More than GPS?

hey,

I was just wondering whether or not you thought that car manufacturers would benefit from having a sensor on their new cars in production that acquired extremely accurate position information in 3D. GPS seems to just have 2D information, and its not very accurate - and can't even be used on some roads because of the terrain. Perhaps there's another training system that they already use to monitor their exact 3D position on the track? I'm working with someone who might have access to such a tool, but I wanted to tell him what you thought first.

Looking forward to your insights... :)

Holly.

GPS is pretty accurate, more accurate than what is currently being used for automotive purposes, the displays and capabilities of the sensors electronics are where things such as your talking about come into play. But why would i need to know my exact position and altitude and have a 3d representation of what is infront of me and behind me when I can just look out the window. What ever happend to reading a map anyway.

GPS does have 3-dimensional information if you can get a lock on 3 satellites. Modern systems are accurate to within 1m

Ever watched WRC Coverage?

They use GPS sensors in the cars to plot 3d graphics of the course and show how the cars took differnt lines around the corners and how it effected thier over all stage time.
Coverage of the Americas Cup racing use's the same technology to show the boats positions relative to each other and the course markers.

The technology already exists, and is used widely in many forms of sport and recreational activities.
My father has a small handheld GPS with a course plotter, speed and altidude indicator which he use's on the boat, its brilliant for finding good fishing spots.

Other systems have been tried in the past, Its only the last few years that civilian GPS systems have been given the access to become accurate to 1m or less. Previously the US Military scrambled part of the signal to making them accurate to only 100m.
To over come this Iv seen people at race tracks set up thier own signal towers around the track in order to plot telemetry and monitor the drivers lines around the track. But it becomes very expensive and requires a lot of custom software etc.

GPS does have 3-dimensional information if you can get a lock on 3 satellites. Modern systems are accurate to within 1m

Actually, GPS needs a minimum of 4 satellites to determine position in 3D space. Three of the satellites are for position and the fourth is to ensure proper time synchronization among the satellites.