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Testing the Performance of Multi-Frequency Low-Cost GNSS Receivers and Antennas
Veton Hamza1, Bojan Stopar1, Oskar Sterle1
1Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova Cesta 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|April 3, 2021
Summary
Low-cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers offer excellent performance for their price, with specific antennas showing high accuracy. While geodetic instruments remain superior, these affordable GNSS options are suitable for many applications.
Area of Science:
- Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering
- Satellite Navigation Systems
- Geophysical Measurement Techniques
Background:
- Advancements in low-cost, multi-frequency Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and calibrated antennas are increasing their viability as alternatives to traditional geodetic receivers.
- The integration of these components challenges the established performance benchmarks set by more expensive geodetic instruments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To rigorously evaluate the noise characteristics of low-cost GNSS receivers.
- To compare the positioning accuracy achieved with different types of low-cost antennas.
- To quantitatively analyze the positioning discrepancies between low-cost and high-end geodetic GNSS instruments.
Main Methods:
- A zero baseline test was employed to assess the intrinsic noise levels of the u-blox ZED-F9P multi-frequency receiver.
- A short baseline test was conducted to evaluate the positioning performance and impact of different uncalibrated antennas (Tallysman TW3882 and Survey).
- Comparative analysis was performed between low-cost setups (receiver with calibrated antenna) and professional geodetic GNSS instruments.
Main Results:
- The u-blox ZED-F9P receiver exhibited sub-millimeter level noise in the zero baseline test.
- Both Tallysman TW3882 and Survey antennas demonstrated satisfactory positioning; Tallysman achieved superior horizontal accuracy (0.1 mm difference) compared to Survey (1.0 mm).
- Ellipsoid height differences were 0.3 mm for Survey and 0.6 mm for Tallysman.
- Geodetic instruments consistently outperformed low-cost GNSS systems in both accuracy and coordinate precision.
Conclusions:
- Low-cost GNSS receivers, particularly the u-blox ZED-F9P with suitable antennas, offer impressive performance relative to their cost.
- While geodetic instruments provide higher accuracy and precision, low-cost GNSS solutions are deemed sufficiently appropriate for a wide range of geodetic applications.
- The performance gap between low-cost and geodetic systems, though present, is narrowing, making cost-effective GNSS technology increasingly valuable.
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