Some Information on our Tech!

Camper's GPS Troubles

After a near GPS failure, I've really come to appreciate the value of our advanced GPS. Knowing the location of each boat is important for safety purposes, as well as tracking the race. For this reason, each boat in the Volvo Ocean Race is equipped with the best technology for global positioning. Inmarsat is the leader in marine GPS technology, so naturally they are the official GPS sponsorl. The Inmarsat fleet has many different types of satellites in orbit. The Inmarsat-2s were launched as early as 1990. Now, the Inmarsat-5s are under construction with the help of Boeing, and will be launched in 2013-2014.

 
In order to know how a satellite works, it’s important to know what a satellite is. A satellite is an object revolving around a mass in space. In this case, satellite is referring to the devices in Earth’s orbit used to receive and transmit signals. This is the basic idea behind the GPS system of Camper and the other Volvo Ocean Race boats. The boat (called the ‘uplink station’) sends data to a satellite which contains their location. The satellite sends back this data over a wide span of the planet (called the satellite’s ‘footprint’) which will reach other satellite stations on Earth (downlink stations). The accuracy of the position depends on the strength of the signal, and so the satellite’s footprint is limited to an area of only useful signal strength. Using this technology, the Race Tracker can constantly track the position of each boat.