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Archive: GPS
November 14, 2008
Make your own Google map marker for your house
Robert Sollis, a student at the Royal College of Art wrote an email to Google asking for a marker to be placed on Google Maps for the college's temporary site in Kensington Gardens. All he got back from Google was an automated response, so he decided to create his own marker out of individual carpet tiles, each measuring 185mm square which directly corresponds to Google's pixel information from their satellite images. Pretty impressive build that also reminds us of the MAP project.
Google Carpet via It's Nice That
Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen |
Nov 14, 2008 04:00 AM
Arts, GPS |
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November 10, 2008
24 hours of Android
Yesterday I bought the first cellphone of my life. I had been using the junker phone that my niece lost two years ago when she was in 7th grade. It resurfaced when she finally cleaned her closet. The phone was already on the plan and they had replaced it Tmobile was going to charge to turn it off. My entry phone almost worked, and it wasn't pink. Eventually I would need to get an 'adult phone'.
So a few months ago Google started making noise about the Android. Open source, touch screen, 3G, browser, all the good stuff in modern phones. I had thought about getting an iPhone, but that was so last Spring. Verizon has a few iPhone copies, but they are basically wannabees. Why not get the real thing?
Since I live in a fringe area, they don't have Tmobile stores nearby. The noncorporate stores don't carry the phone yet. I went twice to the store on Newbury street in Boston, but their hours are not late enough for my schedule. Yesterday I finally got my G1.
My uncle asked last night if the G1 was any better than the iPhone. I told him that it probably isn't better as far as a design standpoint. Apple has been working up the various parts of that interface for years. The true value to me is that the Android and G1 are open source. By encouraging people to not only use the phone but actually improve it, the G1 has much more potential than the locked down design from Apple.
Here are a few observations about the device and what it has me thinking about:
The web browser is okay, pages load pretty slow. Having a web browser in my pocket is definitely a plus.
When you turn the phone on its side, the screen doesn't adjust. You have to open the slider to get it to switch to landscape mode. That's annoying to me, and certainly somebody will hack into the motion sensor and fix the flaw.
On the keyboard, there are not arrow keys. The keys are pretty small, but seem to work ok. After a bit of practice I have gotten the hang of a bit more. It took me a while to figure out that the rolly ball is like a track ball and allows you to move the cursor around. It is pretty sensitive.
Email: The phone is linked to my Google account. So this means that gmail, google documents, youtube and blogger all know that I am me. I think I signed in once and everything else was good to go.
Photos: One of the reasons that I got this phone was that it has a 3 megapixel camera. A couple of years ago I started carrying a Nikon S4 digicam in my pocket every day. Having a camera with me all the time changed the way I think about photography. That camera finally died in September, and I have missed the smallish size of it compared to my larger Canon S515. The exposure of the G1's camera is not that great in low light. It is not yet seamless to shoot and have it go straight to my flickr account. At this point, the best way seems to be to take the picture, then email it to the flickr address tied to my account. Pictures go up, but don't have tags, nor are they added to sets. Certainly that will be figured out. Since the phone has a micro sd card reader, I could use my other camera with an adapter and micro sd, then use the phone to upload on the fly. That will be useful. No video yet. Somebody will solve that issue, right?
Internet: for me, web access is a new thing to have in my pocket. I think I will like it.
Power: The battery took its first charge while I sat at the counter in the store and played with it. The seat was comfortable and there was much to learn about the phone, so I stayed a couple of hours. Several times it shut itself down in the store. I pointed this behavior out to the salesguy, but he did not seem inclined to replace the phone. A great feature of power is that the phone charges with a standard mini USB plug. This means that I can get a charge any time I am near a computer. It also means that I do not need to have a special phone charger. They tried to sell a car charger to the guy after me in line. I quietly told him that the phone used USB and saved him twenty bucks. You could probably use a Minty Boost to top it off if for some reason you were out of reach of the great USB.
Reception: This phone has much better reception in my fringy town in the suburbs than my middle school hand me down. Originally, I thought that I would only be able to use it as a phone around home base. Instead, I have been able to get email and web access in town, and the coverage seems better than I anticipated. Apparently the 2G coverage includes data. In the house, the phone does not seem to be able to see the wireless N router very well. Tomorrow I will see how it likes the routers at school.
