Whether you’re on a military mission, flying an airplane, or driving to your friend’s house, odds are you’ve used GPS. GPS has many uses, but not for underwater vehicles. For subsea navigation, an electronic compass is a key component for engineers. Limitations of GPS Beneath an open sky, low-end GPS systems such as smartphones are accurate…
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Military, marine navigation, unmanned vehicles, and more depend on the accuracy of an electronic compass. There are several factors that can greatly influence how a compass takes its readings. Here are three of these factors and how to be aware of them. #1 Time-Varying Magnetic Fields A time-varying magnetic field in the vicinity of an…
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When harnessing the accuracy of an electronic compass, a number of factors, including magnetic conditions, can greatly impact performance. Here are two examples of these conditions and how to fix them. 1. Static Permanent Magnetism The source of a local permanent magnetic field can be a piece of hard iron (hence the common name), a…
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An electronic compass is a combination of a magnetometer, tilt sensors and optional accelerometers and gyros that provide orientation and measurement within a growing number of applications. If you’re wondering if a compass may be the missing piece in your project, here a few application examples. 1. Orientation Data for Unmanned Subsea Vehicles Autonomous underwater…
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