Re: GPS module, sense of direction
You can usually get the direction of travel (=course) out from the GPS in the NMEA sentences (see http://www.kh-gps.de/nmea-faq.htm). I think Neo will do this calculation in its software, and if it will spit out NMEA, you'll have that information. However, since the course can be calculated only when you move, it wont naturally be correct if you stay still or rotate around your own axis. Carl On 4/30/07, Vladimír Lapáček [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I am quite currious about the GPS module planned in Neo 1973. For me it is one of the really nice things about Neo. I don't have much experience with GPS, but this really makes me thinking about buying the device. My question is if in Neo will have sense of direction in much similar way a compass has. This would be very handy for orienting the map overlay that every one would most like to use in connection with such device. Any ideas explaining this are more than welcome. Regards, Vladimir ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: GPS module, sense of direction
Vladimír Lapáček wrote: Hi, I am quite currious about the GPS module planned in Neo 1973. For me it is one of the really nice things about Neo. I don't have much experience with GPS, but this really makes me thinking about buying the device. My question is if in Neo will have sense of direction in much similar way a compass has. This would be very handy for orienting the map overlay that every one would most like to use in connection with such device. Any ideas explaining this are more than welcome. GPS only gives you position (assuming 4 satellites, in 3-D space). If you're standing absolutely still, the GPS can't tell you which direction you're facing. You can take the vector of the last motion as an approximation, of course, and as soon as you start to walk/run/drive again, you can correct any errors. If the cell towers would give the phone the angle of arrival (a side-effect of beamforming) from two or more towers, then you could make an estimate of which direction the phone is facing. There are electronic compass chipsets, but the Neo1973 doesn't have one. The addition of something like Honeywell's HMC 1055 could provide not only a tilt-compensated electronic compass, but the accelerometers could make for interesting additions to the GUI(s). Jim ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: GPS module, sense of direction
I can understand the motion - orientation principle, but you still need some practice with that because it cannot know if you moved it pointing forward or rotated 90 degrees. So you would really need to be very careful about that. I know that every mm of space and every mA of current counts, but this would be a really cool feature for Neo. Not speaking about that IPhone does have accelerometers (at least in some sense). Accelerometers for GUI are completely different (and very interesting) chapter. If there is a chance for Neo1973 to accept such change, count me as +1 in the poll. These are my 2 cents. Vladimir On 5/1/07, Jim Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Vladimír Lapáček wrote: Hi, I am quite currious about the GPS module planned in Neo 1973. For me it is one of the really nice things about Neo. I don't have much experience with GPS, but this really makes me thinking about buying the device. My question is if in Neo will have sense of direction in much similar way a compass has. This would be very handy for orienting the map overlay that every one would most like to use in connection with such device. Any ideas explaining this are more than welcome. GPS only gives you position (assuming 4 satellites, in 3-D space). If you're standing absolutely still, the GPS can't tell you which direction you're facing. You can take the vector of the last motion as an approximation, of course, and as soon as you start to walk/run/drive again, you can correct any errors. If the cell towers would give the phone the angle of arrival (a side-effect of beamforming) from two or more towers, then you could make an estimate of which direction the phone is facing. There are electronic compass chipsets, but the Neo1973 doesn't have one. The addition of something like Honeywell's HMC 1055 could provide not only a tilt-compensated electronic compass, but the accelerometers could make for interesting additions to the GUI(s). Jim ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
