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Are We Too Reliant On GPS?
RedEaredSlider writes "A new report from the Royal Academy of Engineering in London suggests developed nations have become too reliant on GPS systems. The report from the Academy focuses on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and their vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities include deliberate or accidental interference, both man-made (such as jamming) and natural (such as solar flares). While most people equate GPS systems with the tiny screens which get drivers from point A to point B, the report says society's reliance on the technology goes well beyond that. The Academy says the range of applications using the technology is so vast that without adequate independent backup, signal failure or interference could potentially affect safety systems and other critical parts of the economy."
We are also too reliant on electricity, computers, cars, airplanes, ships,...
In my day, we did have maps, but all they were good for was for finding where the world ended and where the giant sea monsters were located.
I will make the same comment I make every time we debate technology's superiority to paper:
I cannot remember the last time my map crashed. It may be inaccurate (but so may GPS), it may be out of date (but so may GPS), it may not be intuitive (but so may GPS). But when I turn too fast and pull the plug out of the lighter socket, my paper map will still work. When some jerk is driving next to me with non-FCC licensed equipment drowning out the GPS band, my paper map will still work. It doesn't call out turns a mile ahead, it doesn't show up-to-the-thirty-minutes-ago traffic, all it does is show me where I am and I can use my brain to figure out where I'm going.
A GPS is superior to a map but does not replace it, and becoming reliant on a GPS to the point where I do not consult or bring a paper map is foolhardy.
Just my $0.55 (US inflation, 1774-2008, for $0.02)
If you had, y'know, read the article (or even the summary) you would've seen them point out that the issue is not whether John Q. Driver can get from place to place, but how there are a lot of invisible applications, like synchronizing the US power grid, that have grown to rely on GPS. Those are the things that are in danger from intentional or unintentional jamming, no one cares about navigation.
The worst part about this is that the solution is not as easy as this article makes it out to be. GPS signals have to be as weak as they are by design- you just can't get much more transmitting power into those satellites, and while LORAN might help, I don't think it has the accuracy either in positioning or in timing that a lot of applications need. It does highlight the necessity for these devices to "fail gracefully" instead of catastrophically though.
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First of all, why are the Slashdot abbreviated comments using gray type on a gray background! This is painful. Secondly, given human nature, if the GPS info is reliable for more than a few days at a time someone will make an app for that... After a while it will end up controlling our nuclear arsenal. It's the same reason people live on the sides of volcanoes. If it hasn't blown up for a while, someone has to move there.
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
Geez dude. Maybe you should learn to rely on spellcheck.
"relay" should by rely.
Technology is not capitalized.
"to the thinking way"... I think you left out the word "do".
"to much" should be "too much".
"person" should be "personal".
"responsibly" should be "responsibility".
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
See the original text of the report.
Well, I guess you haven't heard about all of the things that are actually reliant on GPS. Sure, it is used for consumer navigation and that could easily be replaced with a paper map.
But, did you know that the 60Hz synchronization of electrical generation in the US is reliant on GPS clocks? Lose GPS and the synch will drift and this results in disconnecting from the grid. I.e., power failures. I believe the previous synchronization systems were primarily manual tuning which was happily thrown out completely when the GPS clocking was available. No, nobody can go back now. At least not without some pretty significant down time.
And of course we are working up to a aircraft navigation and control system that will be 100% reliant on GPS. No GPS = planes do not take off. Not just passenger planes but also all air cargo.
Ships at sea used to use LORAN but the US Coast Guard has been dismantling the LORAN system they maintained. I believe it is gone now, so there is no going back.
Most of the stratum-1 NTP clocks (keeping the Internet clocks synchronized) are driven from GPS today. Not atomic reference clocks and not radios receiving WWV signals but GPS. Think about how much fun it is to synchronize databases when the system clocks aren't in agreement.
Are you getting the picture? GPS is used for way, way more than consumer navigation in cars. Lose the GPS system and today there is no backup and no possibility of continuing without some pretty major hiccups.
I wonder whether IBTimes pays RedEaredSlider per submission or per word for his work?
In his brief time on Slashdot, RedEaredSlider has submitted many dozens of articles; every single one of them references IBTimes and only IBTimes. I could even forgive a little Roland-Piqepaille-like self promotion, but this pattern of behavior screams paid promotion.
I ask a question in rebuttal: has Slashdot become too reliant on corporate media promoters?
You need a compass and landmarks to determine where on the map you are. Maps are available both laminated and printed on water proof material. This will also be resistant to tearing. Not every map is like the one you got at disneyland last summer.
