Differential carrier phase GPS measurements are capable of giving centimeter-level accuracies. These accuracies have many potential applications for safety and control of various types of vehicles. For this research, a real-time guidance system is developed. The real-time guidance system can be divided into two components: hardware and software. The hardware component consists of two GPS receivers (one base, one mobile), two wireless 115Kbaud transceivers, and two laptop computers. One computer is for the reference station and other is for the mobile receiver interface and graphical display. The guided vehicle is a golf car called the Remote Sensing Autonomous Vehicle for EN (RAVEN). The research concentrated on developing real-time data processing algorithms and using these algorithms to show guidance information to the user via a graphical interface. The developed software reads the real-time GPS data using an RS-232 interface and converts it to a usable form for the data processing algorithms. The data processing algorithm compares the real-time data with the desired track and outputs the guidance information to the guidance display. Based on the information from the guidance display, the user is able to drive on the desired track. Four tests were performed to evaluate the guidance system performance and human factors under different circumstances. These tests include update rate tests, a single instrument test, varying parameter tests, and an under hood test. Tests results and user feedback show that the system performs well under most conditions.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.