
OpenPositioningSystem - platz
http://phiron.de/openps/
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na85
I browsed the website briefly but didn't see any actual science.

Is there any data showing that this idea is actually feasible? It's certainly
a lofty goal but I just don't see it panning out.

1\. How will this system be useable for navigating in remote areas, like the
desert, the ocean, or the wilderness, far from "seismic forces" produced by
power plants? I don't need a navigation fix when I'm on the highway between
Vancouver and Seattle. I need it when I'm in the Russian Far East in the
middle of a forest. I need it when I'm trying to get my tanker to New York and
it's cloudy.

2\. I imagine that most generators work on a very small band of frequencies.
I.e. Because generator designs are all fairly similar, I'm sure there are
hundreds of points on the Earth's surface that would seismically "sound" the
same to this receiver. If there are 6 plants with the same generator, and 3
are in California and 3 are in Germany, how does the receiver know if I'm in
California or in Germany?

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malandrew
What about a computer vision system that uses the stars and the sun to
determine location? I imagine that such a device would need an accelerometer
to determine it's orientation relative to the horizon and a decent sensor with
normal prime lens (focal length equal to diagonal dimension of sensor)

A temperature and pressure sensor may also be useful because so long as the
calendar is set correctly, the system could narrow down it's possible
locations by comparing actual temperature and pressure with a database of
historical highs and lows.

I would imagine any approach using the stars in the sky would be extremely
accurate. It only needs batteries and access to solar power to remain
functional.

What other sensor data would be valuable to help infer geolocation?
Magnetometer?

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na85
Well, I'm fairly certain that anywhere along the same line of lattitude, the
Sun looks the same at any given time of day.

As for the Stars, yeah that might work. But only on a clear night.

Pressure would be okay for determining altitude, but that's it. Temp and
pressure are so wildly variable that it would be a thoroughly useless metric
for determining position. Not to mention that there simply aren't databases of
historical temperature data for random expanses of Pacific Ocean.

