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From: sasdfb@dizzy.unx.sas.com (David Baker)
Subject: Re: Position Location Devices
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Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 14:36:20 GMT
References: <CqHAD9.6BF@unx.sas.com> <Donald.Heller.122.000E7659@jpl.nasa.gov>
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In article <Donald.Heller.122.000E7659@jpl.nasa.gov>, Donald.Heller@jpl.nasa.gov (Don Heller) writes:
|> In article <CqHAD9.6BF@unx.sas.com> sasdfb@dizzy.unx.sas.com (David Baker) writes:
|> 
|> >Does anyone know of a position location device(s) which will allow one to
|> >track their location say within a building with resonable repeatibility
|> >and accurate to say a foot. GPS can do this outside, but I am interested
|> >in a technology that would do this inside. By inside I mean in your
|> >typical building with halls, rooms etc. An ideal solution would be one that
|> >is easily portable and mobile. I have had suggestions and thought about
|> >optical sensors, but this solution doesn't appear to fit the easily 
|> >portable requirement unless I am missing something. 
|> > 
|> Do you mean you want to have a notebook computer with a map of the
|> building, and your position as a (say) flashing red dot like scifi movies?
|> Or is this for many people coordinating each others positions while
|> pulling a museum heist?  Or is this for a central security site to track
|> everyone?  I assume that this is for a specific building which you can
|> map and/or wire.
|> 
|> Well, off the top of my head, (1) you can place transmitters all over the
|> building and triangulate (sort of a local GPS);  (2) you can use some of
|> the new gyros-on-a-chip, and carry around a small inertial guidance
|> system-on-a-PCB connected to your notebook;  (3) you can carry around
|> a small transponder which sends your name to one of the pickups...this
|> puts all the computing power in a central machine, which transmits your
|> coordinates back to your receiver/notebook.  Conceptually, this is not an
|> overwhelming task, but the cost may be.  The CIA probably already has
|> very sophisticated units already!
|> 
|> Don
|> 

Thanks for your response. It would be more like reconstructing the building
layout from positional data gathered. Similar to how GPS is being used for
surveying, but inside a building. I am looking at some of the options you
mentioned like inertial guidance/gyro technologies, but I have yet to find
someone who has commercialized the technology and I would prefer to buy
rather than roll my own....thx.
