The Best Field Trip Ever
Andrea Harris
Dr. Zhang
CosI 118
9/17/13
Can You Find Me Now? How is a Nintendo Wii game console able to determine the location of a Wii Remote while a player interacts with a game? The answer is triangulation, a process that determines the location of an object by measuring the angles from two or more fixed points. Surveyors often use triangulation to measure distance. Starting at a known location and elevation, surveyors measure a length to create a base line (Jains 30-48). The length of the base line and the two known angles allow a computer or person to determine the location of a third point. Similarly, the Nintendo Wii game console uses triangulation to determine the location of a Wii Remote. A player places a sensor bar, which contains two infrared transmitters, near or on top of a television. While the player uses the Wii Remote, the Wii game console determines the remote’s location by calculating the distance and angles between the Wii Remote is relatively simple because the sensor bar contains only two fixed points: the transmitters. A more complex application of triangulation occurs in a global positioning system (GPS). A GPS consists one or more Earth-based receivers that accept and analyze signals sent by satellites. To determine a receiver’s geographic location. GPS receivers, found in handheld navigation devices and many vehicles, use triangulation to determine their location relative to at least three geostationary satelites. According to Sanders, the geostationary satelites are the fixed points in triangulation formula (Understanding Satelites and Global Positioning Systems) ___________________ The Next time you pass a Cordoba and Sarkis state that electronic theodolites calculate angles automatically and the send the calculated angles to a computer for analysis (Cordoba
Dr. Zhang
CosI 118
9/17/13
Can You Find Me Now? How is a Nintendo Wii game console able to determine the location of a Wii Remote while a player interacts with a game? The answer is triangulation, a process that determines the location of an object by measuring the angles from two or more fixed points. Surveyors often use triangulation to measure distance. Starting at a known location and elevation, surveyors measure a length to create a base line (Jains 30-48). The length of the base line and the two known angles allow a computer or person to determine the location of a third point. Similarly, the Nintendo Wii game console uses triangulation to determine the location of a Wii Remote. A player places a sensor bar, which contains two infrared transmitters, near or on top of a television. While the player uses the Wii Remote, the Wii game console determines the remote’s location by calculating the distance and angles between the Wii Remote is relatively simple because the sensor bar contains only two fixed points: the transmitters. A more complex application of triangulation occurs in a global positioning system (GPS). A GPS consists one or more Earth-based receivers that accept and analyze signals sent by satellites. To determine a receiver’s geographic location. GPS receivers, found in handheld navigation devices and many vehicles, use triangulation to determine their location relative to at least three geostationary satelites. According to Sanders, the geostationary satelites are the fixed points in triangulation formula (Understanding Satelites and Global Positioning Systems) ___________________ The Next time you pass a Cordoba and Sarkis state that electronic theodolites calculate angles automatically and the send the calculated angles to a computer for analysis (Cordoba