The NavPro team took the top prize at the Galileo Hackathon by H2020 project GNSS .asia, with their Rail Unfail solution, a GNSS-based maintenance system that geotags potential fault locations on railway tracks.

Over 80 programmers from universities and enterprises all over India came together at PES University, Bangalore on 16-17 March to form 20 teams in the Galileo Hackathon by GNSS.asia. Following an intensive morning of technical and business-focused training sessions, the teams worked through the night, leveraging Galileo in applications to support smart cities, smart mobility, health or vulnerable citizens.

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The challenge was to develop either a user-friendly, fast and cost-efficient turnkey transport solution for Bangalore; a smart city solution for citizens who are disadvantaged and/or have health issues, or that increases the safety of vulnerable population groups; or other smart solutions for Bangalore, India or globally, using Galileo.

Worthy winners

NavPro’s winning idea won over the jury with its innovative application to tackle India’s railway safety challenges, using Galileo to accurately and proactively geotag potential fault locations on railway tracks. Second prize went to the Phoenix team from Vignan Institute of Information and Technology for their Farm Along project, an online market place that offers farmers and buyers accurate tracking and a secure supply chain.

Finally, third prize went to the Hex-GNSS team from Hexagon/Novatel, who developed the Perk for Park app, which identifies imbalances in parking supply and demand, making it possible to offer and avail of public and private parking spaces in big cities.

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Throughout the challenge, the participants received mentorship and support from experts from the private sector (Volvo Trucks, Citrix, IBM, Magnasoft), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the European GNSS Agency ( GSA ), PES University and Burdwan University.

The solutions were evaluated by a jury based on a number of criteria, including innovation, market potential and social relevance, optimal use of Galileo, level of completion and the progress made during the hackathon.

GNSS.asia

GNSS.asia is a H2020 project of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) that aims to stimulate the creation of partnerships between GNSS industries in Europe and Asia, while supporting institutional cooperation and encouraging Galileo adoption. It offers several services, including industry matchmaking and international cooperation events. GNSS.asia has permanent teams in Europe, India, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

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