GPS And Digital Maps Reveal The Way For Warfighters, Farmers, And The Sightless

Northrop Grumman has won a multi-million dollar contract to provide digital mapping software for the Army - similar technology is being used in the farming industry and to help blind people navigate. DCLnews reports.

THE SCENES have become familiar. U.S. soldiers moving on foot through the featureless desert of Iraq. Stopping now and then to check their co-ordinates on a portable Global Positioning System (GPS). And poring over digital maps on ruggedized notebook-sized computers. What needs to be done to navigate through enemy territory has not changed. But the technology has - in a big way. Back in WWII, you would travel across the desert using a compass, printed or hand-drawn maps, and the stars.

Now, satellites orbiting high above take photos of the terrain below. These are then processed and turned into digital maps that can be read on computers and handheld devices. Unlike conventional maps, these "e-maps" can be zoomed in on to pinpoint enemy positions or suitable places for cover. They also take a lot of the guess-work out of the strategic and tactical planning that is done by commanders.

One firm heavily involved in digital mapping is Northrop Grumman. In August, it announced its Information Technology sector had been awarded a contract by the Army to provide software for digital battlefield maps and topographic information functions. The contract has a potential value of $100 million over ten years.

"We will be helping the Army move towards next-generation terrain processing and network-centric enterprise services," said James O'Neill, president of the firm's TASC information technology sector. "We will continue to provide leading-edge expertise in engineering and development of mapping and intelligence systems for the warfighter."

Clear picture of the battlefield

Northrop Grumman will develop automated tactical systems that analyze terrain and reproduce it graphically on computers and handheld devices. This will provide commanders with a clear picture of the battlefield and enemy ground, allowing them to devise more finely-tuned strategies and reduce casualties.

The firm will also provide the Army with flexibility to deal with the sudden "surges" for topographic information that arise during conflict. And it will support migration to evolving warfighting operations, next-generation Department of Defense architectures, and advanced terrain applications associated with the Objective Force, a goal for the battle command structure.

More than ever, warfighting is about technology. Defense electronics got much of the credit for winning the war in Iraq. Partly as a result, technology spending will grow faster than the Pentagon's overall budget. Nearly 19% of total defense spending in Financial Year 2004 is dedicated to electronics. The Government Electronics & Information Technology association expects this to reach 19.6% in 2012.

Helping the blind to see

Mapping terrain and the delivery of topographic data is an important part of the modern military. But the technology is increasingly appearing in civilian contexts too. Growing numbers of people who are visually impaired in the United States are navigating the streets with laptop computers and digital maps.

New Zealand-based firm Pulse Data International has created BrailleNote, a laptop computer with Braille input and output and voice synthesis. In the first stage of BrailleNote GPS, a blind person can get a reading of position by connecting a GPS receiver to their computer and running the software. The second-stage software, still in beta-test mode, uses digital maps to plan routes. BrailleNote then tells the user which direction to go, how far, and when to turn.

"You will get the situation where a blind person in, say, a taxi will be able to use the BrailleNote to tell the driver how to get to a destination," said Greg Thompson, international marketing manager for Pulse Data. "On a bus, the computer will be able to tell a blind passenger when the bus is approaching a stop."

Auto industry

Not surprisingly, the automobile industry is also investing in digital maps. Within the next ten years, say analysts, every new car will come with a computer-like screen mounted on the dash. It will display a navigation system that uses a global positioning satellite; plus onboard DVDs to provide directions, digital maps and information on hotels, hospitals, and restaurants.

Digital maps are also regarded as vitally important for e-commerce companies, since they can be used to manage product delivery to customers. Many city and state authorities are looking to create libraries of digital maps that the public could access on the Internet. These digital maps, when linked with municipal tax maps and data from federal and state agencies, would give municipalities and state agencies a powerful planning tool - color-coded maps that are easy to analyze. Within a few seconds, for example officials could produce a map of all the sewer lines that are within a certain distance of highways. Or police detectives could create a map showing all of the buildings that have been burglarized over a given period and during certain hours.

Down on the farm

Digital mapping can now be found down on the farm too. A new John Deere product uses satellites in space and Global Positioning technology to put tractors on "autopilot." Turn the system on and a small display lights up. Then, with no human steering, the tractor wheels magically line themselves up with the crop rows.

"Excellent," said one farmer after giving the product a test drive. "It's less tiring because you're not having to be on top of it every single second." Accidents usually happen at the end of a long day, he added, so technology that lessens fatigue will improve safety.

Other benefits include creating maps of fields of crops, improving efficiency for inexperienced tractor drivers, and documenting crop movement from harvest to bin to user. It can also be used at night.

DCLnews Editorial
9.9.2003