Hi! Thanks for the question.
I will try to provide you with links that answers some of your
questions and also gives a background of this field. I have provided
direct quotations from some of the sources I cited so as to save you
time but I highly recommend that you read the whole article to get a
better coverage of the ideas. Some documents are in PDF file so you
will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to read them.
Good news! It seems that a number of companies have already been
cashing on GPS and miniature GPS technology ever since the US military
opened it to commercial vendors.
Our first links takes you to miniature GPS products currently
available on the market and might be of possible use to your project.
You could also view the technical specifications on some of the
products. I however suggest that you contact the manufacturers by
phone or email (whatever is appropriate) and discuss the way you would
want to use them.
The article “Small Is Beautiful” mentions currently available products
of miniature and small GPS receivers you could use.
“Small Is Beautiful”
Dr. Satyaprakash
GIS Institute
http://www.gisdevelopment.net/magazine/gisdev/2002/may/smallb.shtml
The following are other miniature GPS products I found:
The Royaltek REB2000
http://www.tri-m.com/products/royaltek/reb2000.html
http://www.tri-m.com/products/royaltek/files/specs/reb2000.pdf (Specs)
Leadtek GPS-9543
http://www.tdc.co.uk/gps/gps_receivers_leadtek.htm#gps9543
TF30EVK - TF30 miniature GPS evaluation
http://www.commlinx.com.au/TF30EVK.htm
UV-40 Miniature GPS receiver
http://www.commlinx.com.au/UV40.htm
GPS-MS1E Miniature GPS receiver module
http://www.u-blox.ch/products/ms1.html
http://www.u-blox.ch/products/specifications_ms1.html (technical
specifications)
PowerHelix GPS-P
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sab/sab100.html
The miniature GPS market is still relatively new and the following
articles discuss the history and current state of the miniature GPS
industry.
The following article provides a brief discussion of the history and
current trend in the GPS and miniature GPS industry.
“Miniature Global Positioning System Receiver”
http://www.darpa.mil/spo/programs/ggp_mgr.htm
The next article shows that even with the miniature GPS industry still
in its infantile stage, some companies are already getting some
funding. One of the manufacturers of the products mentioned above is
an example.
“U-blox, an electronics manufacturer in Thalwil, Switzerland, has won
over investors with its miniature Global Positioning Systems. The
company collected $11.8 million from European backers in its third
round of financing last week.”
“Mini-GPS Finds Funding” by Eileen Colkin
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010907S0022
Trimble, one of the companies whose products we also listed above in
fact provides precision timing to the FAA using its GPS miniature
products.
“The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is using Trimble
(Nasdaq: TRMB) global positioning system timing technology for its
Terminal Doppler Weather Radar system. The TDWR uses GPS as a
reliable, stable and easy-to-integrate time source.”
“Installed at 45 major airports across the United States where
hazardous weather conditions frequently occur, the TDWR system detects
and displays microbursts of wind and gust fronts; it also predicts
wind shifts and precipitation.”
“In April, Trimble announced the launch of its M-Loc MPM module, a
tiny measurement platform module using the company's FirstGPS
technology that allows GPS location in mobile products for less power,
less space and lower cost than previously possible.”
“The FirstGPS technology allows high-volume manufacturers to add GPS
location to mobile devices such as cellular phones, pagers, PDAs,
laptops, smartphones, digital cameras and car navigation systems with
minimal impact on a device's size or battery life. The M-Loc MPM
module is expected to be available in July.”
“GPS Timing System Warns Airports of Rough Weather”
http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/9820.html
I found an article which says that these types of miniature GPS
receivers were used in birds but no specific brand were mentioned. The
articles however provided contact numbers and email for you to ask
what type of miniature GPS receivers they used on the albatross birds.
“GPS tracks every move the albatross makes”
http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/en/pres/compress/albatros.htm
This article meanwhile about tracking pigeons using miniature GPS
references a product called “GPS-MS1” as the type they employed for
the experiment. We mentioned this as one of our products earlier by
U-Blox.
“With its weight of 8 g and the measurements of 30 x 30 mm the GPS-MS1
was the ideal candidate for this application. Power consumption was a
major concern, as in most mobile applications. The GPS-MS1 supports a
power save mode. In this power save mode the receiver acquires a
position, stores it to the flash and automatically shuts down. This
process takes about 1 s. During the rest of the period the system
remains in standby at a power consumption of 500 ľA. Using a position
up-date period of 5 s the GPS-MS1 would operate up to 8 h on a CR3
battery. This battery type proved to be the one with the best
capacity/weight ratio. To reach the highest integration possible for
the antenna a ceramic patch antenna with a ground plane directly on
the PCB was used.”
“GPS-equipped pigeon tests miniature tracking device”
http://www.instrumentation.co.za/L_SCRIPTS/article.asp?pklArticleID=1700&pklIssueID=264
In case you need more reference about the specific type of product
used on the pigeon, please click on the link here
(http://www.europesatellite.com/gps/oem/gpsms1.htm).
Search terms used:
“miniature GPS” GPS-MS1 receivers studies birds
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
Thanks for visiting us.
Regards,
Easterangel-ga |
