History of GPS for Cars

From as far back as the early 70s, GPS has been in use guiding planes, ships and land vehicles all over the world. The first experimental Block-I GPS satellite was launched into space in 1978 to guide the earliest systems.  As time went on, GPS navigational technology became progressively more reliable and accurate.

However, up until 1983, this technology was available only to the United States military. That year saw the KAL 007 flight disaster, when misguided Soviet navigators ordered to shoot down a civilian Korean airliner whom they did not recognise on their radar. This prompted U.S President Ronald Reagan to make GPS available for civilian usage, once it had been properly developed, in order to avert such tragedies from reoccurring.

 This civilian GPS was to be named Selective Availability (SA). It was a severely downgraded version of the military GPS, in order to ensure that the military remained in control of the most precise navigators, and thus one step ahead of potential enemies. As GPS developed now in the civilian public sector, it gradually became synchronised into car use, and for fleet tracking. Several automobile companies claimed to be the first to install GPS into their cars, but it was Oldsmobile in 1995 that were the first to add a GPS navigation system to a production car, adding it to their Guidestar car model.

Dozens of GPS related satellites had been launched into space since the first experimental Block-I GPS satellite in 1978. In 2005, the first modernized GPS satellite was launched and began transmitting a second civilian signal (L2C) for enhanced user performance. GPS is an ever growing and advancing industry, and is now becoming a standard feature for newly manufactured cars. There are active programs for the progression of GPS in the US, Europe, China and Russia.

Wireless backup camera for GPS devices

Magellan makes navigation devices for all sorts of uses form cars and RVs up to iPhone apps to get you where you need to go. The company has announced a new accessory that will work with its RoadMate 1700 or RoadMate 9055 GPS navigation devices for cars and trucks. The new accessory is called the Magellan Wireless Backup-Camera. It attaches to the vehicles rear license plate and needs no wire to the GPS device to work.

The camera will activate as soon as the car is put into reverse and will change the image on the screen of the GPS device to show what is behind the driver. The camera is dust, waterproof, and has a wide-angle 120-degree lens. The transmitter sits in the car’s trunk and is also dust and waterproof. The camera has a wireless range of 45-feet and can be adjusted for up to 45-degrees for the best image on different vehicles. The camera kit will ship with the camera, transmitter, wireless receiver, power adapter for the vehicle, and the hardware needed for install. It will be  price  for $149.99. it looks like the only wire you need to run is the power for the camera and for the receiver.

Mounting your GPS device

Any automotive GPS worth its salt will come packaged with some sort of suction cup mount that will let users stick it to a vehicle's windshield. For most users, this is where road ends where GPS device mounting is concerned.

But is this the best way to keep your navigation device in place while you drive? And what about that weird plastic disk that was also in the box? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of the different GPS mounting options. Pay attention, because what you learn here can also be applied to mounting your GPS-enabled smartphone.

Windshield suction mount

The suction cup mount is typically the mount of choice for GPS units, because it comes packaged with the device. For most vehicles, the windshield suction mount places the GPS device within the driver's peripheral vision, keeps the speaker close to the driver's head for better hearing of spoken directions, and also places the touch screen within an arm's reach. 

However, care must be taken to ensure that your device's mounting location is within the legal zones to avoid an obstructed vision ticket. These zones vary from municipality to municipality. Some states will allow the entire base of the windshield, while others will only allow the outside corners. Check your local laws before mounting. 

Neat freak users who like to keep an ultra clean car will also find issue with the faint circles and finger smudges that the constant placing and removal of a suction cup from the windshield. 

Dashboard adhesive disk

 

Most car GPS devices will also ship with a mysterious black disk with an adhesive backing. Don't throw it away. This is a dashboard-mounting disk that will let you attach your GPS device to the dashboard using the suction mount. One advantage to using a dashboard mount is that the GPS sits even closer to the user for even easier reaching, viewing, and hearing, particularly on vehicles with steeply raked or very upright windshields like the Honda Fit or Scion xB. Dashboard mounts also usually skirt obscure windshield mounting laws.

However, the single use nature of the disk means that you've only got one shot to find the perfect mounting location. When you do decide to remove the disk (for example, to sell the car) there is the potential to leave a sticky or papery residue or, on older cars, damage the dashboard's finish.

Friction mount

 

Friction mounts are large fabric or rubber-backed bags with a smooth plastic mounting surface for attaching your GPS device's suction cup mount. Friction mounts are usually filled with beanbag stuffing or a gel to add weight to press down on the rubber backing, keeping the mount in place as you stop, go, and turn.

