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CSI Wireless' "CornerPost" Guidance System: One-Inch Accuracy
CSI's Satloc Subsidiary Develops Precision Guidance Product for Agriculture and other Markets
CSI Wireless has developed a Global Positioning System (GPS) Product with one-inch accuracy for the precision agriculture market, and other high-accuracy applications such as land or
hydrographic surveying, GIS & Mapping, machine control, mining and seismic exploration.
CALGARY, Alberta, Canada -- June 3, 2002 - (TSX:CSY): CSI Wireless Inc, a leader in GPS and
wireless technology products for automotive, consumer and commercial
applications, today unveiled its CornerPost precision guidance system that
offers one-inch accuracy to the agricultural industry and other markets at a
much lower cost than competing systems.
CornerPost is designed for use with CSI Wireless' LiteStar and SwathStar
M3 agricultural guidance systems for various row-crop applications - including
planting, cultivating, bedding and the installation of irrigation systems -
that require very high accuracy. Available June 17, CornerPost is also
designed for use with many other agricultural manufacturers' components.
CornerPost provides high-accuracy guidance to eliminate the crop and/or
irrigation damage that occur if planting, cultivating or other equipment
wavers only a few inches to the left or right from a prescribed row.
CornerPost also eliminates the need for disc markers, tens of thousands of
which are sold worldwide each year. Disc markers are attached to tractors -
and must be adjusted after each pass through a field - to assist with row
navigation.
CornerPost, which is dependent on a view of the sky unobstructed by trees
or other objects, achieves important efficiencies by enabling farmers to drive
faster, to operate in lower visibility, and to capitalize on all of their land
- with no need for the "guess rows" involved in using disc markers.
CornerPost differs from normal Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance
systems in that it employs two GPS receivers rather than one - with one being
a "base station" and the other a rover. The CornerPost name derives from the
fact the operator usually places the base receiver in the corner of the field
during operations. The other receiver is on the tractor. The base receiver is
fully automatic, and can be quickly moved from field to field. A single base
receiver can broadcast GPS corrections to an unlimited number of roving
receivers, enabling several neighboring farmers within a six-mile radius to
share CornerPost's costs.
CornerPost is expected to become a leading farm guidance system in
regions where row crops such as vegetables, potatoes, beets, cotton and
lentils are common. CornerPost can also be readily used without the base
receiver for less precise operations such as spraying and spreading.
Other attractive CornerPost features include:
| | - a purchase price well below that of competing systems;
- a smaller, integrated design that reduces the number of components and
cables to make installation fast and easy;
- a fully automatic receiver and convenient carrying case that minimize
- time required to set up the system and learn to operate it;
- rugged components that are very capable of withstanding harsh farming
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environments.
"Our whole development of the CornerPost was from the user's
perspective," said Stephen Verhoeff, President and CEO of CSI Wireless. "We
were determined to make the product extremely accurate, cost-effective and
easy to use."
Although CSI Wireless is initially aiming CornerPost at the agricultural
industry, Mr. Verhoeff said: "We're confident that this product will soon be
attracting interest from other accuracy-dependant markets such as land or
hydrographic surveying, GIS & Mapping, machine control, mining and seismic
exploration."
CornerPost was developed by CSI Wireless' subsidiary, Satloc LLC, in
Scottsdale, Arizona. It is being marketed by CSI Wireless' and Satloc's
existing dealer networks and OEM partners.
About GPS
The Global Positioning System is a constellation of 24 U.S.
government-owned satellites that circle 13,000 miles or 22,000 kilometres
above Earth. A ground-level GPS receiver, using pre-programmed data, knows
where each satellite is in its orbit. The receiver compares this information
with the amount of time required to receive each satellite's signals at ground
level, to calculate a specific geographic position on Earth. Standard GPS can
achieve accuracies ranging from 15 to 25 feet. Anything more precise is
impossible due to minor timing and satellite orbit errors, plus atmospheric
conditions that affect the signals' arrival time on Earth.
About RTK GPS
Several systems exist to correct signal errors and improve GPS accuracy.
The most advanced is Real-Time Kinematic or RTK GPS, which CornerPost employs.
It uses a base receiver and a roving receiver, with both gathering GPS data
from some of the 24 orbiting satellites. The base receiver also sends
corrections to the roving receiver, to achieve real-time accuracies of one
inch rather than the 15-to-25-foot accuracy of stand-alone GPS systems.
About CSI Wireless
With offices in Calgary, Silicon Valley, and Phoenix, CSI Wireless
designs and manufactures innovative, cost-effective, wireless and GPS products
for mobile and fixed applications in the agriculture, marine, automotive and
other markets. Through the integration of GPS and wireless, CSI has begun
serving several emerging high-growth markets including Fleet Management, Asset
Tracking, Telematics and Mobile Computing applications. The Company owns
several patents and intellectual property relating to wireless and GPS
technologies. CSI Wireless has licensed its cellular technology to GPS,
cellular handset, and chipset manufacturers. The company's common shares trade
on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "CSY", with
approximately 18.4 million outstanding. For online information about CSI
Wireless, go to www.csi-wireless.com
The above disclosure contains certain forward-looking statements that
involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These
forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties,
certain of which are beyond CSI Wireless' control, including: the impact of
general economic conditions, industry conditions, increased competition, the
lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, fluctuations in
foreign exchange or interest rates, stock market volatility and market
valuations of companies with respect to the announced transactions and the
final valuations thereof, and obtaining required approvals of regulatory
authorities. CSI Wireless' actual results, performance or achievement could
differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by these forward-looking
statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events
anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if
any of them do so, what benefits, including the amount of proceeds, CSI
Wireless will derive therefrom.
For further information:
Stephen Verhoeff, President & CEO, CSI Wireless Inc., (403) 259-3311, sverhoeff@csi-wireless.com
Cory Pala, Investor Relations, E-vestor Communications Inc. (416) 657-2400, cpala@e-vestorcom.com
Jeff Adams, P.R. Manager, CSI Wireless Inc., (403) 259-3311/615-8747 (cell), jadams@csi wireless.com
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