Nowadays the GPS (Global Positioning System) is an integral part of most vehicles and an essential tool for those who like to drive without breaking their heads to find the best routes and points of interest on their way, in short it is used both for trips by planning your route and for daily trips to know the state of the traffic.
If we have already talked about the genesis of the GPS, we tell you here about its beginnings in the integration into modern cars and its democratization.
GPS technology owes its origin to the American Department of Defense as early as the 1960s. The first satellites making it possible to locate oneself on the planet were launched at the end of the 1970s. From 2000 that this invention is extended to the general public, with the authorization of diffusion of the signals made by the American administration. But before that, GPS had already made its debut.
1981 Honda with Electro Gyro-Cator navigation unit
Claimed to be the first automated car navigation system available on the market. It was co-developed by Honda, Alpine. It's called Honda's Electro Gyro-Cator Navigation Unit. Introduced in Japan in 1981. This "inertial navigation system" used a small helium gas gyroscope. And it was more like the systems used by fighter pilots during the Cold War.
1983 Etak Navigator
Founded in 1983, Etak was the independent supplier of car navigation devices based in the United States. They also sell digital maps and mapping software. The first move from paper maps to portable digital storage was with an aftermarket system called Etak in 1985. It read map data stored on a cassette player and each tape covered a section of a city.
1987 Toyota CD-ROM Navigation System
In 1987, Japan gave the automotive world two lesser-known but important advances in navigation technology. The first with a CD-ROM mapped dead reckoning system built into the dashboard. And first with color screen.
1990 Mazda Eunos Cosmo
it was not until 1990 that Mazda offered on its Eunos Cosmo, sold only in Japan, the world's first GPS navigation system integrated into a production car. Plus, it comes with a touchscreen dubbed the "car communication system," serving as the primary control for not just navigation, but radio, air conditioning, optional cell phone, and even a TV receiver. built-in - all back in 1990. These features may seem common, if not outdated today, but such an opulent tech interior was the stuff of science fiction 33 years ago.
From this moment the GPS develops, and democratizes with the new millennium.