Seiko's Time Synchronization Technology Solves 'GNSS Blind Spots' - Next-Generation Positioning Platform 'Chrono Locate™' Demonstrated in Construction Field, Not Relying on Satellite Positioning
Seiko Solutions and Seiko Future Creation, companies within Seiko Group Corporation, successfully demonstrated their jointly developed high-precision positioning platform "Chrono Locate™" in the construction field, in collaboration with Taisei Corporation. This technology, which does not rely on satellite positioning (GNSS), enables centimeter-level accurate positioning even in environments where GNSS is difficult to use.
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- 📰 Published: April 2, 2026 at 00:01
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 16:47
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Seiko Solutions Inc. (President and Representative Director: Jun Sekine, Headquarters: Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture) and Seiko Future Creation Inc. (President and Representative Director: Makoto Ichimura, Headquarters: Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture), both operating companies of Seiko Group Corporation, conducted a demonstration experiment in the construction field for the high-precision positioning platform "Chrono Locate™*1," which both companies are jointly developing, in collaboration with Taisei Corporation.
In recent years, the use of ICT and IoT has been advancing in social infrastructure fields, including construction sites, with the aim of improving safety and productivity and addressing labor shortages. Location information plays a crucial role in construction management, heavy machinery operation management, and worker safety management.
On the other hand, many of these systems are based on GNSS*2 (Global Navigation Satellite System), which made it difficult to obtain location information in environments where satellite signals are hard to reach, such as inside tunnels, underground spaces, under elevated urban structures, and indoor construction areas, posing significant limitations.
To address these challenges, "Chrono Locate™" was developed as a new positioning platform that does not rely on satellites.
Chrono Locate™ is a next-generation positioning technology that evolved from Seiko's long-cultivated high-precision time synchronization technology. It enables highly accurate and stable acquisition of location information even in environments where GNSS is difficult to use, such as indoors, underground, and under elevated urban structures. It is a technological platform capable of simultaneously solving the challenges of accuracy, stability, and wide-area coverage that have been issues with conventional indoor positioning technologies.
In this demonstration, the potential for utilizing location information at actual construction sites was verified, confirming that centimeter-level accuracy and stability required at construction sites can be achieved even in environments where GNSS is unavailable.
*For details on the demonstration, please refer to the following press release by Taisei Corporation:
Next-generation positioning technology "Chrono LocateTM" that accurately grasps position even in environments where satellite positioning does not reach, demonstrated at a construction site.
## Features of Chrono Locate™
Chrono Locate™ identifies the position in real-time by bi-directionally transmitting and receiving radio waves between multiple base stations installed in the target positioning area and mobile stations attached to objects.
The core of this technology is Seiko's high-precision time synchronization technology, cultivated in the fields of clocks and time synchronization systems over many years.
The main features are as follows:
- High-precision time synchronization of less than a nanosecond through two-way communication.
- Centimeter-level distance measurement with an error of a few centimeters through precise time difference measurement*3.
- Real-time acquisition of 3D location information in environments including indoors and underground.
- Usable over a wide range exceeding 100 meters*4.
Whereas GNSS calculates position through one-way communication from satellites, Chrono Locate™ performs positioning by combining ground-based base stations with high-precision time synchronization technology, making it a new satellite-independent positioning platform.
*This technology utilizes research results from Wi-Wi (Wireless two-way interferometry) developed by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).
In recent years, the use of ICT and IoT has been advancing in social infrastructure fields, including construction sites, with the aim of improving safety and productivity and addressing labor shortages. Location information plays a crucial role in construction management, heavy machinery operation management, and worker safety management.
On the other hand, many of these systems are based on GNSS*2 (Global Navigation Satellite System), which made it difficult to obtain location information in environments where satellite signals are hard to reach, such as inside tunnels, underground spaces, under elevated urban structures, and indoor construction areas, posing significant limitations.
To address these challenges, "Chrono Locate™" was developed as a new positioning platform that does not rely on satellites.
Chrono Locate™ is a next-generation positioning technology that evolved from Seiko's long-cultivated high-precision time synchronization technology. It enables highly accurate and stable acquisition of location information even in environments where GNSS is difficult to use, such as indoors, underground, and under elevated urban structures. It is a technological platform capable of simultaneously solving the challenges of accuracy, stability, and wide-area coverage that have been issues with conventional indoor positioning technologies.
In this demonstration, the potential for utilizing location information at actual construction sites was verified, confirming that centimeter-level accuracy and stability required at construction sites can be achieved even in environments where GNSS is unavailable.
*For details on the demonstration, please refer to the following press release by Taisei Corporation:
Next-generation positioning technology "Chrono LocateTM" that accurately grasps position even in environments where satellite positioning does not reach, demonstrated at a construction site.
## Features of Chrono Locate™
Chrono Locate™ identifies the position in real-time by bi-directionally transmitting and receiving radio waves between multiple base stations installed in the target positioning area and mobile stations attached to objects.
The core of this technology is Seiko's high-precision time synchronization technology, cultivated in the fields of clocks and time synchronization systems over many years.
The main features are as follows:
- High-precision time synchronization of less than a nanosecond through two-way communication.
- Centimeter-level distance measurement with an error of a few centimeters through precise time difference measurement*3.
- Real-time acquisition of 3D location information in environments including indoors and underground.
- Usable over a wide range exceeding 100 meters*4.
Whereas GNSS calculates position through one-way communication from satellites, Chrono Locate™ performs positioning by combining ground-based base stations with high-precision time synchronization technology, making it a new satellite-independent positioning platform.
*This technology utilizes research results from Wi-Wi (Wireless two-way interferometry) developed by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).