Industry Insight: GPS Technology
GPS station for transmitting data in the field
GPS technology has come a long way since its first satellite launch in the1970s by the US Department of Defense in the effort to create a missile guidance system for the military. Today it is still used for military and government purposes, as well as by millions of civilians in many different commercial industries. It is a great tool for pinpointing locations, navigation, tracking, mapping, and timing. With the growing improvements in GPS technology, these five applications have become more accurate and useful, increasing the number of uses for GPS across many industries.
Recently, a burgeoning trend is the use of GPS in cell phones as smartphones become more popular as well as in vehicle navigation systems. However, GPS is also being used in other industrial applications, such as surveying equipment. In construction and in other land surveying jobs, GPS receivers can plan out and accurately map the terrain, providing a three-dimensional reading of natural and artificial features, to determine the best approach for the project in a much shorter time and with fewer workers. Also, GPS automated grade control collects the data of the surrounding land and allows workers to be able to see if there are any potential problems with the area that need to be included in a project plan. Both of these tools save time and money.
The most commonly known applications of GPS technology are location and navigation, but GPS can also accurately calculate time. Via its atomic clock, GPS technology allows for businesses like banks to be able to maintain records and keep track of transactions all over the world consistently. Timing is also helpful with other businesses that deal with communication systems like radio broadcasts, which can help minimize delay for users while changing the station. Utility and electric companies also benefit from more efficient power transmission and distribution in power grids that can help find the source of a power line break immediately. Each of these industries can effectively use GPS technology in specifically defined ways to become more efficient.
GPS is also a great tool in the agricultural industry and is recently becoming more popular. It has improved the art of precision agriculture. This is a technique to find what the needs of the agriculture are and the ability to prescribe and use site-specific treatments to allow a more time and cost efficient process. With these improvements farmers are able to accurately plan and map out where to plant crops year after year, figure out where pest control products are needed, and in general are able to monitor the soil and everything else surrounding using a mixture of on-board computers, data collection sensors, and GPS time and position reference systems. It is even possible to get a GPS autopilot installed, which is a steering system that allows up to one-inch repeatability from plant to harvest and allows work in the fields to be done at night and in low visibility conditions.
Various applications for GPS technology are on the rise and companies are investing a lot of money in technological improvements because of its efficiency, time and cost savings. It has many available features that can be tailored to the specific needs of diverse applications. Additional developments with GPS technologies are certain in the near future and only time can tell what new features the future holds.