Balboa Geo, in collaboration with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC), successfully completed a rigorous field testing campaign of its groundbreaking POINTER system — a "dual-use," real-time Alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (A-PNT) technology purpose-built for GPS-denied, degraded, and disrupted environments, including indoor, subterranean, and obstructed urban settings.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Balboa Geo, in collaboration with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC), successfully completed a rigorous field testing campaign of its groundbreaking POINTER system — a "dual-use," real-time Alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (A-PNT) technology purpose-built for GPS-denied, degraded, and disrupted environments, including indoor, subterranean, and obstructed urban settings.
The POINTER field test plan was developed under the technical leadership of Balboa Geo's Andrew Aubrey, Ph.D. with technical support provided by TEEX and Texas A&M Professor Stacey Lyle, Ph.D., RPLS. The Balboa Geo team conducted 130 discrete tests to primarily determine penetration and precision of POINTER generating tens of thousands of position measurements at seven complex and challenging testing and training venues, located at TEEX and the BCDC.
Test venues included:
- 3-story concrete structure with 10-inch thick rebar-reinforced concrete walls
- Compartmentalized steel-hulled ship with 3 decks reaching ~25 feet high
- Steel shipping container (CONEX)
- Simulated collapsed structure and rubble pile with steel, concrete, and a 90-degree tunnel network
- Simulated industrial oil refinery with processing equipment and complex elevated steel piping runs
- 6-story steel training tower with metallic siding throughout
- BCDC Military-grade subterranean tunnel network with a main tunnel network at approximately 10-foot depth and a heavily-shielded segment with Faraday cage properties simulating greater depth
Rigorous Test Design and Real-Time A-PNT Data Collection
The POINTER field test plan deployed a Base Station Laptop (BX) and a single Transmitter (TX) emitting an omni-directional Magneto-Quasistatic (MQS) field outside each venue. Two Receivers (RX) were introduced at various internal locations to capture multiple "XYZ" axis measurements within each GPS-denied setting. Tests were repeated to validate reproducibility, with highly precise measurements taken where possible for ground truth position references.
The BCDC military-grade tunnel network testing consisted of "normal" and "inverted" configurations. The "inverted" test consisted of placing the TX at depth within the tunnel network, with the BX and RX units located externally.
Highlights of Summary Results and Key Findings
- Successful MQS field penetration and position location achieved at each of the seven test venues
- Full 3-Dimensional "XYZ" distance measurements (TX to RX) obtained in real-time for all 130 tests conducted
- 12.62 cm Mean positional uncertainty for all position measurements obtained across all seven test venues
- Positional uncertainty measurements ranged from 2.5 cm up to 36 cm, depending on venue complexity, RX location, and TX/RX relative distance
- Particularly notable were "Z" axis (vertical) measurements obtained at the concrete structure, exemplified by rooftop measurements with positional uncertainties observed as low as 2.5 cm at ~11m distance to 24 cm at ~30m distance from TX to RX
- POINTER demonstrated penetration into and out of the BCDC military-grade tunnel network (including the shielded portion) - further demonstrating system flexibility and performance in challenging subterranean environments
"The penetration and precision achieved by the POINTER system in these demanding conditions were remarkable," said Andrew Aubrey, Ph.D. "Obtaining this level of performance in real-time where all other forms of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) typically fail, demonstrates POINTER's potential as a breakthrough A-PNT technology. We're eager to apply the insights and findings from this Beta testing phase to further optimize POINTER for commercial launch,"Aubrey further noted.
"Through my collaboration with NASA and the development of Geospatial Authentication technology, I have dedicated 20 years to enabling professional surveyors and mappers to obtain accurate real time geospatial data. Now, for the first time, we can achieve this with Balboa Geo's POINTER high precision signal penetration for indoor positioning solutions," Stacey D. Lyle, PhD, RPLS Professor of Practice, Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University.
"Tracking emergency responders in and around disaster areas is essential for their safety. It was great to see tracking is possible though different materials, environments and heights. We look forward to continuing to support testing to improve the safety and capabilities of our First Responder communities," Ray Ivie, TEEX, Director, Testing and Innovation Center.
"These data obtained from Beta testing POINTER in complex environments reinforce our belief that POINTER and its MQS technology represent a superior and differentiated platform for A-PNT compared to what exists in the market today. These results demonstrate the system's applicability across a wide range of critical military, public safety, and commercial use cases," said Joseph A. Boystak, CEO of Balboa Geo.
"When it comes to indoor positioning and tracking on the "XYZ" axis, existing commercial alternatives typically rely on sensor fusion using GPS (satellite or terrestrial), cellular signals, barometric pressure, vision systems, RF systems, inertial navigation and more. Precise "Z" axis measurements are particularly important and difficult to obtain. Each of these methods has inherent vulnerabilities — from multipath signal bouncing and line-of-sight limitations to drift and fluctuations caused by environmental changes and the need for triangulation. In particular, radically shifting thermal conditions cause expansion or contraction of air density, varying humidity, and convective updrafts caused by structural damage, such as windows, doors, or roof breaches during fires or other natural disasters, can cause significant barometric pressure variations, leading to highly inaccurate and unreliable "Z" axis readings. In emergency or crisis scenarios where precision matters, this can have catastrophic consequences," Boystak added.
POINTER is inherently immune to vulnerabilities that affect and defeat traditional PNT technologies. The MQS field imposed on the target environment enables reliable penetration and precision measurements for real-time indoor tracking and location in highly complex and environmentally dynamic settings.
Beyond indoor settings, POINTER's ability to penetrate subterranean and underwater environments make it a uniquely capable and compelling A-PNT solution where other systems fail.
About Balboa Geo
Balboa Geo is a leading geospatial technology company specializing in advanced, hardware-enabled SaaS and data analytics solutions for Alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (A-PNT) in environments where GPS is denied, degraded, or disrupted, including indoors, subterranean and underwater.
At the core of Balboa Geo's offering is its patented POINTER technology — developed at Caltech's NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DARPA, and others. POINTER uses Magneto-Quasistatic (MQS) fields, combined with AI/ML algorithms and SaaS-based analytics, to deliver real-time, 3D A-PNT solutions and post-event analytics for both "dual use" - commercial and government applications.
Balboa Geo holds exclusive, worldwide rights to the POINTER technology across all fields of use.
About TEEX
The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is a globally recognized leader in emergency response, workforce training, and technical assistance. Serving over 100,000 Texans annually and offering training, education and testing programs to participants from 124 countries, TEEX specializes in emergency services, infrastructure safety, law enforcement, and cybersecurity training, along with homeland security programs through its National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center (NERRTC). Texas A&M's Task Force 1 is also housed at TEEX.
About Bush Combat Development Complex
Located at Texas A&M's RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas, the George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC) serves as a national innovation hub for the U.S. Army Futures Command. The facility accelerates the development, integration, and transfer of emerging national security technologies through agile research, development, testing, and evaluation in real-world operational environments.
Media Contact
Will Boystak, Balboa Geolocation, 1 3105642285 20, [email protected], https://balboageolocation.com
SOURCE Balboa Geolocation
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