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We’d like to wish Happy Holidays and say thank you to all our users for helping make 2017 another groundbreaking year for Emlid! As we look back, 2017 was an intense year, which brought us new friends and a variety of opportunities. Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on the things that happened to Emlid this year.
Reach RS
Almost a year ago we announced Reach RS, our flagship RTK receiver. It was the first product of this level of complexity that our team ever got to design and it was a major challenge for everyone here. Remarkably, we were able to pull it off in only 8 months from idea to the first batch shipped. It might sound like a lot, but in the hardware world that is considered really quick.
Thanks to our community we learned that besides land surveying, drone mapping or precision agriculture Reach RS is especially good for archaeology, bathymetry, marine navigation, monitoring, research & education and other applications. Isn’t it amazing to see the diversity of industries that benefit from affordable accurate positioning? We are glad to see how many people all over the world finally got access to RTK GNSS.
ReachView app, with its current v2.10 tag, acquired a long list of new awesome features during the last year, including enhanced RTK performance, iOS/Android native apps, and Survey tool. It grew from a configuration app to a work tool for land measurement and there is even more planned for the next year!
Edge
This fall we launched Edge – an autopilot that packs both flight control and video streaming in a single unit. Plenty of memory and computing power, dual-processor architecture, dual IMUs and UAVCAN peripherals. All in a compact and tough aluminum enclosure. Edge is our vision of what a modern drone autopilot should look like.
Edge is created for enthusiasts and professionals who need more than just a flying camera. It is your favorite ArduPilot, but with a hassle-free digital data link for telemetry and video. We put a lot of effort into building a GCS software for Edge based on QGC and now you get a unified interface for controlling the drone and viewing the video stream.
Just a few days ago we shipped the first batch and are anxiously waiting for the feedback from our first users.
Navio2
We continue to support Navio2, the favorite platform of drone researchers and educators! This year we released New Emlid Raspbian Stretch with ROS, updated ArduPilot and emlidtool. Performance has been improved and the first setup got easier. Raspberry Pi and Navio2 bundle can be spotted in top universities and maker spaces worldwide!
Intergeo 2017 and growing recognition
Intergeo 2017 became the first big event for Emlid where Reach RS was introduced to the public. It was also our first experience designing a booth. The show was a huge success and our stand was crowded for all three days. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!
For 2018 we are planning to take part in several events worldwide, including Embedded World, SAA Annual Meeting and Intergeo 2018.
2017 is the year when Emlid cooperated with many industry leaders:
- Placing GCPs with Reach RS to process accurate maps in DroneDeploy
- MicroSurvey FieldGenius support for Reach RS
- Carlson SurvCE support for Reach RS
- Riegl recommends using Reach RS as a base station with its new laser scanner VZ-2000i
Our recognition was endorsed even further in the end of 2017 when Emlid received “Highly Commended” at the Queensland Spatial Excellence Awards.
Emlid team in 2017
This year our team is celebrating Christmas and New Year with thousands of customers, 20 dealers on 6 continents and unbelievable community every company could only dream of! We would not have been able to launch Reach RS and Edge without the support, feedback, and encouragement from all of you who made this year so successful.
In 2018 Emlid will keep working hard on products that are changing the industries of drones and precise positioning. We thank you all for the support and, once again, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely yours,
Emlid Team
