MAKE Terry Kilby - The Technology of Drones; The Launch of GPS

The Technology of Drones
At a certain point, model aeronautics reached the maximum
height that hardware design, radio signals, and electronic pulses
could take it. To go beyond would require the implementation of
less tangible technologies that would enable intelligent commu-
nication and control.
The Launch of GPS
The
ocial GPS.gov site describes GPS as follows:
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-
owned utility that provides users with position-
ing, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. This
system consists of three segments: the space
segment, the control segment, and the user
segment. The U.S. Air Force develops, main-
tains, and operates the space and control seg-
ments.
The system’s 36 satellites constantly broadcast a stream of
time-code and geographical data to users on the ground. Any
device with a GPS receiver can use data from any four satellites
to calculate its location in relation to those satellites. Maintain-
ing a clear line of site with the GPS satellites is key, and accu-
racy is improved as you connect to more than the minimum of
four. Due to the line-of-site requirement, it can sometimes be
dicult to obtain a reliable GPS lock indoors. We will discuss
how this aects flying a drone indoors in Chapter 5.
More GPS Information
For additional details, see the following pages from
GPS.gov:
•
“How GPS Works”
•
“GPS Applications”
Introduction 5