I have an unusual GPS question...

[Corrie]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, this forum has so many sub-boards my head was spinning.

Anyways, here is my odd question.
I'm currently in univeristy for Commerce and Admin. and this year we have a large project where we have to design a product and an entire business model for that product.
One of our ideas was to put a GPS locator in a golf ball so you can find your ball if you lose it.
Now, my question would be, is there such a device that emits a GPS signal that other GPS units can track? If so, what would it be called, and if you know how big are they?
We were thinking a chip or small GPS signal emitter that can go inside the ball that any nearbye GPS can track.

Thanks for your help.

[lbendlin]

GPS is passive. The golf ball may be able to determine its position but it will have to use other media/transport to report it back. For example a GPRS module. But that would mean each golf ball would need a SIM card, too

Do you need to identify individual golf balls , or just find "all of them" ? In the latter case you can implant a RF transmitter into all of them, and completely make do without GPS.
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Lutz

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[mikealder]

Nice idea but how do you envisage overcoming the g force exerted on the ball when struck - modern electronics even for the military would be hard pushed to work at 300 or 400G - if you get it to work I would be amazed - mike

[lbendlin]

C'me on Mike, let's try to be positive at least for the beginning. Else I could argue that the ceramic patch antenna is bigger than the golf ball, that the center of gravity will be screwed etc...
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Lutz

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[Corrie]

Well, to answer your first question. We'd like to do it using GPS so that it can utilize all of those GPS handheld devices made for golphing. We can have it tell you your distances, slice etc etc.
Also, there is already a product that uses an RF chip to detect where your ball is, and since the product already exists we can't do it.

Secondly, this is a commerce program, so the engineering and complete feasibility of the product is secondary. The biggest thing is having a feasible business solution, cost efficiency, marketing projections etc. As long as it sounds possible and we have most aspects of its design and production covered, it should be good.

As for rephrasing my original question. Let's just say, is there some type of small (has to be quite small) chip or beacon that simply sends out a signal. We can have it so the device you have in your hand can detect any signal coming from any ball, all the ball has to do is send that signal out.
Kind of like in an action movie where someone sticks a little chip to someone elses car, and then tracks them on a screen. Similar concept, we just want to stick that little chip into the ball.
So basically I just want to know the name of that chip, or if it is even possible, ignoring the actual tracking device, pda thing.

[mikealder]

OK fair point just trying to alert the chap to some potential pitfalls, GPS works for smart bombs and will take 20G loads but the force exerted with anything less than the putter will probably break the electronics and or power source - Mike

[Corrie]

Hm, well, I don't know much about GPS I must admit. There is a company that does RF golf balls and they use an extremely tiny chip to emit the RF signal.
Is this possible at all with GPS? Does it always need an antenna (even for small range gps, say a KM or 2)
Also, aren't there nano gps things that can be injected into your skin and stuff like that? It might not be cost effective, but I need to know all the possibilities.

[Corrie]

Also, if you just ignore everythign I said about golfballs and just tell me if there is something that simply emits a trackable GPS signal? Similar to something you have in cars, where if the car is stolen it can be tracked down and found?

Do these exist, if so what are they called?

[lbendlin]

Those are called PLD (personal locator device) or VLD (Vehicle locator device). They use GSM/GPRS/SMS to transmit the GPS position (NOT the GPS signal) to predefined recipients/IP addresses.
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Lutz

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[Corrie]

[Corrie]

Actually, after readin ga bit more I think I see what you are saying. GPS devices don't literally send out a signal, they recieve signals from the sattelites orbiting earth, and then turn those signals into a position.

So was I thinking about it all wrong? I don't need something inside the ball that sends out a signal, I need something that can recieve the signal from the sattelites, and send it to a pda device?

[etters]

Good grief I am so far behind down here, I thought it was coming up to the end of September, not March,
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Takara GP56 igo primo 1.1
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[Corrie]

[etters]

At the end of March is the Ist of April.
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Takara GP56 igo primo 1.1
Dont rely on them use your brain as well

[awni]

this is the way it works :
- GPS satellites send continuous signal
- GPS receivers receive and 'decode' the signal and calculate position.

Now you can do what you want with the position, so you can either :
1- display it on a screen attached to the GPS receiver.
2- transmit it to a device with a screen that will display it.
3- whatever else you like.

The transmitter can be GSM (GPRS,SMS). (They're not cheap, more expensive than the individual golf balls)

-The GPS Receiver is also more expensive than the golf ball.
-There is a running cost to your GSM provider.
-You need an antenna for GPS and antenna for GSM, they're big, don't
know if you can fit both or either into a golf ball.


hope that helped.

awni

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