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Automotive GPS satellite navigators are a truly significant technological achievement. Their small size and speed of operation may give the impression that they are preforming a simple task but, this is in no way the case. The computational effort expended in determining the best route (especially with waypoints) is considerable. To illustrate how far these devices have progressed, consider the hardware required to complete the intensely complex task of triangulating GPS satellite signals for the current GPS satellite system precursor, the 1960’s Transit system for Polaris submarines. The computer hardware barely fitted through a submarine hatch, took 10 ft (3m) of electronics rack and required a special corps of Navigation Electronics Technicians to maintain and operate.₁

Modern automotive GPS navigators provide us the luxury of a wide variety of features and functionalities to match the differing reasons we have for purchasing them. Following is an exploration of some of the common features and functionalities you will need to consider.

GPS Receiver

Probably the most common GPS receiver included in automotive GPS navigators at the moment is the SiRF Star III chipset. The SiRF Star III family was a watershed development in GPS chip architecture for GPS manufacturers and provides excellent fix times, excellent sensitivity for gaining a lock even in weak GPS signal areas such as urban jungles or densely forested areas. SiRF now also provide SiRFDiRect technology which provides accurate positioning even when a GPS satellite lock cannot be maintained (eg. in a tunnel). SiRFDiRect works through the utilization of miniature heading and acceleration sensors to provide dead reckoning data.
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Geotate, a geo-software company, has announced a new instant response, low power, Geotagging GPS technology ideal for digital cameras, camera equipped cell phones and other mobile geotagging devices. The key to success for Capture and Process technology is the separation of capturing a short sample of the GPS satellite signal (less than 0.2s) and the later position calculation which uses remote servers through a web-based service to access necessary GPS data. Worldwide trials have revealed good accuracy (< 10m), with a good fix location established in 96% of cases.

The attractive combination of low power consumption, speed of action and separation of fix calculation (lower onboard processor demands) should see geotagging functionality penetrate deeper into the digital camera market and further boost location based services demand. Consumers will appreciate the lack of processing delay while a position fix is calculated. The five-fold increase in GPS enabled consumer devices by 2011 already predicted by IMS research will not doubt be exceeded.

Geotate Capture and Process Technology Demonstration

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After sales support should be an important consideration for consumers especially in purchasing electronic devices such as GPS navigators. The problem is assessing what the service might be like before purchase. TomTom obviously understand this and have recently achieved recognition for call center operation customer satisfaction excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program. As the first portable navigation device manufacturer to achieve certification, TomTom is clearly committed to providing their customers with a positive call center experience, according to Jonathan Brookner the call center certification program director at J.D. Power and Associates.

Considering the certification requirements, the Call Center certification program is one which can give consumers a reliable performance benchmark. Certification requires call center operations to successfully pass a detailed audit of their recruiting, training, employee incentives, management roles and responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities. A random survey call center customers is also completed. Evaluation criteria for customer support representatives include courtesy; knowledge; concern for the customer; usefulness of the information provided; convenience of operating hours; ease of reaching a representative; and timely resolution. To achieve certification a call center must perform within the top 20 percent of customer service, based on benchmarks based on quality and satisfaction measurements determined from responses from millions of consumers annually.

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At the recent Feel the Next StageCEATEC Japan exhibition 2007 Pioneer introduced their prototype Image Recognition Car Navigation System. The prototype integrates a GPS navigation system with a camera and advanced image recognition software that analyzes the view of the road ahead. The intention of the prototype is to develop a system which provides superior, intelligent navigation advice, warnings and even alternate scenic route suggestions. The prototype system shows a video image of the road ahead combined with navigation information.

Apparently all sorts of information can be extracted from the video feed including distance to the vehicle ahead, closing speed and position in one’s lane. While it’s possible to see the safety aspects, it does make one cringe at the prospect of a back seat driver right up in front with you.

