Experiment 3 GPS

Von Patrick Dela Rosa, Marc Gomez, Juris Juanitez III

Abstract different satellites. From where the satellites

overlap in regards to the receiver’s position,
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) is a
it shows the location of overlapping spheres.
satellite-based navigation system, originally
The more satellites there are, the more
used for military applications but later
accurately the GPS receiver can determine
became available for civilian use. We were
locations and coordinates.
given three coordinates that are found in the
property of University of Santo Tomas. Methodology
Using the GPS receiver, we searched for
As a group, we were to choose three
these locations and try to identify where and random locations that were provided for us.
what is the significance of the coordinates. With the use of GPS receivers, we are to
The three locations that were discovered walk around UST and try to pinpoint each
with our coordinates are the Lacson gate, the coordinate and take note and photos of the
Workshop area right beside the Publishing surroundings without inputting the
house, and the Espana gate corner besides coordinates in the device.
CFAD building close to P. Noval.
Results
Introduction
From the coordinates of N 14 36.630
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) is E 120 59.469 the location that we ended up
a navigation system that uses satellites with was the Lacson gate.
placed in the orbit of the planet. The
intended use for the application was for
military uses, but later in the 1980s, it
became available for civilian use.
Each of the satellites that orbits the
planet each transmits information about the
current time in regular intervals and its
location. The signals travel at the speed of
light, which is intercepted by the GPS
receivers, which calculate how far each
satellite is from the receiver and how long it
Figure 1 The coordinate N 14 36.630 E
took for the signals to arrive. The GPS 120 59.461 lead to the Lacson gate
receiver can then pinpoint its location by
taking the signals from at least three The GPS receiver kept changing in the
different satellites, in a process called process so it was not exact. For every shift
trilateration. towards and away from the gate changes the
coordinates bit by bit. So pictures were
Trilateration is taking the taken from close and farawar spots.
information taken from at least three
Espana gate right besides the CFAD
building was the determined location for
coordinates N 14 36.432 E 120 59.381.
Figure 2 Espana gate right beside the
CFAD building
The coordinates were exact for this location,
thus a photograph of the GPS receiver on the
ground is shown. The only landmark closest
to the coordinates was the gate so it was
deemed the most likely spot for the
coordinates
Workshop area close to the
publishing house was determined for the
coordinates N 14 36.468 E 120 59.338.
Figure 3 The Workshop area close to the
Publishing building
The coordinates led to a wall with a door,
thus it lead to a back alley way behind the
said wall. The coordinates weren’t exact, but
it was close enough to the actual coordinates
given.
Discussion
Figure 4 Actual Coordinates within the
University of the Santo Tomas. Coordinate
A is College of Education, Coordinate B is
by the Architect Building, and Coordinate
C is located close to the pool and the
Workshop area.
For the first coordinate that lead to
the Lacson gate, it turned out that that was
not the location being indicated by the
coordinate. From (Fig.4), the red dot on the
top right side, the coordinates actually leads
to the College of Education. So the GPS
may have had a bad signal and that’s why it
was far away from the actual coordinates.
Second coordinate that is B in
(Fig.4) was accurate and is most likely
indicating the gate by the CFAD building.
Coordinates were on point in this part.
The third and last coordinate that is
C in (Fig.4) was a little off, but nonetheless
close to the actual coordinate. The
photograph from (Fig.3) was only a few
steps away from the indicated actual
location of the coordinates.
Conclusion
The GPS receiver may or may not
give accurate coordinates to the actual
location that is being located, but it still
gives a close estimation to the actual
location.
References
Physics.org. (2012, April 18). Retrieved
February 20, 2016, from
Physics.ord:
http://www.physics.org/article-
questions.asp?id=55
http://www.hamstermap.com/quickmap.php