Archives for October 2014

An image of the GPS tracks of Manhattan

There is nothing cooler than seeing technology and art combine. Being at opposite ends of the spectrum, the two can pair beautifully and create some really interesting and fantastic pieces. Although, that might just be me—I am a huge fan of both art and technology. If you are too, then you’ll definitely want to check out Steve Coast’s GPS Art Poster project.

These beautiful pieces are created by overlaying GPS track data from a specific area on a blank canvas. Each individual line is a separate route made by a real person, with the thick lines representing more traffic. The result is a unique piece that captures the movement and pulse of a city. I’ve seen things kind of similar to this before, but nothing quite so detailed or artistic. read more

This drone is one of many Northrop Grumman vehicles that have the LN-100 unit installed.

U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman has been accused of faking ‘pass’ results for the acceptance test procedures (ATPs) on their popular LN-100 Inertial navigation System/GPS navigation systems. The LN-100 has been used on various manned and unmanned vehicles sold to the U.S. government over the years including drones, submarines, missiles, helicopters and more.

The whistleblower on this potentially fraudulent practice was a Northrop Grumman plant manager named Todd Donaldson, who originally filed the complaint in 2012. The case was kept under seal from the company and from the public for two years, and was only recently unsealed on the order of a Utah District Judge.   The case filed by Donaldson asserts that the LN-100 units typically failed the GPS Communication Test, and that technicians were instructed to manually key in the ‘pass’ grade without actually conducting the tests. read more