Maps: Since the phone is tied to all things Google, google maps and street view are ready to roll. I looked at the street in Boston where I often park my car, but the photos must have been taken on a day when I was out of the city. When there is good coverage from lots of cell towers, the phone can pinpoint its gps location pretty well. Out in the boonies, it shows the one tower that is in range. One really nice thing about that is that the phone can show me where the cell towers are in my area. I have been wondering where the cell towers are for quite some time. It appears that the phone can show me the location of the Tmobile cell antennae through the maps data. The other day, I was actually seriously considering looking up the coverage maps in the FCC documentation. To me, the gps reception/simulation means that back country geocaching will not be successful, but innercity hunting could work fine.
Physical form: The phone is a bit clunky and big, but not as big as a blackberry. Last night some Blackberry addicts found me out at a family party and had a wonderful time showing me how good my phone was. I was worried about the hinge, but it seems sturdy, and I think HTC is the company tht makes the Sidekick. Getting the back off to change the sim card and battery was a tool-free event. Fingernails and a couple of tugs got the plastic back off.
Interface: I have found the interface both good and a bit complex. I like the touch screen response, but wish it had the magnification feature I see on the iPhone. My 10 year old daughter has enjoyed poking around in the menus, and figured out the music player aspect pretty well before I did. She seems to think that it will be easy to learn the features and add more capability to it.
What does the G1 Android have me looking to learn? It would be nice to make a headphone adapter that can make use of the regular 1/8th inch stereo plug. The board and surface mount components could be made easily in the Fab Lab. A usb keyboard would be nice to be able to plug in and use at times. Custom cut vinyl will be very possible, there is lots of real estate on the back that is just waiting for a skin. My friend Perry is anxious to learn about programming in Java so he can make his own apps for the android. Could students in programming classes learn to program for the G1?
What possibilities do you see in the G1 Android? What does it make want you to learn? What has it taught you already? How will it change the way people see phones and hardware? Can it change the way people learn?
Posted by Chris Connors |
Nov 10, 2008 01:00 AM
Cellphones, Electronics, Gadgets, GPS |
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November 5, 2008
SV Chronometer – a GPS based, interactive master clock
Simon writes in about his SV Chronometer – a GPS based, interactive master clock-
This is a little blog post about a device I built to provide me with an accurate time reference I can use to synchronise all the timepieces in my house. It used a GPS module and a PIC 16F628 microcontroller with a small two line LCD screen to display the time (UTC and local). Everything is housed in a art deco style casing with eye pieces to peer into the inner workings of the device. A crank handle on the side must be turned to cause the display to light up in a flickering manner similar to and old mutoscope machine.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Nov 5, 2008 05:25 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS |
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October 11, 2008
Add an integrated GPS on a DELL Mini 9
Integrated GPS on a DELL Mini 9 via Engadget. Acabtp writes...
So, I wanted to add a GPS receiver to my Mini 9, but I didn't want to have to use a dongle or other external device. I figured that a netbook really ought to just have it built in, so that's what I decided to do...
Interesting, I wonder if this maker's project will end up being standard issue in the next round of netbooks/ultraportables.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Oct 11, 2008 12:00 AM
Computers, DIY Projects, GPS |
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October 1, 2008
GPS-A-Sketch kit
Interesting "GPS-A-Sketch kit" @ The Hacktory... Wil writes -
The idea behind the GPS-A-Sketch was to create an open shareable design that many users could use as the foundation for a modular, user-programmable, portable, GPS receiver. As the technology comes down in price (A Garmin eTrex of slightly lower specs can currently be had for $130), this technology should begin to be used for alternative uses (other than getting directions to the Walmart).Potential uses could be in entertainment (locative games), art, r/c robotics, tracking and hopefully some things I haven't even thought of.
The device should be easy to program (with user designed modular libraries), and allow for modular hardware addition, such as WiFi, accelerometers, sensors and interface components. I've chosen the Arduino based RBBB from modern devices as the initial processor, because of the vast resources and ease of use associated to the Arduino microcontroller platform, and the tiny form factor of the RBBB.
For now, the cost of a unit comes in at about $130 with the addition of an FTDI cable and shipping, bringing the total closer to $160 on a per/unit basis. Obviously there will eventually be ways to get this cost down below $100, including a single circuit board, and some shared bulk ordering on components.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Oct 1, 2008 09:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS |
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September 19, 2008
GPS spoofing
Incredibly interesting article about GPS spoofing and the theoretical "hijacking" of a truck via Schneier on Security.
