Quote:
Originally posted by TObject
You know, with accelerometers accurate enough, you don't even need a GPS.
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Yep. An accellerometer alone would be able to do it... the thing is, that some amount of drift is introduced into the measurements, when you move in a direction parallel to the axis being measured. By adding in a gyro like this...
http://tinyurl.com/cik2
...you can calculate out the drift and get an exact measurement with no drift, using a system of calculations called "Quaternion."
In my research I found some folks who were doing this to a remote-control helocopter. The helo could basically navigate on its own from point A to B without any input, except the initial coordinates of points A and B, and no GPS. Pretty cool stuff.
For the purposes of this thing, I don't think a gyro will be needed. The reason I mention GPS, is because my GPS (Garmin) has a bunch of different output modes that can be transmitted over serial. That way, when data logging is integrated, you could have a GPS coordinate for each set of datapoints acquired for the pitch and roll of your Jeep.
A piece of software could be written such that you could "playback" a past record, and coordinate it with your current coordinates. You could effectively, sort of see what line you took before on a particular part of a trail. It could be done with an accelerometer and gyro--but an existing GPS unit already gives a great platform and interface to use.
It would be a great idea, though, as you mention for locations where GPS is not necessarily usable. Canyons, dense forests, etc. Hmmm.