When driving their cars in cities other than the one that they live in, how can people find out the way to their destinies? Perhaps they will use maps and compasses, or they can ask the pedestrians for instructions. Such ways will definitely work, yet, nowadays, a new way of navigating, the global positioning system, has arose, gradually gaining its popularity among car drivers and travelers. Behind the booming of using global positioning system stands the General Relativity, a theory that enhanced the developments of GPS. The discovery of General Relativity has opened a new era of navigations: the time of GPS, the global positioning system.
As a rather young operating system, GPS has a history of less than sixty years. During the cold war when USA and USSR competed in space racing, on October 4th, 1957, the launch of Sputnik 1, a satellite controlled by USSR, symbolized the beginning of human’s explorations of navigations using scientific technologies (Kumar and Moore 59). In response to USSR's ambitions, USA started the NAVSTAR GPS Satellite Constellation Program, aiming in tracking the positions of every individuals on Earth. “No one realized that [this program] that began its research and development in 1973 and launching [sic] its first four satellites in 1978 would change the very nature of our world in the next two decades” (Kumar and Moore 59).
GPS works in a rigorous way that drastically lessens the complexity of navigations. Because of the developments of GPS, car drivers can figure out their routes by simply moving fingers on the touching screens of the GPS receivers, much more convenient than using maps or compasses. Two main components work in the GPS: the GPS satellites and the GPS receivers (Trefil 52). The GPS sat...
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It is possible that this technology will be explored and improved further with the growing emphasis on energy efficiency. In 1915, he introduced his general theory of relativity, expanding on the special theory of relativity. This theory proved certain relationships between masses, space, and time, significantly influencing the later development of the GPS system, which is now a staple of everyday life.
The invention of the GPS started with Dr. Ivan Getting leaving his position at Raytheon Company, and armed with the knowledge of what was at the time the most advanced navigational technology in the world, they began developing the Global Positioning System. He, Roger L. Easton, and Bradford Parkison began in the 60’s with a constellation of 24 satellites (placed in six orbital planes) orbiting the earth at a very high altitude (about
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...regarded GPS – an indispensable part of GIS. Discussions on cartographic principles, commercial GIS software programs, satellite images, aerial photos, and geodatabases are some of the other conspicuous omissions in this book. There is an inconsistency in the depth of topics explored; for example map projections are explored in great depth, while vector topology is merely glossed over. These omissions and inconsistencies would in my opinion make this book marginally less beneficial to all the three audiences together. However, there is something for all them; structure for engineers, equations for engineers and students, and GIS concepts for students, engineers and users. This book will therefore be undeniably valuable if used to complement the material in some of the other fundamental GIS books in the discipline. It has merits, but there is room for improvement.
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The following is a brief illustration of the principles of GPS. For more information see previous chapter. The Global positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-base navigation system that provides a user with proper equipment access to positioning information. The most commonly used approaches for GPS positioning are the Iterative Least Square (ILS) and the Kalman Filter (EKF) methods. Both of them are based on psuedorange equation:
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with a digital map, who shows the position of the car. Based on the position of
The GPS is sensing knowledge to help with navigation with the car and destinations. Autonomous cars are not yet available on a large scale of the world such as out of the United States of America, but have been programmed and developed to travel along the roads of America. Most autonomous cars are programmed only for American roads, we have made a big step towards the future with autonomous cars, with them being only available mainly in America, they are a luxury. They are making their way to larger scale autopilot features, and will eventually be available on a larger scale.(Ali
There was a time a person would use a roadmap to get from one location to another. Some also would stop and ask for directions. Today, you seldom see paper maps and people stopping at a local gas station for directions. Many vehicles come with a navigation system that provides a real-time map of the vehicle’s current location as well as systematic directions to requested destination.
GPS is a navigational aid that is satellite based. It is made up of a network of 24 satellites in orbit around the world. The first satellite was launched in 1978 and the last was put into orbit in 1994. Every 10 years another satellite is put into orbit because each satellite is made to last that amount of time. The system began as a military application but in the 1980’s the government decided to make it available to everyone, anywhere, anytime. The system finds your position by measuring the time it takes to receive the signal back to the satellite. It then does that with other satellites to triangulate your position in relation to the earth. To calculate a position in 2D the system has to be locked on to at least three satellites, but for a 3D representation you need to be locked on to at least 4 satellites. Once the position is found the GPS can calculate much more info like speed, bearing, track, distance, etc… The GPS system is very accurate; Garmin (a leader in GPS technology) states that their newest receiver is accurate up to an average of 15 meters.
GPS is a system of satellites radio-transmitters that orbit the planet in great numbers; their purpose is to be able to pinpoint the exact location of an individual or any type of vessel that is equipped with a receiver transmitter within a very small radius. GPS navigation has had a great impact upon society in general as well and its commercial and military applications. Global Positioning is made available at no cost to anyone who has a GPS receiver unit anywhere on the planet. A GPS unit is able to give the user longitude/latitude information as well as, altitude, traveling speed, distance traveled, distance remaining and time in any type of weather conditions imaginable.