Jon Warner of Argonne National Laboratories set out to examine GPS security one Saturday afternoon. Jon is part of the Vulnerability Assessment Team (VAT), a small group whose goal is to uncover flaws in our systems so that they can be fixed. “We try to think like the bad guys,” Jon said, “so that we can plug the holes they might use.”To test out GPS security, Roger Johnston, head of the VAT, challenged the team to demonstrate how to steal a cargo truck and get away with it. Cargo trucks generally contain a GPS tracking device which relays position and speed information to a central office. This enables freight companies to track their drivers’ locations and ensure that trucks are on course. If a truck veers off course, it sets off an alarm at headquarters. If an attacker could falsify or “spoof” GPS information, he or she could hijack the truck and steal the cargo without being noticed.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Sep 19, 2008 12:40 PM
GPS |
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September 8, 2008
Flickr bike?
Wow, this is really cool - Gina from Lifehacker has a Flickr bike that geotags photos and uploads them to a map on Flickr... Solar panels too!
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Sep 8, 2008 12:00 AM
Bicycles, GPS, Imaging |
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August 25, 2008
Satellites track Mexico kidnap victims?
I'm trying to figure out what's up with this story... People are getting kidnapped - got that part, so they're getting RFID chips implanted... which helps how? Snippet from the article...
The chips cost $4,000 plus an annual fee of $2,200....Xega, based in the central Mexican city of Quererato, designed global positioning systems to track stolen vehicles until a company owner was kidnapped in broad daylight in 2001. Frustrated by his powerlessness to call for help, the company adapted the technology to track stolen people.
Most people get the chips injected into their arms between the skin and muscle where they cannot be seen. Customers who fear they are being kidnapped press a panic button on an external device to alert Xega which then calls the police.
"Before, they only kidnapped key, well-known economically successful people like industrialists and landowners. Now they are kidnapping people from the middle class," said Sergio Galvan, Xega's commercial director.
...Xega sees kidnapping as a growth industry and is planning to expand its services next year to Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
How does a RFID chip help at all? If you're going to get kidnapped you need some other device that you have with, once your kidnapped then what? Do kidnappers allow you to keep this other device? Are their RFID readers all over the place in Mexico for a system like to to work.
Anyone know or have some guesses?
More:
- RFID and Text-To-Speech Modules Video Podcast.
- Interview with RFID implanter.
- RFID aesthetics article.
- @ DEFCON RFID World record attempt...
- MAKE VIDEO PODCAST - Getting "Chipped"
RFID for Makers - Subscribers—read this article now in your digital edition!
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Aug 25, 2008 11:00 AM
GPS, News from the Future |
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August 4, 2008
Britain seen from above
Stunning GPS visualizations from the BBC series "Britain from Above", the first episode will be broadcast on Sunday 10 August at 2100 on BBC One..
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Aug 4, 2008 09:00 AM
Arts, GPS |
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July 29, 2008
5 in 5: Day 1
It's the first day of 5 in 5 and there's a parade of projects. See the gang free themselves from Positioning Systems, choose their food decisively, sash a speaker, stick socks to a tee, mate software circles, print Mega Man, enliven their claw prizes, greet with robots, calm a TV, root for poops, Eco-nomize a billfold, season some mittens, dramatize their voicemail, cut their own coins and Franken their Faces. This motivated group of ITP students and their Guest Star, Bre Pettis did each project in a single day and they'll do another four each this week for a total of around 50 different projects in five days!
Posted by Rob Faludi |
Jul 29, 2008 05:00 PM
Arts, Computers, Crafts, Culture jamming, DIY Projects, Electronics, Gadgets, GPS, Makers, Robotics, Wearables |
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July 16, 2008
GLaGPS - "Genetic Lifeform and Global Positioning System"
Fun GPS voice hack... A custom voice file for Garmin Nuvi GPS units stylized "GLaGPS - Genetic Lifeform and Global Positioning System" via Waxy.
In 2007, Valve Software released Portal, one of the most enjoyable and creative video games of the year.But you already know that.
