Astro Hacker News - Researchers demonstrate centimetre-level positioning using smartwatches

dzink |next [-]

Also possible use cases: Drones, Drone attacks on individuals with smartwatches, tracking of dissidents, these days you have to think about all possible angles.

lmc |next |previous [-]

The title is very misleading. The technique (RTK) depends on using a second receiver, not just a smartwatch on its own.

zokier |root |parent [-]

Title is fine. The key is the plural, smartwatches. From the actual article:

> No geodetic station is involved in this study, as one of the smartwatches serves as the base station.

tecleandor |root |parent |next [-]

Oh, that's interesting, I have to read it... Did they set up the smartwatch in a fixed place?

lmc |root |parent |previous [-]

Ah yes, somehow I missed this :-S. Would edit my comment if I could.

amelius |next |previous [-]

> centimetre-level precision over four hours with a stationary setup

Ok, so does this really mean the smartwatch should not move for four hours?

stavros |root |parent |next [-]

Yes.

bobthepanda |root |parent |previous [-]

I mean it does demonstrate you can do it with something as small as a smartwatch

Zufriedenheit |next |previous [-]

Is this just RTK? Which uses an extra stationary antenna and has been around for years. Or is there something new here?

crote |root |parent [-]

The main novelty seems to be in doing it using cheap consumer hardware, rather than specialized $10.000 professional RTK receivers.

In-home centimetre-level smartwatch positioning using a Nest as RTK base station could allow for some neat applications!

jayd16 |next |previous [-]

Even with the stationary requirement, this is pretty neat.

One could imagine cheap turn-key devices that self locate and provide an accurate beacon for real time triangulation.

sodaclean |root |parent [-]

https://store.freeflysystems.com/products/rtk-gps-ground-sta...

Not cheap.

Theres also services like this: https://www.septentrio.com/en/learn-more/insights/gnss-corre... that offer correction information.

I expect starlink to eat that industry shortly. Not sure how they'll make the strategic steps though. Mandatory location data for cell phones to talk with star-link? Wait for whatever satellite septentrio uses to EOL and offer a deal to use star-link instead?

fsh |root |parent [-]

The hardware is very cheap (just a GNSS receiver), but this is a low-volume product. There are robot lawnmowers that come with RTK base stations.

nashashmi |next |previous [-]

I imagine a system where several devices broadcast their coordinates to each other, and this way each device knows how far it is from a device and approximates its location based on the distance and coordinate of the other device, then matches it with its own GPS to narrow its coordinate even further.

cwmoore |next |previous [-]

How can this support the panopticon of public safety?

blurbleblurble |root |parent [-]

Just one more piece of the behavior recognition and total sensor fusion puzzle. This can also be used to train passive RF based sensing techniques to be more accurate.

petermcneeley |next |previous [-]

Cheap positioning for construction projects.

Cthulhu_ |root |parent |next [-]

Is there anything wrong with the existing techniques?

throwaway173738 |root |parent |previous [-]

Precision is not accuracy. I wouldn’t use this on a construction project without first setting a control point.

sodaclean |previous [-]

while researching links to back up me calling this a nothing burger, I found this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=twqqak3XVuY which upgrades this to Puff Piece.

it gets worse- the overseeing professor mentioned here, and in the video, is the author of the paper linked in the description- from 2018. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00190-018-1192-5)

See: https://www.u-blox.com/en/technologies/high-precision-positi... for information thats not one guy stroking his... ego.

Also, PPP-RTK is another keyword.

zokier |root |parent [-]

What is your complaint here exactly?