TOPS

In recent years, TNO has developed software for providing position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information for various applications and domains, such as underwater applications. This software is called the Timing Orientation & Positioning Service (TOPS). TOPS uses information from various sensors and fuses this information into reliable PNT data. In the port of Scheveningen, TNO, together with partners from the business community and the government, successfully conducted validation tests with a waterproof sensor box, in which TOPS combined information from an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and a barometer. This TOPS box was mounted under a small ROV.

The highly powerful sensor fusion technology in TOPS uses inexpensive and small sensors, enabling numerous new applications in areas where GPS is unavailable or unreliable (such as underwater) and the use of precise sensors is not feasible (due to cost, size, and weight). Initially, TOPS is aimed at underwater applications, but applications on land and in the air are also possible. The now proven TOPS technology for an underwater application heralds a new chapter for precise positioning and navigation of sailing, driving, or flying vehicles in areas where GPS is unavailable.

Inspections that are currently done on a sample basis due to high costs can soon be performed much more frequently by one or more small vessels equipped with a combination of inexpensive, small sensors and the use of TOPS. Current precise sensors are too heavy and large for use on small, affordable underwater vehicles. Thanks to the TOPS box, the vessel knows exactly where it is and can therefore be made autonomous. By deploying inspection sensors, much more, longer, and faster information can be collected than a diver or ROV can provide.

It has now been demonstrated that TOPS sensor fusion enables high-quality navigation using relatively inexpensive sensors. TNO invites parties who want to integrate the TOPS box with unparalleled sensor fusion algorithms into their systems or use it on their own platforms to enable new applications and validate them under real conditions.