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Technorati Tags: Image Recognition Car Navigation System, intelligent navigation advice

Custom Idea’s new GeoPic II will geotag images taken with Nikon digital SLR cameras including the Nikon D200/D300/D2HS/D2X/D2XS/D3 and also the Fuji S5 Pro. The GeoPic II clips to the camera hotshoe and connects through the accessory socket. The unit is based upon a high performance SiRF III GPS chipset which has fast acquisition times and high sensitivity for operation in weak GPS signal areas such as built up city centers. Custom Idea have a patent pending on the low-power technology driving the GeoPic II which they claim allows you to take around three times as many photos than similar products before the battery is exhausted.

As part of its low power management capabilities the GeoPic II has three intelligent modes of operation:

• Continuous - GPS data is continually sent to the camera;
• Low Power - GPS data is only sent to the camera when you are about to take a picture;
• Freeze - the GPS location is frozen in a buffer so the GeoPic II has almost no impact on the camera’s battery life.

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Technorati Tags: Nikon digital SLR cameras, Fuji S5 Pro, Custom Idea

From the partial quote in this post’s title by tiKiyoshi Hamai, North American sales director in Mio’s 710t press release you can tell that the company believes it is something unique in the consumer GPS market. While it is an impressive piece of technology convergence it has at least one other rival in the recently reviewed Navman S90i S Series car GPS navigator.

The Mio 710t has a very similar specification to the recently reviewed Mio 710 car and portable GPS device. Extra or superior features include:
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Technorati Tags: GPS market, Mio 710t

The US Army has selected Airbourne Systems 10 k (10,000 lb) DragonFly Joint Precision Aerial Delivery System (JPADS) following on from its recent selection of the FireFly 2K (2,000 lb) JPADS platform. Utilizing a precision guided parachute delivery system based on a GPS receiver The DragonFly system allows the Army to stand off dangerous areas and still deliver their cargo right on target.

Airbourne Systems has a number of precision cargo delivery systems of differing weights and sizes all utilizing the same guidance platform. The new parachute system will replace the US Army’s aging, non-steerable parachutes in use since the 1950’s. GPS Technology Review’s has a more detailed article on precision GPS guided parachute delivery systems.

Airbourne Systems had other recent success being selected to provide Recovery Systems for Space Exploration Technologies Corp’s (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon launch systems.

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Technorati Tags: Airbourne Systems, DragonFly Joint Precision Aerial Delivery System, JPADS

Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers have become a part of rocket launcher navigation systems since when the shuttles were designed. The latest navigational system designs have caught up with the Endeavour during its recent complete overhaul. The overhaul lasted 1,665 days during which some 194 safety modifications, including safety upgrades already added to shuttles Discovery and Atlantis, were carried out.

The Endeavour’s new GPS has been integrated completely into the shuttle’s navigation system. The new system has reduced the number of different navigation aids on the shuttle and reduced or eliminated the need for ground radar and other kinds of satellite tracking. As the shuttle is flown by computer (several actually) the navigation systems correct functioning is essential.

The new GPS system has replaced a 1950s era tactical air navigation technology providing a far more accurate technological solution.

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“What are the options for GPS enabling my mobile device?” (cell phone, PDA, notebook etc) is a question consumers are beginning to ask as applications for GPS become more diverse and pervasive. Spectec have some options for consideration with their SD and miniSD GPS receiver cards. A much appreciated feature of these GPS cards is the built-in microSD card slot which solves the obvious problem of mobile devices with only one SD expansion slot.

There are four SD GPS card models including the SDG-810 SD GPS receiver and SDG-811 miniSD receiver and the SDG-812 SD Bluetooth GPS receiver and the SDG-813 miniSD Bluetooth GPS receiver. All models have the built-in microSD card slot.
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Location is a factor is business operations management and logistics decisions however, many customer records are in human readable addresses rather than in latitude and longitude coordinates which can be utilized by new GPS enabled business software. Geocoding is the process of converting human readable addresses to latitude and longitude coordinates.

