Next-Level Navigation: Autonomy, Hi-Accuracy, Cyber Security & Safety

DLR & BMVI are looking for solutions that enable automation and autonomy with reliable positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) and strengthen PNT with smart approaches while providing maximum benefit to the user community.

The Challenge

Precise, reliable and robust navigation – especially GNSS – is a core asset and a major driver of automation and autonomy.

Driverless cars and unmanned ships, automatic flying and precise landing, unpiloted airplanes, air taxis and fully autonomous UAVs, self-controlled robots and industrial process automation – to name just a few upcoming applications of tomorrow. Precise, reliable and robust navigation – especially GNSS – is a core asset and a major driver of automation and autonomy.

DLR and BMVI are looking for solutions that offer maximum benefit to the user community by triggering new applications and solutions to meet the needs of the real world for automated or autonomous systems. All ideas and innovations should contribute to further optimising both the operation and its development by strengthening existing approaches as well as with completely new thoughts.

Extended usage of GNSS requires reliable position services with appropriate:

Accuracy
Availability
Integrity
Continuity
Robustness against cyber security threats
With the scope to identify the problem, create a solution, overcome current limitations and prepare for the future.

Business cases should be:

A technical and application-oriented solution
Ready and robust
Made for the best usage of Galileo/GNSS
Moving towards automated & autonomous operation

Areas of particular interest are:

Providing reliable and robust high-accuracy PNT via GNSS, non-GNSS sensors and new services (e.g. Galileo PRS, Galileo HAS, Galileo OS-NMA)
Application of GNSS and further navigation systems in automated or autonomous systems
Cyber secure, resilient PNT for critical infrastructures and other critical user communities
Applications of AI and smart processing for improved reliability and resilience in navigation
Fusing GNSS data with other sensors and augmentation for resilient PNT with improved safety and security
Making GNSS receivers robust in challenging conditions
Mitigating cyber security threats

Rewards 2021

5 Man-Months Voucher* for DLR Services

Aid the further development of the solution, incl. technical support for research activities, access to testing and simulation facilities, expert advice, feasibility or concept studies and thus support for eventual realisation.

Cash Prize

The winner/winning team will receive a cash prize of EUR 5,000.

*A mutual agreement between the winner and DLR on the focus of work is required. The prize itself is a bundle of activities which are executed purely within DLR. There is no way to turn this into a cash prize to be paid to the winner or other external parties. While all contestants will demonstrate their innovation competence merely by participating, the winner will enjoy the added benefit of having the 2021 joint DLR&BMVI Challenge award on their record as a testament of quality.

Additional Rewards for the Overall Winner 2021

Extra EUR 10,000 cash prize if your concept gets selected as Galileo Masters 2021 Overall Winner

Chance to win one of six tailored Galileo Incubation prizes worth up to EUR 62,000 each

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions to the DLR and BMVI Challenge will be assessed against the following criteria:

Ideas and innovations should contribute to further optimising operation & evolution by honing existing approaches as well as with completely new thoughts to refuel the ideas tank

Usage of Galileo/GNSS PNT services incl. PRS

Benefit to the user community

Technical feasibility and compliance with the regulatory framework

About the German Aerospace Center (DLR)

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is the Federal Republic of Germany’s research centre for aeronautics and space. We conduct research and development activities in the fields of aeronautics, space, energy, transport, security and digitalisation. The German Space Agency at DLR plans and implements the national space programme on behalf of the federal government. Two DLR project management agencies oversee funding programmes and support knowledge transfer.

In determining the focal points of its research, DLR is to a large extent guided by industry’s demand for innovative products and services. In addition, it invests in promising technologies and offers its research and development capacities to customers for their own use. Numerous products have been successfully developed in this way and launched on the market in cooperation with innovative enterprises. DLR has 10,000 employees (as of February 2021) in 55 research institute and facilities.

About the BMVI

The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) of the German Government is in charge of the EU’s flagship programmes Galileo and Copernicus. The promotion of innovative transport solutions is one of the core objects of the BMVI.

The German Competent PRS Authority (CPA) is established within BMVI. It supports the PRS manufacturers and the user segment, ensures security standards and coordinates the consistent development of the PRS in Germany.