GPS Technology Advancements of 2009
Overview
With every invention, things change drastically, and especially with the progress made in the field of GPS this year, the world has indeed changed a lot. For instance, in a big river, you could only see a fish for few seconds until it disappears into the water. But, now with the latest discovery it is possible to tag a GPS tracking device to a fish (and other marine creatures), and even track its movements in real time.
On the other hand, you can even track your spouse’s activities, the movement of storms, and much more with the latest GPS devices. So, here are the top three advancements made in GPS technology in the year 2009.
Tracking Real Time Movement of Marine Creatures Remotely
Monitoring the movements of marine creatures was definitely possible, but after tagging the GPS receiver to a fish, the researchers had to retrieve it back, in order to extract the collected data. This was rather cumbersome task, and rather too tedious realistically. However, with a new discovery this year, millions of dollars could be saved on fisheries, and the fishermen won’t have to blindly guess and wait for fishes to pass by. In turn, they’ll be able to tracks bigger fishes, sharks, tunas, whales and any marine creature for that matter.
Working Principle:
The working principle of this real time GPS tracking system is quite straightforward. Once the GPS tracking device is tagged to the fish, satellite records its position and relevant data such as the time spent at that spot, whenever the fish comes to the surface and nearby areas.
Early testing, which was carried out on a massive sunfish, was pretty fruitful as the researchers could easily track its movements for almost two months.
The size of the device is a bit large to be fixed onto small fish. But, it is expected that the smaller devices will be designed and manufactured soon. This is going to be a great boon for fisheries and the fishing industry (for government as well as the private sector) .
Ford’s Promising GPS Technology to Prevent Road Accidents
Shifting the focus from marine life to the world of automotives, Ford Motor Company, in a joint effort research project with Auburn University, has come out with a way to prevent road accidents and improve overall safety features of an automotive using vehicle data collected by a GPS device.
The early prototype is expected to be a system capable of interacting with the car (most probably its stability control system) and delivering early warning detection. This could prevent a lot of accidents, and in the longer run, the system is expected to be capable of monitoring multiple vehicles with the help of GPS tracking device.
Depending upon the braking trends and speed, it will be able to pass on advanced warnings whenever there’s any possibility of accident ahead. If this comes to fruition, it could be one of the most important discoveries in the world of GPS as well as automotives.
The Guardian 8200 and US PT-X5 GPS Tracking Units
If you’re not interested in tracking movements in marine life, or getting safety warnings when you drive, here’s something interesting for those parents who’re bothered about wards driving rashly and their whereabouts.
The Guardian 8200 makes use of the emergency cellular location system, and works as a hybrid-assisted real time GPS tracking device. It can work in areas where normal GPS systems fail, and functions flawlessly even in extreme weather conditions.
It is extremely pocketable, hardly as big as the dimensions of a cigarette packe,t and it can be put in disguising covers that look more like a car accessory than a tracking device.
It is even possible to tag the GPS tracking device to the driver and observe the movements every ten seconds. While you ward feels you’re the best dad/mom in the world who gives full freedom with asking any questions, you can monitor his/her whereabouts and ensure that nothing goes wrong when your ward drives on highways and returns late at night.
To learn about some more advancements made in GPS, visit this link.
If you’re interested in finding reviews about the latest GPS receivers, click here.
