We are pleased to announce the release of firmware 6.x series which brings many new features and improvements to our product line. We hope that this milestone version will soon navigate onboard your EKINOX, APOGEE, NAVSIGHT and QUANTA devices!

At its core, firmware 6.x delivers a major evolution of the sensor fusion algorithm, enhancing performance in both Vertical Gyro and full navigation modes. It also brings substantial improvements for UAV-specific applications, covering both algorithms and features. Highlights and detailed changelog can be found below.

You can download and install this new firmware release free of charge using the link below:

Download Firmware

Upgrading from 4.0 and older

If you are upgrading from a firmware 4.0 or older, you should first install the failsafe firmware before you can install the correct firmware type package.

Please refer to the dedicated Update Procedure for a step by step guide.

Important Highlights

Enhanced UAV navigation strategy

Firmware 6.x represents a significant step forward in UAV navigation performance, with extensive work dedicated to improving navigation capabilities when GNSS is not available across our product line.

This new UAV navigation strategy includes:

  • New "Fixed Wing UAV" motion profile: optimized for fixed-wing UAV, adding platform-specific dynamics to improve navigation accuracy.

  • Air data support: support for both airspeed and barometric altitude from an air data computer, enhancing a lot navigation performance in GNSS-denied situations.

  • Support for generic position and velocity inputs: dedicated interfaces for external aiding sensors such as cameras, LiDAR, radar, or other sources, significantly improving navigation accuracy in GNSS-denied environments.

  • Multiple aiding inputs on a single port: multiple external aiding sources can now be configured on a single communication port, simplifying physical integration and wiring.

Major algorithm improvements

Our sensor fusion algorithms have been upgraded to a new, more modern generation, designed to deliver reliable, robust, and stable orientation, position, and velocity estimates.

Key features of this latest algorithm generation include:

  • Overall improved accuracy and resilience in INS mode: the new algorithms provide slightly improved accuracy across all outputs: roll, pitch, yaw, position and velocity in INS mode.

  • Significant improvements to the Vertical Gyro algorithm: this firmware release delivers more stable and accurate roll and pitch estimates in VG mode (without GNSS).

  • New AHRS algorithm: new AHRS (without GNSS) algorithm based on external magnetometers delivers the full orientation and heading, enabling operation in AHRS mode without GNSS.

  • Improved alignement flag behavior: our alignment flag behavior has been improved to closer match the expected constraints of your use case and give you a better and quicker "ready for mission" indicator.

Support of new external aidings

Firmware 6.x extends compatibility with external aiding sensors to further enhance navigation performance:

  • Support for Nucleus format within Nortek DVL

  • Support for external magnetometers, including their calibration within the product

  • Support for generic position and velocity inputs in sbgECom format: this feature can also leverage SLAM algorithms in some mobile mapping applications, where SLAM-derived 3D velocity provides richer aiding than traditional odometers

Additional notes

New motion profiles

Four new motion profiles have been added with this firmware release, expanding its capability to handle a wider range of applications:

  • Fixed Wing UAV: for fixed wing aircraft that primarily move forward and execute coordinated turns

  • Off-road vehicle: for ground vehicles that may experience some slipping or uneven terrain

  • Heavy machinery: for industrial or construction vehicles that operate in challenging environments with vibrations, shocks, and slow or variable motion patterns.

Alignment flag behavior update

The previous INS alignment flag SBG_ECOM_SOL_ALIGN_VALID was overly restrictive for non-RTK operations, often leading to a misleading interpretation of the alignment state.

Firmware v6.x presents a new definition of the alignment flag to better reflect the actual convergence of the navigation solution for RTK and non-RTK users.

If the alignment flag SBG_ECOM_SOL_ALIGN_VALID was previously used to trigger system-level decisions, its usage must be requalified.

SBG Systems recommend monitoring this flag as an indication of solution convergence, but not using it to trigger critical actions. Instead, solution standard deviations should be used as the primary criteria for decision-making.

