초록 ▼

A compass system and method incorporating a global positioning system (GPS), such as the NAVSTAR/GPS multi-satellite system, is configured to acquire accurate compass heading information without being affected by magnetic anomalies and without being dependent on the elapsed time since a previous pos

A compass system and method incorporating a global positioning system (GPS), such as the NAVSTAR/GPS multi-satellite system, is configured to acquire accurate compass heading information without being affected by magnetic anomalies and without being dependent on the elapsed time since a previous position fix. The compass system comprises, inter alia, two antenna/preamplifiers located, for example, fore and aft a ship or aircraft separated by a predetermined distance d. A microprocessor/minicomputer portion of the system causes an electronic coaxial switch to switch a GPS receiver between the two antenna/preamplifiers automatically thereby measuring their absolute positions. The microprocessor/minicomputer computes and displays on a display unit a compass heading based on the knowledge of the absolute positions of the antenna/preamplifiers and the distance d therebetween.

대표청구항 ▼

An improved method of determining compass headings of a platform (ship or aircraft) in association with the NAVSTAR/GPS multi-satellite system, said improved method comprising the steps of: positioning first and second antenna/preamplifiers fore and aft on paid platform a predetermined distance d ap

An improved method of determining compass headings of a platform (ship or aircraft) in association with the NAVSTAR/GPS multi-satellite system, said improved method comprising the steps of: positioning first and second antenna/preamplifiers fore and aft on paid platform a predetermined distance d apart in line with the heading of said platform; receiving position derivable data from said NAVSTAR/GPS multisatellite system via said first and second antenna/preamplifiers; reading the position fix of said first antenna/preamplifier from a GPS receiver into a microprocessor/minicomputer; switching said GPS receiver to said second antenna/preamplifier; reading the position fix of said second antenna/preamplifier from said GPS receiver into said microprocessor/minicomputer; and computing an equivalent compass heading in said microprocessor/minicomputer according to a predetermined equation based on the position fixes of said first and second antenna/preamplifiers as determined by said GPS receiver and the predetermined distance d therebetween.