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GPS+compass+accelerometers+gyroscopes?


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I was wishing for some form of innertial navigation in my last trip to Grand Canyon. At one point, only 3 satelites were visible and the accuracy went down the drain. It is not like I was lost but my track and coordinates for geotagging were way off. It would be great if GPS could switch to some other means of determining position in difficult conditions.

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Maybe, but there's a progressive overlap between

games -> augmented reality -> navigational tools.

 

A GPS that knows which end is up and what direction the camera is pointing would have an edge over one that just knows roughly where it is :unsure:

 

But, as Tomas4x4 says, it will still likely suck in canyons. For it to work without satellites, it would need some sort of a speed sensor as well as bearings. Assuming you are walking at a constant speed acceleration would be 0 so it would need to measure the acceleration at the start of the walk, calculate the speed, and constantly adjust the speed based on changes in acceleration. Is that how it works on submarines?

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I was wishing for some form of innertial navigation in my last trip to Grand Canyon. At one point, only 3 satelites were visible and the accuracy went down the drain. It is not like I was lost but my track and coordinates for geotagging were way off. It would be great if GPS could switch to some other means of determining position in difficult conditions.
The TomTom 9XX series GPS units did exactly that. What I can't recall was the length of time you could depend upon the inertial system in lieu of a decent satellite lock.
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I'm guessing the gyroscope sensor is only useful for determining "rotation" motion of the phone? That'll be very handy information if/when stuff like augmented reality technology starts showing up, but won't do any good for GPS style navigation or Geocaching.

 

The 3-axis compass will probably benefit from the gyroscope though. I wonder, is the gyroscope "always on" the phone or only on when needed/requested?

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