Multiple aiding sources on single port

Firmware 6.x introduces support for multiple external aiding sources on a single serial communication port. This enables the simultaneous use of different aiding inputs: such as air data, external position, or velocity, over the same interface, simplifying system integration and reducing hardware and wiring complexity.

Internal GNSS receiver update

The Quanta Plus, Quanta Extra, Ekinox-D, Apogee-D and Navsight internal GNSS receiver firmware have been upgraded with the following main improvements:

  • B2a is supported in RTK.

  • Improved compatibility with certain VRS correction providers.

  • Enhanced handling of RTK corrections of varying age.

  • Rare occurrences of loss of signals have been fixed.

  • The number of supported QZSS satellites is extended from 7 to 10. Satellites J08, J09 and J10 are now supported.

Release notes 6.0.5446-rc

New Features

  • EKIFW-2851 - Add new motion profiles (Fixed-Wing UAV, Off-Road, Heavy Machinery, and Static)

  • EKIFW-2890 - Allow multiple aidings on the same port

  • EKIFW-2878 - Add support of 3D generic position aiding input

  • EKIFW-2723 - Add full support of generic 3D velocity aiding input

  • EKIFW-2651 - Add support of airdata (airspeed and barometric altitude)

  • EKIFW-2847 - Add new output for wind speed estimation in NED frame

  • EKIFW-2515 - Add support of Nucleus DVL format

  • EKIFW-2627 - Add on-board magnetic calibration for external magnetometers

  • EKIFW-2870 - Add new CAN message SBG_ECAN_MSG_GPSX_HDT_SV to report baseline, number of satellites used and tracked

  • EKIFW-2869 - Add new CAN message SBG_ECAN_MSG_GPSX_POS_SECURITY_STATUS to report jamming/spoofing flags

Improvements

  • EKIFW-2991 - Update sbgEkf to 6.0 version

  • EKIFW-2951 - Update IMU firmware

  • EKIFW-2947 - Update OSNMA public key

  • EKIFW-2916 - DVL: Improve all Nortek devices timestamp calculations

  • EKIFW-2912 - Upgrade internal GNSS receiver firmware to 4.15.1 for Septentrio AsteRx-m3 based products

  • EKIFW-2902 - Web: Align lever arm/monitoring point wording

  • EKIFW-2888 - Web: Improved display for large standard deviations

  • EKIFW-2882 - Mechanical Estimation: Set default to dual-antenna estimation; do not select Primary GNSS lever-arm

  • EKIFW-2881 - Refactor INS alignment flag for better behavior without RTK

  • EKIFW-2866 - Add Crustal Deformation settings for CLAS

  • EKIFW-2838 - Prevent use of OSNMA strict mode for all products

  • EKIFW-2549 - Web: Improved odometer configuration to clarify gain error meaning

  • EKIFW-2400 - Web: Add dedicated 3D models for Off-Road, Heavy Machinery, Static and UAV applications

  • EKIFW-2944 - Improve railway motion profile

Bug Fixes

  • EKIFW-2969 - CPU overload with aiding baud rate set to low baudrate

  • EKIFW-2905 - IMU_DATA Message not generated in very rare cases

  • EKIFW-2968 - PSBGI no longer broadcasted in very rare cases

  • EKIFW-2930 - Fixed map view that might display incorrect trajectories during mechanical estimation

  • EKIFW-2893 - CAN: Fix MCP2515 CAN transmission recovery

  • EKIFW-2873 - Fix EKF outputs deportation to remote monitoring points for some messages

  • EKIFW-2864 - Fix GNSS Information capabilities in the web interface (missing QZSS signals)

  • EKIFW-2862 - Fixed web map display issues with some browsers

  • EKIFW-2825 - Fix odometer status

  • EKIFW-2542 - Only provide surge/sway/accels/velocities if output at IMU point