 | ||
The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) is an annual international innovation competition that recognises the best ideas in the field of downstream applications based on satellite navigation. From companies and research institutes to students and other independent individuals, anyone is free to enter. Ideas can be submitted at the competition homepage www.esnc.eu annually from 1 April to 30 June. The ESNC was inaugurated in three regions in 2004 under the patronage of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and is organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO). Since then, the competition has transformed into an international network that embodies innovation and expertise with the support of the most relevant stakeholders in the field, such as the European GNSS Agency (GSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. Since 2011, the competition is also supported by the European Commission. Until 2006, the ESNC was called “Galileo Masters" in reference to the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
Contents
Mission
Positioning and navigation already play an important role in our everyday lives, and the corresponding market is growing at a rapid pace. According to the GSA Market Report 2013, the volume of the core global GNSS market is currently estimated at EUR 165 billion. The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) seeks to gather innovative ideas and solutions for commercial applications of satellite navigation technology and promote individual ideas by offering prizes. It provides the opportunity to present and promote ideas – and eventually put them into practice.
Partners
The ESNC has become a success thanks to its close collaboration with regional, institutional, and industrial partners in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship along the GNSS value chain. For several years, the ESNC’s further partners have included the most relevant European stakeholders in satellite navigation, such as the European GNSS Agency (GSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, several GNSS-focused universities, as well as GNSS-related Living Labs. To strengthen its Europe-wide implementation, the ESNC is supported by more than 20 regional and national partners, including more than 130 organisations that host regional challenges. Many of the ideas submitted in previous years have already been implemented and successfully brought to market.
How to participate
The competition welcomes the participation of companies, research institutes, and universities, as well as entrepreneurs and other private individuals. Ideas can be submitted in a variety of application fields ranging from smart navigation, safety and security, and public and social services to mobile location-based services, industrial applications, and high-precision solutions. The ESNC idea database is open each year from 1 April to 30 June, enabling participants to submit their ideas to one of the competition’s more than 20 regions based on which would make the most suitable partner for realising their ideas.
As of 2016, the ESNC’s partner regions include: Asia, Austria, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Czech Republic, Flanders, France, Galicia, Hesse, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Madrid, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the Valencian Community. .
In addition to the open-topic regional prizes, the ESNC’s research and industry partners offer special and prototyping prizes as a means of soliciting ideas and solutions in specific application fields. The special prizes of the ESNC 2016 are being sponsored by industry and research partners with a focus on industry-specific needs. In years past, an average of 90% of all ESNC participants have decided to submit their idea for one of the competition’s special prizes, demonstrating the enormous potential satellite navigation has in providing solutions to specific industrial issues.
In 2016, special prizes will be awarded by partners such as the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and BELS. In addition also a University Challenge as well as a GNSS Living Lab Prize were offered. For a current overview, please click here. The annual overall winner of the ESNC, which is chosen from among all of the competition’s regional and special prize winners, receives an additional cash prize of EUR 20,000 and the chance to realise their idea as part of a six-month incubation programme in the region of their choice.
A network of 240 international experts from industry and research will be entrusted with evaluating the ideas submitted in the European Satellite Navigation Competition 2016. An international expert team will then select the overall winner from among the regional and special prize winners.
Ideas can be submitted via the competition website http://www.esnc.eu/
Prizes
The ESNC’s total prize pool is valued at approximately EUR 1 million, which includes cash, business incubation, business coaching, patent consulting, technical support, access to testing facilities, prototype development, publicity, marketing support, market and feasibility studies, access to experts and public funding, licenses and much more. The following special prizes will be awarded in 2016: • European Space Agency (ESA): ESA space solutions Prize • German Aerospace Center (DLR): Entry into Service – Head Start with Galileo Services! • Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) – PRS applications – reliable services for a secure digital society • BELS – Building European Link toward South East Asia in the field of EGNSS: Innovative GNSS Solutions for South East Asia • The ESNC University Challenge: From the Lecture Hall to the Board Room • GNSS Living Lab Prize
Awards Ceremony
All of the winners will be recognised at the Awards Ceremony to be held at the end of October.
