Dutch engineers have developed a completely new positioning system called SuperGPS. The technology provides much greater accuracy compared to the currently used satellite-based solution. Today it is difficult to imagine life without a GPS satellite navigation system. It not only helps you travel by car, making it easier to reach the selected address, but also facilitates the use of public transport. Without it, ships and planes, as well as many other industries, could not function.
SuperGPS will increase location accuracy in cities
The current system based on satellites placed in orbit, however, is not very precise, because its accuracy is calculated in meters. Meanwhile, many industries need a much more accurate positioning system, which is necessary, for example, for autonomous vehicles. The use of navigation in large cities, where buildings often block the signal from satellites, is also a problem. So engineers from Delft University of Technology developed SuperGPS, i.e. a hybrid positioning system that can indicate the location with an accuracy of centimeters. Their design functions like a traditional GPS, but works entirely on the ground, requiring no satellites. It uses the existing telecommunications network. Instead of satellites, they are used wireless radio transmitters scattered in urban areas. Although they do not have their own atomic clocks like satellites, they are not needed at all. All of them are connected by optical fibers with one atomic clock that ensures synchronization. It still works as in traditional navigation, so the transmitters are used to triangulate the positions, calculating the time needed for the signals to bounce between them. The team says SuperGPS is able to avoid the common problems of traditional navigation such as reflecting off buildings. During the tests, technology in a busy environment made it possible to track the device with an accuracy of several tens of centimeters. SuperGPS is not intended to replace the current navigation system, because due to its design, it will not work everywhere. However, it can work with it to provide greater tracking accuracy in urban areas. However, we do not know when it can be expected to be implemented on a full scale. However, if you want to learn more about this, I invite you to read the research results published in the journal Nature.
Source: Delft University of Technology. Source
