APPLICATIONS OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS TO MARINE NAVIGATION AND SURVEYING

John R. Stolz and Jack O. Hill

Peer Reviewed

Abstract: A low cost, portable marine navigation and survey system called MultiNav was developed using commercially available personal computers, peripherals and standard software operating systems. The MultiNav system was tested and compared with Integrated Data System’s Hyperange as a reference system. A marine survey test was conducted onboard a survey vessel in the Gulf of Mexico to compare the personal computers as a precision navigation and data collection system conventionally performed by larger and/or more expensive equipment. This paper describes the MultiNav system hardware, software and functional capabilities. It also describes the survey test parameters and compares the test results of the two systems. Various statistical performance parameters are presented on the systems tested. The results of this test indicate that a personal computer using commercially available peripherals and standard software offers great promise of replacing larger and more expensive computing equipment.
Published in: NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 31, Number 4
Pages: 275 - 288
Cite this article: Stolz, John R., Hill, Jack O., "APPLICATIONS OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS TO MARINE NAVIGATION AND SURVEYING", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter 1984-1985, pp. 275-288.
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