U-blox GPS Chip Never Loses Signal

Who hasn’t been en route to a destination being guided by whatever name you’ve given to your GPS when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you hear these words: “GPS signal lost?” It’s a fair bet that most of us, in today’s generation, have had to deal with that situation at least once while we’ve been driving. And it’s annoying, especially when it happens in some location where you’ve never been before. And is it just me, or does it always seem to happen at night when you’re approaching a “bad” part of town?

Whenever and wherever it happens, it’s a frustration for the driver who has to do his/her best to stay on a route that s/he’s no longer sure of. But vehicle GPS’s losing their signal may not be much of a problem down the road – especially if a company out of Switzerland known as u-blox have anything to say about it.

Never Get Off The Path Again

U-blox has created a chip ( AKA: 3D Automotive Dead Reckoning chip) that works in tandem with the GPS units that are now coming standard in many vehicles. If the GPS ever loses its signal, the chip uses dead reckoning to figure out where you are and keeps you on your chosen path. It’s able to tell based on your altitude, direction, and distance if you’re still going the right way, and that’s always a good thing.

It’s unknown if and when this GPS chip will become standard in vehicles, but here’s to hoping that it eventually will. You never know when you’re going to need a good GPS signal to get you where you need to go. After all, your GPS is only as good as the signal it receives from the satellite. If you remove the possibility of a lost signal, it sounds like a good idea to me.

What do you think?

[Image via Geoconnexion]

SOURCE: http://gizmodo.com/no-gps-signal-no-problem-this-little-chip-knows-where-1518907218