Previous Winning Ideas
2013: KINEXON The overall winner of 2013 submitted an augmented-reality application that conducts precise localisation and monitoring for sports and healthcare. The KINEXON CELL is a revolutionary wearable sensor that uses the latest space technology to track the positions of individuals and objects with centimetre accuracy. The corresponding KINEXON APP is a secure cloud-computing platform with a smart analytics application. It transforms big sensor data into valuable information in real time.
2012: ULF-MC The overall winner of 2012 submitted a solution that allows accurate indoor navigation with existing smartphones. ULF-MC will enable you to navigate indoors and receive location-based information relevant to you and your friends. The system is based on relative location IDs that are transferred to absolute positions involving the last GNSS fix. This technology has been designed for use on existing smartphones through utilisation of their threeaxis hall sensors (electronic compasses).
2011: True3D™ Head Up Display The overall winner of 2011 submitted an augmented-reality application that involves a disruptive technology in LBS and mapping. The Head Up Display provides a translucent location guidance that shows users a Virtual Cable and Virtual Signs (such as icons or road signs) in their forward view. This information seems to appear beyond the user’s windshield (from a distance of two metres to infinity) and is generated by linking GNSS, map, and POI data.
2010: Wikitude Drive The 2010 winner developed a navigation system that uses augmented reality in combination with global maps to superimpose directions onto a live smartphone video stream. This enables drivers to follow suggested routes based on real-world imagery instead of abstract maps.
2009: Osmógrafo The Galileo Master 2009 created a device to assist search-and-rescue coordinators in determining whether an area has been fully searched by canine teams. It consists of a GNSS tracking device for dogs and a wind sensor that sends information to a central monitoring unit.
2008: Real-Time Rescue - A Personal GNSS tracker In 2008, the winners developed a small electronic device to be worn by ship crew members. In case they fall overboard, a unit on the ship logs the position and initiates an audio and visual alarm.
2007: Algorithm, Procedure and Device for the Protection of Financial Transactions The winning project in 2007 proposed a new encryption procedure which is supposed to make financial transactions safer. This procedure combines encryption algorithms already in use with time signals delivered by Galileo.
2006: Geosynch The Galileo Master 2006 created a product that helps predict natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It provides increased accuracy thanks to its use of time signals from Galileo satellites.
2005: VU Log The winner in 2005 developed a web-based service that tells registered users where to find the nearest available electric car. This car-sharing initiative also includes a common pool of compact electric cars.
2004: Marine Navigation for Fishermen using GPS and IPWV (Integrated Precipitable Water Vapour) Technique The first Galileo Master had an idea for low-priced GPS surveillance equipment that would enable fishermen in developing countries to receive weather forecasts and locate fish populations.
The Organiser
The European Satellite Navigation Competition is organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO). This company was founded in 2004 by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs in Oberpfaffenhofen (near Munich, Germany), a prominent hub of the aerospace industry. AZO’s main goal is to drive innovation and incubation in the commercial use of space technologies and infrastructure. Its fields of business cover entrepreneurship in the downstream aerospace markets; marketing and innovation creation for the European space programmes Galileo and GMES; and network coordination and conference management on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, and the European GNSS Agency (GSA). Through its leading innovation networks in satellite navigation (and Earth monitoring ([http://www.copernicus-masters.com/ Copernicus Masters), AZO encourages the creation of innovative products, services, and business concepts in these emerging market segments. The underlying business concepts are realised in the form of companies founded through the incubation programme at the ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) Bavaria. In these complementary projects, AZO nurtures a full range of innovative technologies and infrastructure in support of commercial aerospace applications – from initial ideas all the way to market maturity. Its main partners include the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, the Free State of Bavaria, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), along with other lead ventures and high-tech regions. www.galileo-masters.eu