From the Swiss Alps to Global Impact: Worldsensing’s Revolutionary Monitoring Solution
From the Swiss Alps to global mining sites, Worldsensing’s GNSS Meter is transforming infrastructure safety with millimetric precision and unmatched battery life.
The installed GNSS Meter. Photo provided by Worldsensing.
Around the world, aging civil infrastructure—such as dams, bridges, tunnels, and mines—poses growing risks, particularly as natural disasters become more frequent and severe due to climate change. To address this challenge, Worldsensing, a global leader in IoT connectivity for remote monitoring systems, has launched a new wireless sensor that offers high-precision measurement of surface point movements, crucial for protecting critical infrastructure such as tailings dams, reducing operational risks and enhancing safety.
This wireless sensor, the GNSS Meter, was developed as part of the SEC4TD project, a three-year initiative co-funded by EIT RawMaterials. The project, which concluded in June 2025, focused on addressing the safety and sustainable management of tailings dam infrastructure.
"Funding from EIT RawMaterials was critical in providing the financial resources needed to develop the GNSS node and ensure that it reached the market on time,” said Izabela Zrazinska, Innovation Project Manager, Worldsensing.
Building on the successful application of the GNSS Meter within the SEC4TD project, Worldsensing received further funding in 2025 through the EIT RawMaterials Fast Track call, designed to accelerate the development of outstanding projects that had received previous support. This additional funding will help expand the use of the GNSS product from tailings dam management to the broader mining sector, as well as to railway and other civil infrastructure projects, where sensors must withstand harsh environmental conditions.
From Avalanche Tracking to Global Leadership
The origin of Worldsensing traces back to a winter morning in the Swiss Alps in 2008. Two engineers, one of whom was Worldsensing’s CEO Ignasi Vilajosana, were struggling with using rudimentary tools like shovels for avalanche prediction. This challenge led to the creation of their first wireless avalanche sensor, laying the foundation for a company that would redefine geotechnical monitoring worldwide.
Today, Worldsensing is a global leader in IoT remote monitoring, having deployed over 3,000 wireless networks across more than 70 countries. These networks securely and reliably stream data from sensors directly to their clients’ information systems, making them more cost-effective and easier to operate.
"The market required a highly precise solution for measuring ground movements in remote areas, where neither internet connectivity nor a reliable power supply is available,” said Andrea Bartoli, Chief Technology Officer, Worldsensing.
The new GNSS Meter utilises multi-band Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and edge processing technology to enable precise, automated measurements of surface point movements with millimetric precision. Its enhanced data acquisition is further supported by the sensor’s two-year battery life and robust radio communication capabilities. “No other solution on the market achieves this level of precision with the same battery autonomy,” Bartoli added.
Proven Performance in Real-World Conditions
The GNSS Meter underwent successful validation at a tailings dam site in Bosnia and Herzegovina operated by ArcelorMittal, a global leader in steel and mining. It was also tested at the largest tailing dam in Europe, Zelazny Most, located in Poland and managed by KGHM CuPrum, the research and development arm of leading international copper and silver producer KGHM.
“This is exactly the kind of innovation we were looking for,” said Zoran Agbaba, Senior Researcher, ArcelorMittal. ArcelorMittal installed Worldsensing’s GNSS technology at its tailings dam to replace outdated manual data collection methods that were not sustainable long-term for such remote infrastructure.
“With Worldsensing’s solution, we now receive continuous, unattended data on ground movement—an essential improvement for effective risk monitoring. The system’s flexibility enabled a quick, one-day installation, and its user-friendly interface, fully integrated with Worldsensing’s Connectivity Management Tool, made deployment and operation straightforward,” Agbaba added.
Worldsensing will continue to seek partnerships within the EIT RawMaterials community to access funding and innovation support. “We want to deepen the user engagement through consultations and pilot programmes, which will allow us to better tailor our products to customer needs,” said Worldsensing’s Innovation Project Manager Zrazinska.
