SBG Systems Quanta Micro

The Quanta Micro from SBG Systems of France is a miniaturised GNSS-aided inertial navigation system (INS) with RTK and PPK for georeferencing UAV LiDAR and photogrammetry. It supplies the position and attitude of the payload so that every measurement can be placed in space.

The unit receives GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC and SBAS in two bands (L1C/A and L2C, E1 and E5b, L1OF and L2OF, B1I and B2I) as well as in the L-band used by satellite correction services. For RTK the manufacturer states 0.01 m + 1 ppm horizontally, 0.015 m + 1 ppm vertically and 0.015 degrees for attitude; in post-processing with the Qinertia software it is 0.01 degrees for attitude and 0.035 degrees for heading. Output runs at 200 Hz. Interfaces are Ethernet (PTP/NTP, NTRIP), three TTL UARTs, CAN 2.0 A/B and sync in/out, plus an 8 GB logger. The unit measures 50 x 37 x 23 mm, draws less than 3.5 W at 4.5 to 5.5 V and weighs 38 g.

For LiDAR, attitude counts: an error of 0.01 degrees shifts a point at 100 m range by about 1.7 cm. In PPK, trajectory and attitude are recomputed after the flight from the logger data with base data from the same period; that is how the post-processing values arise. The EU classes apply to the aircraft: from C1 upward geo-awareness and remote ID are mandatory, both resting on the GNSS position, and 38 g is easy to fit into the weight budget.

For selection, time synchronisation counts: through sync in/out and PTP the sensor and scanner are put on the same clock, and a time offset acts directly as a position error. The lever arm of antenna and payload to the unit is measured and entered. The unit sits rigidly and with low vibration at the payload, the logger memory is checked before flight, and the firmware belongs to upkeep.