Company: Blue Thread
Blue Thread is a start-up company that develops navigation solutions for the nautical sector, integrating the most advanced satellite technologies with state of the art sensing, connectivity and monitoring techniques.
The company is positioning itself not only as a product supplier on the niche market for maritime navigation systems but also as a solution integrator, contributing to develop and enable new applications that service providers can offer on specific markets.
The company detains specific technical expertise in location services and in particular in hybrid positioning system, using combination of different technologies in order to obtain higher accuracy and increased reliability.
Project: Space Compass
Blue Thread’s Space Compass exploits the introduction of the new satellite navigation systems (EGNOS and Galileo to realize a next-generation compass to achieve increased positioning accuracy and better reliability on the associated services than existing magnetic compass and/or GPS-based applications so far used for off-shore navigation.
The Space Compass can improve several onboard applications for any class of ship, such as precise positioning, automatic piloting and precise reference for antenna pointing. Furthermore it enables the deployment of innovative solutions for assisted navigation, with particular reference to small- and medium-sized boats and recreational yachting.
The level of precision and reliability of the Space Compass, which is not reachable with current satellite technology, allows for the extension of services to navigate in restricted waters and during the approach to seaports up to mooring.
From space to industry
Satellite positioning is the enabling technology for all Blue Thread products. Specifically, the space-related technologies used are related to the augmentation methods, for increasing accuracy and response time of positioning. In particular is used EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) and Galileo.
The latest space technologies are key enabling factors for the Space Compass concept; such a system in fact cannot be realized with the standard GPS accuracy. A simple GPS receiver can determine the direction (heading) of a mobile object only when in movement, by comparison of successive positions. This measurement is characterized by high response time and poor accuracy.
The roadmap of Blue Thread’s products is inserted in an enlarged scope of general modernization of seaport infrastructures, maritime procedures, and environmental safeguard, aimed to extend the use of satellite technology and new emerging connectivity systems for onboard-devices and remote monitoring applications.
ESA Business Incubation
All the Blue Thread products and solutions are based on space technology.
In particular Blue Thread’s Space Compass is meant to exploit the increased accuracy of EGNOS receivers enabling for a variety of marine applications, now developed by using the classical electromagnetic compass onboard, and will then contribute to the diffusion of EGNOS/Galileo receiver’s chipsets and technology.
Incubation period and location
Blue Thread is under pre-incubation at ESA BIC Italy from December 2009 to November 2010 and hosted at BIC Lazio’s ITech Incubator, partner of ESA business incubation initiative at ESRIN.
Entrepreneurs
Giacomo Mangani, Managing Director
Alessandro Cantore, Managing Director
Contact
Alessandro Cantore
Cellulare phone: +39 345 2727316
email: alessandro.cantore@blue-thread.it
Blue Thread S.r.l.
c/o BIC Lazio’s ITech Incubator
Via Giacomo Peroni 442
00131 Rome
Blue Thread website:
http://www.blue-thread.it
Last update: 28 September 2011
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