I have created a custom voice file for GPS units with a stylized voice in the fashion of GLaDOS, the charmingly creepy antagonist of the game. That's right. You can now dutifully follow directions from your GPS unit all the while wondering if the next instruction will lead you to your GPS-planned doom in a car wash retrofitted with flame throwers and sawmill blades. Take a look at the video below for a very quick sample of the voice.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 16, 2008 12:00 AM
GPS |
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July 10, 2008
Photos "near you" with iPhone 2.0
Wow, here are some screenshots of "Exposure" a free/fee app for iPhone 2.0 -- GPS and geotag enthusiasts will love it, you tap "near me" and see all the photos that were taken... you guessed it, near you. I'm a few blocks or so from the World Trade Center area at the moment... via Daring Fireball.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 10, 2008 07:25 PM
GPS, Imaging, iPhone |
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Location based videos
Neat GPS / video project @ the DeLorme blog using their Xmap software, Chip writes-
Eight members of Team DeLorme’s cycling group made the long trip from Yarmouth, Maine, down to New York City to participate in the 2008 NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour. The weather was great and the opportunity to ride through the heart of such an impressive city without any automobile traffic was amazing!The 5 Boro Bike Tour is even bigger in person than described on Bike New York’s web site. You really have to be in the middle of the pack to appreciate what 30,000 cyclists look like! I’ve uploaded video clips (See a couple of favorite videos at the end of this post) from a helmet cam along with some photos taken by people in our group. Check them out to get a feel for the magnitude of this event. I see why the ride has earned the title of ”largest recreational cycling event in the nation!”
As usual, the Earthmate GPS PN-20 was with me throughout the ride. While it was impossible to get lost with that many riders, it was still good to see where we were on the route. I’ve included a screen shot from our XMap software so that you can see how I’ve linked the video clips into the map to make a nice project file for sharing with the other riders.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 10, 2008 10:00 AM
GPS |
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July 9, 2008
GPS jamming
Interesting article at GPS world about intentional GPS jamming via /.
AS WE ALL KNOW, GPS SIGNALS ARE WEAK. At a receiver's antenna, in the open air, their strength is about -160 dBW or 1 × 10-16 watts. Compare this to a cell-phone signal, which might be -60 dBW or 1 × 10-6 watts -- 10 billion times stronger! While code correlation in the receiver lifts the GPS signals above the background noise floor, the signals are still relatively fragile, and building walls and other obstructions can significantly attenuate the received signal power so that they cannot be tracked by a conventional receiver.It is the ratio of the signal power to the noise power per unit bandwidth that determines the trackability of the signal. Accordingly, if the receiver's noise floor should increase sufficiently, even in an outdoor environment, the signals may also become untrackable. This can happen when the receiver is subjected to intentional or unintentional radio-frequency interference (RFI) by a transmitter operating on or near GPS frequencies. If the interference is strong enough, it can jam the receiver. Although intentional jamming is typically of concern only to military GPS users, unintentional jamming can occur anywhere and anytime and can affect large numbers of users within the range of the jamming transmitter. The jamming incident in San Diego harbor in January 2007, for example, affected all GPS users within a range of about 15 kilometers including a medical services paging network.
Such jamming renders a GPS receiver inoperable. But how do users know that their receivers are being jammed and not suffering some other type of malfunction? Clearly it would be advantageous for users to receive a heads-up when jamming signals are present and, if possible, for the receiver to take corrective action automatically.
In this month's column, we look at some simple techniques, which can be easily incorporated into the design of a GNSS receiver, to detect, characterize, and actually mitigate RFI. Such receiver enhancements will benefit civilian and military users alike.
There's an interesting way to detect it too (I love there's an event called Jamfest!)... If every GPS unit or device with GPS (phones) had a sensor, they could report GPS threats.
Though many details of the JLOC system operation cannot be released, Jim Dalrymple, JLOC lead at Navsys Corp., explains some of its principles of operation. "Modern GPS receivers include the capability to detect GPS interference and can provide reports showing higher than normal signal levels in the GPS band and lower than normal signal/noise ratio. This condition indicates the presence of a GPS threat. The JLOC system allows networked GPS receivers to send reports to the JLOC Master Station of detected interference, acting as JLOC sensors. The JLOC Master Station is designed to collate these reports to provide near real-time situational awareness on GPS threats to military users." Bruce Bockius, who supports JLOC Master Station operations, indicated that thousands of JLOC sensor reports are now being received daily.Testing during the GPS Jamfest conducted regularly by the 746th Test Squadron has proven the JLOC system operation under elaborate jamming scenarios. Saffel explained: "By providing the warfighter tools situational awareness on the GPS threats and their predicted effects on military operations, they are able to plan their missions accordingly and also develop tactics to counter the threats where appropriate."
