Which technologies do you consult on?

All of the major location, identification and IoT technologies: RTLS (UWB, BLE, Wi-Fi), RFID (passive, active and RAIN UHF), industrial IoT and sensors, GPS and GNSS, AGV and AMR robot fleets, and hybrid stacks that combine them. We recommend the right mix for each zone and use case, not a single technology.

Are you really vendor-neutral?

Yes. We do not sell hardware or a software platform of our own, and we take no resale commissions, so our technology and vendor recommendations serve your outcome rather than a product we need to move.

Do you work outside the UK?

We are UK-based and work across Europe and internationally, delivering in English, German and French. Engagements can be remote or on-site depending on the work.

What does a consulting engagement include?

Typically discovery and requirements, vendor-neutral technology selection, vendor evaluation and RFP support, ROI and business case, solution architecture, and an implementation roadmap. We scope each engagement to where you are.

Can you help after the decision is made?

Yes. We work across the full lifecycle - we can also deploy, integrate, and operate the system, so you can keep one independent team from business case through to live operation.

How do we get started?

Usually with a short call or a fixed-fee discovery to scope the problem, followed by a proposal with clear deliverables, timeline and fees. There is no obligation and no platform pitch.

Do we need our own RTK base station, or can we use a service?

Depends on operations. Permanent local base station for a single site (farm, construction site, port). Network RTK subscription for mobile operations across regions. PPP-RTK satellite corrections where cellular coverage is unreliable. We model the right architecture in stage 1.

Will RTK work inside buildings or tunnels?

No — RTK needs satellite sky-view. For indoor / GPS-denied environments, UWB, visual SLAM or inertial navigation are the alternatives. Hybrid stacks combine RTK outdoors with indoor positioning.

How much does RTK add to the cost of a tracking solution?

Hardware: multi-band RTK module is $100–500 vs $5–20 for consumer GNSS. Network RTK subscription: typically $500–2,000/year per rover for commercial services. Worth the cost for cm-accuracy applications; not worth it for standard fleet telematics.

RTK vs PPP-RTK for our autonomous-vehicle deployment?

Network RTK if you have reliable cellular and want fastest convergence (seconds). PPP-RTK if you need global coverage or unreliable cellular (initial convergence is minutes). Many autonomous platforms use both with automatic fallback.

Does RTK help indoors at all?

Not directly. But hybrid systems use RTK outdoors and seamlessly hand over to UWB or visual SLAM indoors. The transition handling is non-trivial — we design it carefully in stage 1.

ANALYSE · TECHNOLOGIE DE POSITIONNEMENT

GNSS-RTK — comment fonctionne le positionnement satellite de précision.

Standard GNSS gives you several-metre accuracy outdoors. GNSS-RTK gives you centimetres.

It's the technology that makes autonomous tractors plough straight lines, that lets surveyors stake out buildings without an optical instrument, and that's increasingly built into industrial telematics. This is the operator-level explainer of how RTK works and where it fits.

Réservez un appel de 30 minutes pour le périmètre

La définition en 30 secondes

GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems — GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) at the consumer level delivers position accuracy of 3–5 metres. RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) is a technique that lifts that to 1–3 cm in real time.

It works by having a stationary base station with a precisely-known position calculate the errors in the satellite signals it receives at that moment, and broadcasting those error corrections to nearby rover receivers.

Each rover applies the same corrections to its own signals, cancelling out atmospheric and orbital errors. Distance from base to rover matters — typically 10–30 km for full RTK accuracy.

Comment fonctionne réellement RTK

The base station observes all visible satellites and computes the carrier-phase errors (not just code-based pseudoranges). It transmits these corrections in RTCM format via radio link, cellular, or NTRIP (Network Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol).

The rover GNSS receiver decodes the corrections and applies them to its own raw GNSS observations, resolving phase ambiguities to produce fix-quality solutions.

Modern multi-band RTK receivers (using L1+L2 or L1+L5) achieve cm-level accuracy in seconds; older single-band receivers needed minutes.

Two operational variants: local base station (you operate your own, accurate to 10–30 km radius) and network RTK (commercial corrections from a network of base stations, accuracy across regions or globally).

RTK réseau et PPP-RTK

Two delivery models matter for enterprise. Network RTK (NTRIP): commercial services like Trimble VRS Now, Hexagon SmartNet, Topcon TopNet — you subscribe and your rover gets corrections from the nearest virtual base station via cellular. Accuracy 1–3 cm across covered regions.

PPP-RTK (Precise Point Positioning with RTK convergence): satellite-broadcast corrections (Trimble RTX, NTRIP-via-satellite) deliver cm-accurate position without a cellular link.

