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October 08, 2006
Velocity x Travel Time = Distance
Location Is Everything
I've been playing around with a new toy...A pocket Global Positioning System (GPS). It uses a network of satellites that continuously transmit information to it, so it is possible to precisely identify exactly where I am on Earth by measuring the distance from the satellites.
This technology was originally developed for the military, but now anyone can take advantage of it. Sweet.
In a nutshell, there are 3 basic segments to GPS.
1. The Space Segment which consists of the Satellites.
2. The Control Segment which consists of the Ground Stations
3. The User Segment which is me holding my new toy.
WHERE and how FAR AWAY:
My GPS toy only has to know two things:
1. Where the satellites are in orbit (location)
2. How far away they are from my unit (distance)
By knowing these two things, it can determine my position on earth. Kind of like counting the seconds between a lightning flash and thunder to determine how far away the storm is...I think. Time of Arrival.
Amazing!!!
Posted by Yabu at October 8, 2006 08:33 PM | The Present
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My husband carries one all the time and has others for his tractors. Welcome to geek-land...I live it every day heh heh heh
Posted by: Lisa W. at October 9, 2006 08:39 AM
You do realize that the cops can track with that too. Leave it home if you're planning to shoot off any bottle rockets.
Posted by: Libby at October 9, 2006 12:32 PM
Exactly. THAT is what I miss about the military.
Posted by: Kelly at October 10, 2006 01:05 PM
OH!, dude, that sounds like so much fun ... if we ever meet, like at a blogmeet or something, you gotta show me how that works ...
Posted by: erica at October 10, 2006 10:08 PM
