Soldiers to use location trackers inspired by Wii

Posted on 24 Mar 2010 at 11:55

While most people do not use the Google Maps app as a matter of life or death, soldiers do use their GPS units to save lives or even save their own life. However GPS units can break or become lost in combat. Tressella, a leading UK technology development company, hopes to provide soldiers with a back up to the GPS with their recently designed location tracker.

According to the New Scientist, the tracker uses microchip-based motion sensors similar to those used in the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPhone.

Soldiers would wear a matchbox-sized unit that contains three microchip accelerometers and three gyroscopes mounted at right angles to each other. An algorithm can then decipher the wearer’s position from a known start point. This device would fill the gap of the GPS’s incapability in locations, like urban canyons.

However in extreme temperatures, such as those in Afghanistan, the microchip sensors are prone to producing additional noise resulting in unreliable data to work from. Tressella is examining the noise produced by commercial motion sensors in smartphones for characteristic patterns, which could be used to determine which signals are relevant.

The company plans to have the device available for defence contractors within the next six months.

Author: Tracey Breese

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