Subject: Re: Can Microwaves Be Used To Collect XYZ Coordinates
From: sldf3@sol.ee.usu.edu (Weston R Beal)
Distribution: world
Organization: Utah State Univ. EE
Nntp-Posting-Host: sol.ee.usu.edu
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In article <C5Hs5J.AG7@bcstec.ca.boeing.com>, rgc3679@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Robert G. Carpenter) writes:

|> It seems reasonable to me that a microwave transmitter-receiver setup could 
|> do the job. For example, say you want to map an acre lot, it'd be convenient
|> to place MW transmitters around the lot's periphery (either 2 or 3) and then
|> carry a hand-held recorder and walk to a point on the lot, press a button and
|> the coords of the recorder's location is stored as digital data.
|> 
|> What's the chance of this working? Any systems like this already exist?
|> What kind of accuracy could you expect? What would something like this
|> cost to prototype? Is there a better alternative than microwaves?

Of course you could develope this system, but there is already a system called Global
Positioning Satellites.  It gives three dimensional coordinates anywhere on earth. 
Many surveyors use this system with a differential receiver/transmitter to get
coordinates within centimeters.  Basic receivers with resolution of a few meters (on
a good day) are available from many sources.


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  \_      \_  \_\_\_    \_\_\_               Weston R Beal
   \_      \_  \_    \_  \_    \_         sldf3@sol.ee.usu.edu
    \_  \_  \_  \_\_\_    \_\_\_            sldf3@cc.usu.edu
     \_\_  \_\_  \_  \_    \_    \_       Electrical Engineer
      \_      \_  \_    \_  \_\_\_       Utah State University

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