LZER0: A Cost-Effective Multi-Purpose GNSS Platform

Abstract

Recent advances in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology have made low-cost sensors available to the mass market, opening up new opportunities for real-time ground deformation and structure monitoring. In this paper, we present a new product developed in this framework by the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics–OGS in collaboration with a private company (SoluTOP SAS): a cost-effective, multi-purpose GNSS platform called LZER0, suitable not only for surveying measurements, but also for monitoring tasks. The LZER0 platform is a complete system that includes the GNSS equipment (M8T single-frequency model produced by u-blox) and the web portal where the results are displayed. The GNSS data are processed using the RTKLIB software package, and the processed results are made available to the end user. The relative positioning mode was adopted both with real-time and post-processing RTKLIB engines. We present three applications of LZER0—cadastral, monitoring, and automotive—which demonstrate that it is a flexible, multi-purpose platform that is easy to use in terms of both hardware and software, and can be easily deployed to perform various tasks in the research, educational, or professional sectors.