so-called null steering and thus ensuring the continuity of GPS positioning.
Provide your vehicles and loads with certainty of GPS positioning using OtoSphere.
Sources:
1 Are GPS Jamming Incidents a Growing Problem for Aviation?, https://www.aviationtoday.com/2017/01/31/are-gps-jamming-incidents-a-growing-problem-for-aviation/, 20.07.2020.
2 Shipping Industry Faces GPS Disruption in Persian Gulf, https://www.satellesinc.com/shipping-industry-faces-gps-jamming-in-persian-gulf/, 14.07.2020.
3 “Katarzyna Binkowska, “Czwarta kupka była dla Grzegorza”, Angora nr 15, 12.04.2020.