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Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

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Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#31

Post by maxerickson »

nradov wrote: post #8
teddyh wrote: post #2

Interesting to read about alternative, non-centralized, forms of navigation. I wish modern cars which already have all the necessary sensors would use this method as a fallback, since GPS reception is not always available.

Vehicle speed and steering position are available through OBDII. And inexpensive Bluetooth OBDII interfaces are available. But I don't think that navigation app developers have done anything to take advantage of that data for dead reckoning input. http://www.plxdevices.com/category-s/195.htm

Telenav implemented ODBII in their OpenStreetCam software:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenStreetCam

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#32

Post by bambax »

mmastrac wrote: post #11
Animats wrote: post #9

I saw Etak back in its early days, and Stan Honey gave me a demo. I still have one of their rate gyro/2D level units, and a compass unit. There's a motor driving a spinning disk, which warps slightly when the unit is turned, and sensors to detect the warp. The level, for sensing which way is down, is a sealed cup of liquid with the liquid height sensed with four capacitor plates outside the cup. The liquid was propri…

> about 20% of the population could not cope with a map that wasn't aligned with the direction they were going That's me. I have a tough time orienting maps in my head. I still use a mnemonic for compass directions and (occasionally) use my left hand as an L to make sure I'm not screwing it up. I don't know if there is any research into what the structural differences of brains that suffer from this might be, let alo…

Joey from Friends has to go into the map while in London https://youtu.be/oKCIMX2dsEc?t=40

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#33

Post by yawz »

Animats wrote: post #9

I saw Etak back in its early days, and Stan Honey gave me a demo. I still have one of their rate gyro/2D level units, and a compass unit. There's a motor driving a spinning disk, which warps slightly when the unit is turned, and sensors to detect the warp. The level, for sensing which way is down, is a sealed cup of liquid with the liquid height sensed with four capacitor plates outside the cup. The liquid was propri…

> about 20% of the population could not cope with a map that wasn't aligned with the direction they were going

I guess, we should all play DnD and Dungeon Crawling every once in a while.

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#34

Post by martin-adams »

strictnein wrote: post #29

Surprised no one has mentioned its similarity to a Pip Boy: https://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagec... And a Fallout Pip Boy for reference: https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/120/images/16096-1...

I'm not surprised because someone just did

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#35

Post by platz »

strictnein wrote: post #29

Surprised no one has mentioned its similarity to a Pip Boy: https://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagec... And a Fallout Pip Boy for reference: https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/120/images/16096-1...

it also looks like a "multi function display" in the cockpit of an F-15, for controlling radar, weapons, etc..

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#36

Post by nix0n »

LordKano wrote: post #19
TYPE_FASTER wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some smartphone navigation apps do temporary dead reckoning, using the accelerometers that are built into the phone. Dead reckoning using just acceleration data loses accuracy quickly. Using turns to reset position is a really good idea. I think I've seen my iPhone do a similar "recovery" procedure when it gets a little off track.

I have had my Android phone continues to plot my travel through a tunnel when it couldn't receive GPS signal. It's usually off by a small margin when I reach the end of the tunnel but everything syncs once the signal is acquired again.

Is your car connected to your Android in some way?

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#38

Post by ChristianBundy »

learn_more wrote: post #18
mmastrac wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> about 20% of the population could not cope with a map that wasn't aligned with the direction they were going That's me. I have a tough time orienting maps in my head. I still use a mnemonic for compass directions and (occasionally) use my left hand as an L to make sure I'm not screwing it up. I don't know if there is any research into what the structural differences of brains that suffer from this might be, let alo…

If you train yourself to use a static orientation however, you develop a much better "big picture" awareness of the city you drive in, eventually freeing yourself from requiring navigational assistance. The additional cognitive load is worth it for me.

Could it be possible that this may be easier for you than it is for the person you're replying to? Here's my understanding of the conversation that just happened:

A: I have trouble doing Z.

B: Many people have trouble doing Z! Interestingly enough, many X and Y also have trouble doing Z.

C: I'm able to do Z, and I can tell you that the benefits are worth the cost.

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#39

Post by [deleted] »

learn_more wrote: post #18
mmastrac wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> about 20% of the population could not cope with a map that wasn't aligned with the direction they were going That's me. I have a tough time orienting maps in my head. I still use a mnemonic for compass directions and (occasionally) use my left hand as an L to make sure I'm not screwing it up. I don't know if there is any research into what the structural differences of brains that suffer from this might be, let alo…

If you train yourself to use a static orientation however, you develop a much better "big picture" awareness of the city you drive in, eventually freeing yourself from requiring navigational assistance. The additional cognitive load is worth it for me.

[deleted]

Re: Who Needs GPS? The Story of Etak's 1985 Car Navigation System

#40

Post by [deleted] »

learn_more wrote: post #18
mmastrac wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> about 20% of the population could not cope with a map that wasn't aligned with the direction they were going That's me. I have a tough time orienting maps in my head. I still use a mnemonic for compass directions and (occasionally) use my left hand as an L to make sure I'm not screwing it up. I don't know if there is any research into what the structural differences of brains that suffer from this might be, let alo…

If you train yourself to use a static orientation however, you develop a much better "big picture" awareness of the city you drive in, eventually freeing yourself from requiring navigational assistance. The additional cognitive load is worth it for me.

[deleted]
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