Office of Naval Research patents "underwater GPS"

Being decidely land-dwelling creatures -- our only real underwater experiences were some nasty childhood dunking incidents at the local pool -- we've got no real use for determining our location beneath the waves, but apparently the folks who drive around all day in submarines do, so the US Office of Naval Research has whipped up a relatively simple method for "geophysical positioning" when satellite GPS data is inaccessible. You'll recall that we recently saw another patent which claimed to offer the same functionality for above ground, indoor locations, but that involved using surface-level receivers and ceiling-mounted repeaters -- a setup not possible when satellite signals can't penetrate deep underwater. The ONR's solution is to anchor an undetermined number of transceivers -- whose exact spatial location is already known -- to the ocean floor, and then by comparing the angle and distance of broadband acoustic signals sent back and forth to moving craft, using some basic geometry (sounds like our man Pythagoras comes into play here) to determine where in the world that sub happens to be. Seems pretty obvious when you think about it, but maybe that's we're covering this tech secondhand instead of trying to hack it as naval engineers, marine cartographers, or whoever the heck it is that comes up with this stuff.

[Via New Scientist]

[Kev50027 @ Mar 12th 2007 3:31PM]

Wow, Evan. If you're going to mess up the story so much, you might as well just not report it.

You obviously didn't read what you linked to, and have no idea what's going on.

[elbrando @ Mar 12th 2007 4:03PM]

What exactly did he mess up? It looks like the story to me. Of course, it WAS engadgetized. Ya know, ironically 733t. BTW, is it post-ironic for me to ironically refer to an ironic post? Awwww, crap, my brain hurts now!

[Kev50027 @ Mar 12th 2007 5:42PM]

That is one fluffy paragraph. By fluff, I mean it's full of "fluff" words that don't do anything to further the story, or his point. The entire "story" could have been summed up in 3-4 short sentences.

[EnhanceYourCalm @ Mar 12th 2007 4:53PM]

Are the transceivers always broadcasting? What sort of power? I wonder what the ecological impact is.

[bor_bor @ Mar 12th 2007 4:56PM]

Future News: World's Population of Whales Trapped in Circular Patterns, Navy Denise Responsibility.

[anonymous @ Mar 12th 2007 5:17PM]

"broadband acoustic signals" - isn't this the thing that's causing whales to beach themselves? Yeah, let's add more.

[elbrando @ Mar 12th 2007 8:08PM]

Kev50027 - Isn't that why we're all here - to read fluffy versions of rumors and innuendo? I love it!

Besides, the original article was 7 sentences and this entry was 4.

[Matt Hall @ Mar 12th 2007 8:09PM]

Like it, but i dont need it. I can find my position down to a few square miles if ive been using a stopwatch, compas, and a chart on my boat, and im still only practicing for when i go on subs in the navy. The Nuclear subs have those sexy gyroscopic navigation systems anyway, so I see no point other than to make it easier for incompetant navigational officers.

[David S @ Mar 12th 2007 10:13PM]

Hey: what game is that screenshot from? I remember playing that some years ago. You 'threw' depth charges onto subs etc.

[submarineguy @ Mar 12th 2007 10:29PM]

Ok, this may seem like a stupid question but I'm serious - does anyone know what game the submarine picture in the article is from? I've been looking for a PC version of the Apple II classic Depth Charge forever and that looks like it! Pleeeeeze let me know if you recognize where the picture came from. Thanks.

[songwut @ Mar 13th 2007 1:15AM]

wow

[David S @ Mar 13th 2007 3:20AM]

The game I was thinking of earlier today (see Post above) is Sink Sub Pro
http://takegame.com/arcade/htm/sinksubpro.htm
http://www.wihlborg.se/sinksub_pro.php

[Brian @ Mar 13th 2007 12:52PM]

I'm no seaman, but wouldn't temperature gradients in the water between the sub and the transmitter affect the speed at which the sound propagates? And wouldn't that screw up your ability to triangulate your position accurately based on timestamps in the way that GPS works?

[grjohnston @ Mar 13th 2007 7:01PM]

The dolphins that live in the Yangtze river are all deaf from the boats that travel it. I'm pretty sure the same thing would happen, only to entire oceans.

[Chris @ Mar 14th 2007 11:37AM]

Well, I don't how accurate he is as I did'nt read the original article my concern is:

putting more acoustic garbage in the oceans is going to harm whales, dolphins, etc.

[James @ Mar 14th 2007 12:01PM]

Is that Deep Scan?

[Adam @ Mar 23rd 2007 6:41PM]

Hey Evan, thanks for the interesting story. Hey Kev, troll much?