GPS devices will soon be able to enhance location accuracy from the meter-level down to a few centimetres thanks to a new technology currently being developed by researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), according to an article published on phys.org.
This technological breakthrough will be highly useful to self-driving vehicles coming our way, not to mention aviation and naval navigation systems. Also, smartphone and wearable technology users will get access to centimetre-level accuracy location data without increasing the demand for processing power.
The researchers’ approach involves reformulating a series of equations that are used to determine a GPS receiver's position so that less computational effort is required to attain centimetre accuracy.
"Achieving this level of accuracy with computational loads that are suitable for real-time applications on low-power processors will not only advance the capabilities of highly specialized navigation systems, like those used in driverless cars and precision agriculture, but it will also improve location services accessed through mobile phones and other personal devices, without increasing their cost," said Jay Farrell, professor and chair of electrical and computer engineering in UCR's Bourns College of Engineering.