Interestingly grand, to realise that my new IPHONE 4S can refine my geolocation combining GPS + GLONASS satellites. Is that to say, I could quickly run an RTK-survey of an area to a very good accuracy using the Iphone?. Because the receiver in the phone acquires more satellite to help refine my position to the nearest centimeter accuracy.
Surveyors and GIS professionals take note!, maybe you could try establishing some controls with it and let’s find out how the accuracy correlates with that of a DGPS. This will be an awesome research.
According to Adrien Henni, Compared to GPS only features in mobile devices, the GPS+GLONASS combination can improve the performance of location-based services (LBS) in certain cases. While calibrating device position with GPS only applications requires at least three satellite signals, devices using both GPS and GLONASS benefit from almost double the number of usable satellites in the sky compared to GPS alone, making positioning more accurate, especially in dense ‘urban canyon’ environments.
In case you are not familiar with the term, GLONASS is short for Global Navigation Satellite System which is, according to Wikipedia, a radio-based satellite navigation system operated by the Russian Space Forces. It is an alternative United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS), the Chinese Compass navigation system and the planned Galileo positioning system of the European Union.
GLONASS is connected to 24 satellites worldwide which work alongside the standard 31GPS satellites giving you a greatly enhanced fix speed and accuracy.
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I haven’t heard such a crazy idea for a while. But they were saying that Copernicus was crazy at his times… Tacocopter – unmanned drone quad-copter will deliver you taco based on your smartphone location. The silicon valley start-up combines four of the most prominent touchstones of modern America: tacos, robots, smartphones and laziness.
Simple idea
You order tacos on your smartphone and also beam in your GPS location information. You order and your location are sent to restaurant, and when your order is ready the tacocopter is then sent out with your food to find you and deliver your tacos to wherever you’re standing. What simple and crazy idea! Actually it might make sense, if you calculate costs of hiring delivery guys it can be cheaper and faster to do it this way.
It works but it’s not legal
Actually it really works. Tacocopters have been tested from July 2011 with success but it’s being blocked by the U.S. law. Current U.S. FAA regulations prevent … using UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) like drones for commercial purposes. The potential is there. I guess that it’s just a matter you time when legislation will allow it.
source: Haffingtonpost
