Before GPS systems were installed in most coach hire Manchester units, most drivers had to experience different challenges on the road. During the ancient times, navigation over a mass of land or a body of water oftentimes require looking up at the sky for the position of the sun and the stars. Later on, maps are used to determine the location of a certain place. Fast forward to the 20th century and today, and the way we travel has since changed, thanks to a technology that still relies on something high above the sky. Neither the sun nor the stars are used, though; it instead uses a system of satellites that are in orbit and are working together to provide all the necessary information of a certain location anywhere on Earth. This is called the global positioning system, also known for its acronym: GPS.
It was in 1973 when the GPS was first developed by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). Obviously, this was designed for the operation of the said nation’s military. The brains behind the creation of this technology, Bradford Parkinson, Roger L. Easton, and Ivan A. Getting, saw how the previous navigation systems were filled with certain flaws and limitations. What they devised was the Defense Navigation Satellite System or DNSS; an amalgamation of several ideas retrieved from several navigation systems that preceded it as well as concepts from engineering design studies published in the decade prior.
GPS as we know of today began when then-President Ronald Reagan allowed for the GPS to be made available for commercial and civilian use. From the period of 1989 to 1994, twenty-four (24) satellites were launched to space. Although the navigation system was allowed for civilian use, the signal was only available for only a selected few, with the military getting the vast quality signal and usage. By 2000, in accordance with the directive issued by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996, the “Selective Availability” in the GPS, was turned off. From there, GPS for civilian use was improved. It is also from that point that the system began its modernization.
Much has changed since GPS was made available for everyone—yes, even owners and drivers of coach hire Manchester. Because of its availability and ease of use, it is right up there with the Internet as the top integral technologies that have shaped (and continuously shapes) every aspect of modern living. Indeed, GPS is essential for telecommunications (e.g. wireless services), finance, banking, commerce, logistics, construction, and farming. GPS is also used to forecast the weather, locate the epicenter of earthquakes, and hasten the delivery of personnel and donations during disastrous or catastrophic events. Whether the system is used for syncing time or navigating or locating a certain place on earth, GPS is something that people can’t live without.
And when it comes to navigation, there is no other aspect that has greatly benefited from the use of GPS than road travel. With GPS car tracker, traffic accidents are prevented by decongesting the roads. With the efficiency of the navigation system, the problem of dispatching vehicles for commercial use is reduced. Fleet vehicles such as motorcycle, taxis, and trucks have relied on the navigation system to monitor the distance traveled and speed of every vehicle, providing business owners logs for efficiency. Mass transit systems such as trains and buses have also been using GPS to make use of time management. More importantly, the GPS car tracker units installed in today’s vehicles provides vehicle users directions, relying on the satellites to map out the route to a certain destination.
Such is GPS and its encompassing uses. Navigation truly has changed a lot with the development and further application of the said system, with people and businesses fully relying on it.