Proxix Solutions has just launched PxPoint Online, a Web-based service that can accurately geocode files containing up to one hundred thousand customer records in a single batch process. The online solution eliminates the costs associated with purchasing and maintaining the hardware, software and data Quality data sources, such as NAVTEQ street data, are used.

PxPoint Online appends exact latitude and longitude coordinates to each record and corrects addresses to United States Postal Service (USPS) standards. PxPoint Online uses multiple data sets to improve geocoding accuracy.
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Garmin have released the free Garmin Communicator browser plugin which simplifies the transfer location data – such as waypoints, track logs, maps and points of interest (POIs) – to and from a website and Garmin device.

The plugin works with IBM-compatible PCs running Windows® 2000 or XP operating systems with Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox 1.5+. Mac support is coming soon.

The Plugin can be downloaded from the Garmin website.

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The world’s smallest, lowest cost dual-axis gyroscope for GPS portable navigation devices, the IDG-1004, has just been released by InvenSence Inc. Santa Clara, California based InvenSense manufactures integrated motion sensing solutions for mobile applications.

The IDG-1004 incorporates InvenSense’s MEMS technology of vertically driven, vibrating masses to provide a low-cost, dual-axis angular rate sensor. The sensor and electronics are integrated onto a single chip. The IDG-1004 improves dead reckoning accuracy through measuring vehicle direction with one gyroscope axis and terrain slope with the other.

Expensive GPS portable navigation systems use dead reckoning to provide uninterrupted positioning when GPS signal fixes are poor such as when obscured by tree foliage, tunnels or tall buildings. InvenSence’s small form factor dead reckoning solution will push this capability into more, smaller mobile portable navigation devices.

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SiRF has introduced its new SiRFDiRect(TM) technology , which delivers to portable navigation devices the navigation accuracy and coverage which has previously only been available with expensive in-dash car GPS navigation systems.

The SiRFDiRect technology integrates the award-winning SiRFstarIII(R) architecture with low-cost, small footprint heading and acceleration sensors which provide dead reckoning data for greater navigational accuracy in weak GPS signal conditions. Significantly, SiRFDiRect technology allows considerable orientation flexibility without performance degradation. To ensure continuous optimum performance, the heading and acceleration sensors and continuously recalibrated by the closely coupled GPS/DR (Dead Reckoning) architecture of SiRFDiRect technology. (read more..)

In their sales pitch for the Freedom Mini GPS receiver, Freedom Input point out that there will be some 150 million SmartPhones and PDAs sold in 2007 with only 10-15% having GPS built-in. With a largest dimension of 1.5 inches the new Freedom Mini GPS can easily be carried on ones person (supplied with a keylink) to GPS enable a SmartPhone, PDA or laptop through a Bluetooth wireless link.

The Freedom Mini GPS receiver is powered by the ever accurate SiRF StarIII GPS chipset. The Bluetooth range of 10m is certainly adequate as is the battery working time of 10 hours.

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Global digital map provider, Tele Atlas, has announced the availability of Tele Atlas Historical Traffic Speeds which bundled with the already-available Tele Atlas®/Traffic product will provide a more complete set of traffic information solutions for navigation and location based service products. The complete Tele Atlas/Traffic package will now include real-time incident, flow and predictive traffic data and historical traffic speed information. This enhanced data set will allow Tele Atlas partners to further optimize the routing capabilities for an array of enterprise and consumer navigation devices and products.

Tele Atlas Historical Traffic Speeds are a compilation of billions of real time speed measurements for roads throughout the United States. Average speeds are now available for nearly 500,000 miles of roadway across the U.S. for every hour of the day on each specific day of the week. Tele Atlas Historical Traffic Speeds contains two years of real-time GPS probe data from commercial fleet, delivery and taxi vehicles across the continental U.S., combined with DOT sensors and highway toll tags to determine the average roadway speeds based on historical traffic information.

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