It seems there are methods to increase accuracy of the GPS location to cm using a reference station network.
Real Time Kinematic (RTK) satellite navigation is a technique used in land survey and in hydrographic survey based on the use of carrier phase measurements of the GPS, GLONASS and/or Galileo signals where a single reference station provides the real-time corrections, providing up to centimetre-level accuracy. When referring to GPS in particular, the system is also commonly referred to as Carrier-Phase Enhancement, CPGPS.
Check this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Kinematic
Comments
I think Gary is thinking about OS NET. This is as he said a service offered, at a price of course, by OS in the UK
Gary, is this ones that use Classic FM's RDS carrier wave ?
The OS in the UK has a countrywide network of transmitters correcting for a fee. Often thought that might be a plan. Can't remember what its called.
This certainly would work. As a land surveyor, I can verify this from experience! :)
Experience also shows that a few things are necessary to make this possible, including larger and multi-layered antenna, as well as more processing power and computational electronics. This means some bigger PCB's included. This is also needed for the base station, as well as the need to transmit this signal. All of these things add up to more weight in the air, and much more cost overall, though with some clever designs and probably some slack included (i.e. we are not surveying to the centimeter level in the air!), this is totally doable!
Things like WAAS are already available in small formats which can help in bringing positioning down to the meter-or-less accuracy. I guess it has not yet been a primary focus in projects like ArduPilot, yet.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next