More:
- Open source jammer, the WaveBubble.
- GPS jamming around the world.
- Interference Head-Up: Receiver Techniques for Detecting and Characterizing RFI.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 9, 2008 08:00 AM
GPS |
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July 2, 2008
GPS dog tracking collar
Garmin now has a GPS to keep track of your (hunting) dog... Interactive demo here.
Garmin introduces a completely redesigned GPS dog tracking collar for use with the Astro GPS Dog Tracking System. The new collar is more rugged and its antennas are positioned differently for optimal tracking."The new DC 30 collar is designed to stand up to the torturous abuse of hunting dogs. Whether it's hounds crashing through thick and swampy woods, or bird dogs bounding through dense CRP fields, the DC 30 is made to take the beating that working dogs dish out daily," said Dan Bartel, Garmin's vice president of worldwide sales. "And the new configuration also makes mounting the collar a cinch -- while improving reception."
The DC 30 collar's main housing is weighted to sit below the dog's neck, while a small, low-profile GPS antenna is integrated into the collar strap and positioned on top of the dog's neck, providing a clear view of satellites with minimal rotation. The transmitter antenna originates from the lower housing, and has been redesigned for more flexibility and ruggedness. No counterbalance or harness is needed. The weight for the transmitter plus antenna is 4.1 ounces, and the entire DC 30 weighs just 8.7 ounces.
Funny, we did a GPS dog project in March of 2005!
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 2, 2008 10:00 AM
GPS, News from the Future |
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June 30, 2008
GPS logging Arduino shield
Adafruit has released a GPS logging Arduino shield, freaking cool! Pop this on to an Arduino and you can make your own GPS logger, locative art projects & more! The kit is available here.
This shield requires a GPS module (sometimes called an "engine board" or "engine module") to receive the timecode data from GPS satelites. There are dozens of GPS modules on the market, each with slightly different specifications. The Adafruit GPS shield v1.0 supports 4 popular hobbyist modules and is geared specifically for the EM-406A: the required connector is already soldered on and ready to go. If you want to use a different module, check the parts list for the required connector as they are not included.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jun 30, 2008 12:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS, Kits |
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May 24, 2008
Is this the "BIGGEST DRAWING IN THE WORLD" ? GPS self portrait
The site BIGGEST DRAWING IN THE WORLD details a GPS-briefcase trip throughout the world, creating a "drawing" which might the largest art piece ever created... via SparkFun.
As others have commented... this seems a little fishy, but it's possible.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
May 24, 2008 09:00 AM
Arts, GPS |
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May 14, 2008
Butterfly GPS shows you the way
This "Butterfly GPS" device was built with an ATmega169 microcontroller, a GPS receiver board based on the SiRF chipset, and an LCD screen that reads out the data in real-time as location, date and time. Very simple construction and nice details on how it was built at the PDF link below.
Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen |
May 14, 2008 06:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS |
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May 8, 2008
Maker Faire wrap up @ SparkFun Electronics and new stuff...
Our friends at SparkFun Electronics have a fun Maker Faire wrap up and have some new things in stock... At Maker Faire I joked with Nathan the CEO, that SparkFun should do a credit card with a loyalty program, I'd totally trade miles for transistors.
Here are some of their latest products that looked interesting to me...
The AVR-GSM.
Series 2.5 XBee module with Wire antenna.
The GPS stick.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
May 8, 2008 10:00 AM
Electronics, GPS, Maker Faire |
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April 23, 2008
Open GPS tracker
Mike writes in about his super-cool Open GPS Tracker.
Here is the simplest build-it-yourself GPS tracker yet. No expensive GSM module required - I am using the $20 GoPhone from WalMart or Target. Uses a 14-pin AVR microcontroller, a voltage regulator, a transistor, a GPS module 2 inches across, and that's it. My open source firmware can track objects automatically or manually. Has a programmable command interpreter that can sense or control pretty much anything by text messaging.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Apr 23, 2008 10:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS |
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