Friction mounts carry all of the pros of an adhesive dashboard mount--close proximity to the driver, avoidance of most local GPS mounting laws--without the permanence of an adhesive. However, because they're only held on by friction, friction mounts are more likely to come loose and fall if improperly mounted, overloaded, or in a catastrophic accident.

Other mounting options

Other types of mounts exist, including air vent mounts, sun visor mounts, and cup holder mounts. Each of these alternative mounting options carries their own pros and cons. Make sure that your GPS device has a clear view of the sky when using any of these options for the best navigation accuracy. 

 

Old Fuel Problem Solution with GPS Fleet Tracking

GPS fleet tracking devices can effectively keep fuel costs down. This GPS tracking for cars technology very usefull while the rising fuel costs have some transportation companies nervous. Many companies put faith in the reliability of drivers. Yet, thousands of fuel dollars go up in emissions daily. Recently, a Con Edison (a New York service company) spokesperson told press that company drivers don’t require constant monitoring, since these drivers are extremely responsible.

This statement came after numerous citizens complained about the carelessness of Con Edison drivers who allowed trucks to idle while eating lunch, napping, and conducting other activities. Assuming that drivers won’t allow a truck to idle is a costly mistake. A fleet of 200 trucks can burn up to $900 worth of fuel per hour spent idling.

Marcel Fauteux is the owner of Groupe Mapp International. Groupe Mapp transports dry and refrigerated goods across the U.S. and Canadian border. For more than five years, Groupe Mapp trucks have been equipped with GPS tracking systems. Fauteux has found that his costs have dramatically decreased thanks to GPS tracking technology. Not only can I reroute trucks, cut idle time, and eliminate lengthy routes, but I can also keep a close watch on drivers

HUD for Cars

The Head-up display or heads-up display (HUD) is  a transparent display on the windscreen of cars. This was mainly developed so as to prevent the drivers from looking away from their usual viewpoints.

There are a lot of interactive devices inside a car ranging from a Touch screen music player to a GPS. All these devices usually tend to distract the drivers.

 So How is HUD different ?

• Head-Up Display can be recognized by a small square depression on the dashboard.
• Generated by a projector and a system of mirrors that beams an easy-to-read, high-contrast   image onto a translucent film on the windscreen without distracting the driver.

 From HCI's Perspective : 

In my opinion HUD halves the time it takes for eyes to shift focus from road to the instruments and back, dramatically reducing the risk of not seeing the sudden illumination of brake lights of the car ahead, or an unexpected obstacle. Driving at night, too, becomes significantly less fatiguing for the eyes.

This interface technology is relatively new and very expensive.

So whats an alternative?

For the people who cant afford luxury cars, the apple iPhone 3G offers a cool application “smart HUD“. The application can be downloaded from the apps store.

SMART HUD

GPS may 'lead thieves' to your home

Motorists are being warned that thieves who steal GPS devices from cars could then use the device to find out where the car owner lives and rob their home as well. Most users program the electronic mapping devices with their home address so the gizmo can map out the quickest route to where the owner lives. After stealing the GPS, thieves would know whether the owner was likely to be a long way from home and could use the device to drive to the victim's address and burgle the property.

The RACV is warning motorists of the potential threat after reports from Britain of homes being ransacked and a $45,000 sports car being stolen by thieves who followed directions using a stolen GPS to owners' houses. GPS devices have joined laptops, phones and iPods as magnets for car break-ins. They retail at between $100 and several thousand dollars. Their popularity on the black market has declined slightly as the price has come down but police say stolen GPS devices still fetch $50 to $100.

GPS Technology

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver.

The GPS project was developed in 1973 to overcome the limitations of previous navigation systems,[1] integrating ideas from several predecessors, including a number of classified engineering design studies from the 1960s. GPS was created and realized by the U.S. Department of Defense (USDOD) and was originally run with 24 satellites. 

It became fully operational in 1994.A GPS navigation device is any device that receives Global Positioning System (GPS) signals for the purpose of determining the device's current location on Earth. GPS devices provide latitude and longitude information, and some may also calculate altitude, although this is not considered sufficiently accurate or continuously available enough (due to the possibility of signal blockage and other factors) to rely on exclusively to pilot aircraft. GPS devices are used in military, aviation, marine and consumer product applications.