You forgot the period on the end of your sentence. Maybe you should learn to rely on spellcheck.
I will make the same comment I make every time we debate technology's superiority to paper:
I cannot remember the last time my map crashed. It may be inaccurate (but so may GPS), it may be out of date (but so may GPS), it may not be intuitive (but so may GPS). But when I turn too fast and pull the plug out of the lighter socket, my paper map will still work. When some jerk is driving next to me with non-FCC licensed equipment drowning out the GPS band, my paper map will still work. It doesn't call out turns a mile ahead, it doesn't show up-to-the-thirty-minutes-ago traffic, all it does is show me where I am and I can use my brain to figure out where I'm going.
A GPS is superior to a map but does not replace it, and becoming reliant on a GPS to the point where I do not consult or bring a paper map is foolhardy.
It's obvious that you're part of the group who incorrectly thinks GPS is that magic box which tells you were to aim your car. If you'd read ( and understood ) the article you might have seen this one sentence:
In the U.K., on top of satellite navigation, GNSS is used for data networks, financial systems, shipping and air transport, agriculture, railways and emergency services.
The biggest problem if GPS were disrupted would *not* be hoards of tourists stopping to ask for directions.
Stars? Luxury! When I was a young'n the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
So we had to develop a Spirit of God (SOG) navigation system. And He kept moving over the surface of the waters, which made it even more difficult. This is still in use today, as some US soldiers will tell you that they are assigned to SOG, but are not allowed to tell you exactly what they do.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I got news for you:
Most of the past generations can't use the thing either.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Stars will only give you your latitude, not your longitude. For longitude you also need an accurate time... or a GPS.
And for most parts of the sea there aren't any landmarks.
We used a compass, road map, and a watch, in an open cockpit flying through a snow squall.. at night.. and we liked it!
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Oh dear. I think you just put yourself on a terrorist watch list.
As a backup yes, but the genie is out of the bottle and if the FAA gets its way, you'll see VOR being phased out. What would be interesting is if we could get navigation via CPS, Cell Positioning System. Everyone one of those cell tower out there puts out radio waves. Why not a receiver that can triangulate on multiple towers to determine a position, ADF on steroids. It strikes me that the basic technology is out there to process the signals into a position. The receiver may need to have a database of tower locations, the towers would need to send out a ID signal, but with that I figure the accuracy would be damn good. As a long time inactive pilot I have not seen the inside of a GA airplane, but more and more panels are phasing out dials and nav radios.
Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
"VOR/DME is still the way to go. ADF will get you by in a pinch, but it can throw you a real curve ball sometimes."
Youngsters with their fancy gadgets.
Back in my day we had a Perspex astrodome, a sextant and a compass and we were GRATEFUL for them.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Three main uses of GPS -- nav, position, and standards (time and frequency).
I can connect a GPS antenna on the roof to a small box in the lab and have frequency and time references at an accuracy that previously were limited to national laboratories! (search for Trimble Thunderbolt). When the green lights are on, I've got accuracy on the order of ten to the minus eleven or better.
To the over-reliance claim, when the green lights go off on that box and the red lights go on, I'm back to using the references in each of my lab instruments. More important, the red lights let me know I'm not operating at those higher, known, levels of accuracy.
The "over-reliance" argument is more an argument against not having a Plan B to put into action when Plan A goes down the tubes. Am I "over-reliant" on electric motors because I use an electric shaver in the morning rather than a straight razor? Or because I use a motorized coffee grinder rather than some manually operated device? No, it's a trade-off, and hopefully one I have made knowingly.
I believe you are looking for:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
What would be interesting is if we could get navigation via CPS, Cell Positioning System. Everyone one of those cell tower out there puts out radio waves. Why not a receiver that can triangulate on multiple towers to determine a position, ADF on steroids.
Google Maps has used this method of geolocation for phones that lack GPS for a long time now. The problem is that it's not terribly accurate. It's usually sufficient to narrow you down to within a block or so, but not much better than that. It might work for general navigation, but it's not good enough to correctly identify the address of the building you're in, for example.
Breakfast served all day!
Came across a couple of articles recently here and here specifically talking about GPS interference and "dead-zones".
Curious part, is that this technology is APPROVED by the FCC. The frequencies used by LightSquared (1525 MHz—1559 MHz) is just below the GPS frequencies (1559—1610 MHz). While it SHOULDN'T interfere, the power levels used by LightSquared is much higher than the signals from satellites.
cell towers and wimax towers use GPS for timing and synchronization.