Today, cabs have attached GPS receivers that track route and guide them to destinations. The accurate location information now available in the public domain has resulted in tremendous public and institutional enthusiasm...
Finding a needle in a haystack is a really difficult task. Probably impossible. However, with the GPS, it might just be possible. A technology that has immense application and which had been the dream of administrators, generals, leaders, mountaineers and geographers, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a form of satellite navigation system that can help track the location of any object supplied with a receiver. Hollywood, which has an infatuation with military applications, has borrowed freely from this concept in such movies as Enemy of the State or Behind Enemy Lines.
The GPS was designed, sponsored and is controlled by the US government, and being the sole satellite navigation system for a long time with wide reach, the name GPS is now used for the concept of satellite navigation itself. The GPS consists of about 50 satellites in the sky providing location information and time reference information. Although only the military can get the optimal resolution information, civilian resolution is good enough for most purposes. GPS civilian uses include vehicle or other body tracking device. It is used by surveyors, cartographers, construction workers, vehicle testers and many others for logging distance, route, speed, location, etc. Some systems using GPS have been developed for the visually impaired. The outdoor sport of Geocaching, which consists of locating a deliberately hidden object, uses GPS.
GPS is used on planes for route definition. GPS may be used for time synchronization, and the same is used to time clocks in satellites. Of course, the primary purpose remains military, but civilian uses are increasing by the hour. Today, cabs have attached GPS receivers that track route and guide them to destinations. The accurate location information now available in the public domain has resulted in tremendous public and institutional enthusiasm, and continues to inspire others to device newer and more accurate systems. The European countries, in collaboration with others, are building the Galileo Satellite Navigation System to end the US monopoly in GPS data. Russia and China have their own navigation systems in place. As these other systems develop and find commercial applications, more uses would be invented. The various navigation systems are a boon to mankind.
This section of the directory is your comprehensive guide to all GPS applications and devices, from child locators and personal tracking systems to vehicle tracking systems.