Slower initial convergence (minutes vs seconds) but global coverage and no cellular requirement. Used heavily in agriculture, marine, and remote-area operations.

Où RTK est la bonne réponse

Five categories are mature. Precision agriculture: autonomous tractors and planters drive cm-accurate lines using RTK; saved fuel, seed and time at scale.

John Deere, AGCO, Trimble Ag all use RTK. Construction and surveying: machine control (graders, dozers, excavators), site layout, as-built mapping.

Autonomous vehicles and robotics: RTK provides the absolute-position anchor that fuses with LiDAR / camera SLAM for safe autonomous operation.

Vehicle telematics for precision applications: ride-sharing, last-mile delivery, mining haul trucks. Surveying drones: RTK-equipped UAVs produce sub-centimetre photogrammetric maps.

Limitations honnêtes

Four constraints are real. Couverture: works only outdoors with sky-view; building canyons, indoor spaces, tunnels degrade quickly. Initialisation time: phase ambiguity resolution takes seconds (network RTK) to minutes (PPP-RTK convergence) from cold start.

Correction latency: cellular network RTK depends on cellular coverage; weak cellular means RTK fix drops.

Hardware cost: multi-band RTK receivers (u-blox ZED-F9, Trimble BD992) are more expensive than single-band consumer GNSS; subscriptions to network RTK services add operational cost.

Paysage des fournisseurs et des écosystèmes

Silicon and modules: u-blox ZED-F9 series leads commercial-grade RTK at attractive price points; Trimble BD992 / BD992-INS for survey-grade with inertial integration; Septentrio AsteRx for high-end industrial.

Correction services: Trimble VRS Now, Trimble RTX (PPP-satellite), Hexagon SmartNet, Topcon TopNet, several regional and national networks.

Open services: many European countries operate public network-RTK services for surveying. Intégration: vertical-software vendors (Trimble Ag, John Deere Operations Center, AutoCAD Civil 3D) embed RTK into workflow tools.

Là où TRACIO recommande GNSS-RTK

Use cases requiring cm-level outdoor position in real time: autonomous outdoor vehicles and robotics; precision agriculture; construction machine control; survey-grade mobile mapping; tactical training on outdoor ranges; high-accuracy vehicle telematics for premium logistics.

We don't recommend GNSS-RTK for indoor or building-canyon use cases (UWB or visual SLAM fit), for consumer-grade tracking where 3–5 m is sufficient (standard GNSS), or for very high-volume cost-sensitive deployments where standard GNSS chip cost matters.

FAQ

Questions fréquemment posées

En quoi RTK diffère-t-il du GPS / GNSSC standard ?

Standard GNSS uses code-based positioning, accurate to 3–5 m. RTK uses carrier-phase measurements and base-station corrections to achieve 1–3 cm. Same satellites; different receiver and correction pipeline.

Avons-nous besoin de notre propre station de base RTK, ou pouvons-nous utiliser un service ?

Cela dépend des opérations. Station de base locale permanente pour un seul site (ferme, chantier de construction, port). Abonnement Network RTK pour les opérations mobiles à travers les régions.

Corrections satellites PPP-RTK lorsque la couverture cellulaire est peu fiable. Nous modélisons la bonne architecture dès l’étape 1.

RTK fonctionnera-t-il à l’intérieur des bâtiments ou des tunnels ?

Non — RTK a besoin d’une vue du ciel par satellite. Pour les environnements intérieurs / GPS - refusés, UWB, Visual SLAM ou navigation inertielle sont les alternatives. Les stacks hybrides combinent RTK en extérieur avec positionnement en intérieur.

Combien RTK augmente-t-il le coût d’une solution de suivi ?

Matériel : module RTK multi-bande coûte entre 100 et 500 $ contre 5 à 20 $ pour le GNSS grand public. Abonnement RTK au réseau : généralement 500 à 2 000 $ par an par rover pour les services commerciaux.

Cela vaut le coût pour des applications de précision en cm ; Pas rentable pour la télématique de flotte standard.

RTK vs PPP-RTK pour notre déploiement de véhicules autonomes ?

RTK réseau si vous avez un cellulaire fiable et que vous souhaitez la convergence la plus rapide possible (quelques secondes).

PPP-RTK si vous avez besoin d’une couverture globale ou d’une connexion cellulaire peu fiable (la convergence initiale est de quelques minutes). De nombreuses plateformes autonomes utilisent les deux avec un repli automatique.

RTK aide-t-il un peu à l’intérieur ?

Pas directement. Mais les systèmes hybrides utilisent RTK en extérieur et sont transférés sans problème à UWB ou Visual SLAM en intérieur. La gestion de la transition n’est pas triviale — nous la concevons soigneusement dès l’étape 1.

Dernière mise à jour : 26 mai 2026