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What Are GPS Trackers for Cars?
GPS is a necessity in modern society we all tend to take for granted, but rather than just navigating us between point A and point B, GPS can be used for far more applications including car trackers.
At Fleetlog, we take advantage of GPS technology to provide your business with optimal car tracking services.
But before you can fully understand GPS trackers for cars and what GPS car tracking can do for you, you first need to understand what GPS is and where it comes from.
What is GPS tracking?
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. GPS systems use satellites and devices or receivers to determine an exact location on the earth.
Originally developed for military use, GPS is extremely accurate and is able to be used in any weather conditions and all destinations across the globe.
GPS satellites are located at fixed points around the planet, and they communicate with GPS tracking and navigation devices on earth to determine the user’s precise location. Global Positioning Systems use Latitude and Longitude coordinates to express any location on the earth; this allows for a location to be pinpointed without fault.
The GPS network currently consists of 24 operational satellites with four satellites visible to every device receiving the signal at any given time. Along with sending a signal and data to navigation and tracking devices for cars, the satellites also send data to companies that translate that data into information for their users.
The signals relayed by the satellites also hold a time code and geographical data point, providing the user with not only their exact position but also their time and speed. This makes GPS especially useful for travel and transport applications such as GPS trackers for cars.
The History of GPS
When GPS was first developed, few would have known the significance it would have on our society today.
The development of GPS first came to light in 1973 when military officers at the Pentagon discussed the creation of a Defence Navigation Satellite System (DNSS).
The principal inventor and designer responsible for GPS is an American scientist and physicist named Roger L Easton who led, conceived and patented GPS as part of the DNSS program.
The DNSS program was later named Navstar-GPS and between 1978 and 1985 prototype satellites were launched to facilitate the Global Positioning System. By 1994 when all necessary satellites were launched, the GPS program cost US$5 billion.
In 1983, President Ronald Raegan issued a directive that once GPS was developed sufficiently, it should be made freely available for civilian use so that transport including domestic aircraft and shipping vessels could avoid straying into restricted foreign territory.
GPS was fully operational by 1995. The highest quality GPS signal was initially reserved for military use, however in 1996 Bill Clinton signed a policy to ensure selective availability for the GPS signal was turned off in 2000, giving every civilian access to the same high-level GPS signal strength as the military.
The History of GPS
GPS has fast become a necessity in our modern society. In fact, GPS is now widely accepted to be one of the most important technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries.
GPS has been especially vital and a key trigger for innovations in a number of key areas including:
- Route finding for drivers
- Navigation applications
- Map-making
- Climate studies
- Earthquake & volcano research
- Vehicle tracking
To this day, GPS is owned and operated by the United States Government with the Department of Defence appointed as the steward of GPS. International law requires the US Department of Defence to maintain GPS services continuously on a worldwide basis.
With GPS in safe hands and completely accessible to the public sector, it gives rise to new opportunities to improve our lives and businesses, including the development of GPS car tracking.