DARPA Makes Miniature GPS-Like Device

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Every day DARPA gets a little closer to becoming its James Bond-gadget counterpart. This device called the TIMU, is being created by DARPA to be a backup in case of GPS failure and is only 10 cubic millimeters in size.

The TIMU needs a starting point to extrapolate from, then it simply uses its sensors to determine how far it has moved and in what direction.
 
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the government covertly tracking cars, people, packages.
 
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the government covertly tracking cars, people, packages.

It actually doesn't have anything to do with the COP (Civil Observation Program) and a lot more to do with population and civil unrest management through robotics. The USG is anticipating that, during periods of unrest in the next few years, population management robot systems will be GPS jammed and they're anticipating the need for lightweight, small systems for failover to prevent signal disruption from causing target and self tracking problems. Robots will still be able to achieve their mission objectives and properly manage human population clusters without 100% GPS dependence. It's good tech.
 
It actually doesn't have anything to do with the COP (Civil Observation Program) and a lot more to do with population and civil unrest management through robotics. The USG is anticipating that, during periods of unrest in the next few years, population management robot systems will be GPS jammed and they're anticipating the need for lightweight, small systems for failover to prevent signal disruption from causing target and self tracking problems. Robots will still be able to achieve their mission objectives and properly manage human population clusters without 100% GPS dependence. It's good tech.

Yeah, I'm sure that the federal government is going to put a chip in every package, and Congress will pass laws enabling the federal government to monitor car GPS without a warrant.

Right.
 
Good stuff. 3
axis gyro+accelerometer of this size should help micro-drones navigate as well as people. This is what the cockroach insectobot will use to navigate when it infiltrates an underground facility via the sewers, because GPS doesn't work that far underground.
 
At last we may be able to buy a pet/kid locator that's cheaper than duct taping a cellphone to them.
 
The "article" bugs me. This is not a GPS device, it's a dead reckoning device. It isn't 10 "cubic" millimeters, it's 10 square millimeters and .3 millimeters thick.
 
It's nothing more than the basic parts of an inertial guidance system, similar to what they've been using on cruise missiles since cruise missiles existed. The only difference is that it's chip-sized now instead of being the larger ring-laser gyros that had in turn replaced the old mechanical ones. I don't see why they're selling this as something new since there have been inertial guidance systems around since well before GPS was put into place, and cruise missiles still use them. I think this is more of a PR push for consumer-level application than anything else.
 
So Kim Jon Un ( what ever the little Commie calls himself) gets some of these and tapes them to the inside of his Nukes. Now smaller lighter faster than a speeding locomotive, he knows exactly where they are bound. All watching from his Apple laptop clone of course. Chi Coms probably want these also.
 
Knowing that this exists... Why do I still have to manually cage the gyro in my attitude indicator?
 
So Kim Jon Un ( what ever the little Commie calls himself) gets some of these and tapes them to the inside of his Nukes. Now smaller lighter faster than a speeding locomotive, he knows exactly where they are bound. All watching from his Apple laptop clone of course.
Imagine the dismay when it goes straight up and comes back down on his smug ass because it was a TRAP! KEKEKE ^^
 
Imagine the dismay when it goes straight up and comes back down on his smug ass because it was a TRAP! KEKEKE ^^

Well, they could just fly a B-2 over and nuke him in the middle of the night, and when everyone wonders what happened they can shrug and speculate that North Korea had an "accident" with their nuclear program. I think that's what they were hinting at when they flew the B-2's over South Korea recently.
 
seeing how it's a gyroscope and accelerometer, I wonder how accurate it is on bumpy roads or off-road (pretending there's on satellite signal on these open roads and off-road).
 
Well, they could just fly a B-2 over and nuke him in the middle of the night, and when everyone wonders what happened they can shrug and speculate that North Korea had an "accident" with their nuclear program. I think that's what they were hinting at when they flew the B-2's over South Korea recently.

Flying B-2's over to be antagonistic missed a golden opportunity to shower north koreans with porn and cheetos

hearts and minds
 
It actually doesn't have anything to do with the COP (Civil Observation Program) and a lot more to do with population and civil unrest management through robotics. The USG is anticipating that, during periods of unrest in the next few years, population management robot systems will be GPS jammed and they're anticipating the need for lightweight, small systems for failover to prevent signal disruption from causing target and self tracking problems. Robots will still be able to achieve their mission objectives and properly manage human population clusters without 100% GPS dependence. It's good tech.

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Seems like there is plenty of space in there for a full size GPS :p
 
How am I supposed to know when to turn left if all I have is a 10mm screen?!?
 
Flying B-2's over to be antagonistic missed a golden opportunity to shower north koreans with porn and cheetos

hearts and minds

You know... that's a very good point. Just air-drop some food and propaganda, like "America loves you. Have some food. This is what freedom is like." and show then pictures of Western civilization, its abundance of food and clothing, and people with all sorts of stuff. Then put in the porn, and add "this can be yours too if you just get rid of that tin-pot crazy dictator of yours that's threatening pretty much the rest of the world," and the locals will be like, "wtf? Why are we keeping this guy?" Include some guns, ammo, and instruction manuals for good measure. Guerrilla uprising and regime change courtesy of porn and cheetos and maybe a few thousand AK-47's. I kind of like that idea. :cool:
 
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