When it comes to navigation, what do you think of? Big Dipper, Sinan, Compass, GPS, Beidou...etc. Yes, these are navigation technologies that we are very familiar with, especially today with the development of science and technology, as long as you take out your mobile phone, you can use satellite navigation. So, what navigation technologies are there in ancient and modern China and abroad? This article will take everyone to appreciate the navigation technology of ancient and modern China and foreign countries!
1. Human navigation methods in ancient times
Human beings in ancient times used stacked stone piles, carved trees and referenced hilltops as "reference points" for travel and recognition. The prayer flag tower in the west evolved from the stone reference point.
2. The Big Dipper
The Big Dipper is named because its shape resembles a bucket for scooping up wine. The mouth of the spoon points to the North Star. The ancients often used it to identify directions at night.
3. Guide car
The guide car, also known as the Sinan car, is a device used to indicate directions in ancient times. There is a wooden man on the car, which is turned by gears so that no matter which direction the car turns, the wooden man's hand will always point to the south. Based on this, humans successively invented the magnetic compass, sextant, starboard, ground-based wireless navigation system and inertial navigation system.
4. Sinan
Sinan is an instrument used to distinguish directions in ancient China. It is made of a whole piece of natural magnetite into a spoon shape after pondering.
5. Astrology
In ancient times, it was used to represent the astrology in the four directions of east, north, west and south in the sky. That is, the Eastern Canglong, the Northern Xuanwu, the Western White Tiger, and the Southern Suzaku.
6. Sungazing and stargazing
In Ge Hong's "Baopuzi", it is mentioned that when you don't know something in the vast sea, you must look at the North Star. The ancients distinguished the course by observing the changes of the sun, moon and stars.
7. Compass
The compass is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. A magnetic needle mounted on a shaft is a pointing instrument made by utilizing the north-south polarity of a magnet in the earth's magnetic field.
8. Astrology
The Big Dipper is an important reference for determining orientation in astrology. The method of judging the relative position of the ship from north to south by observing the elevation angle of the star with the starboard.
9. Sextant
The sextant can measure longitude, and its accuracy is relatively high, up to 10 arc seconds. It replaces the previous complicated astrolabe and becomes a powerful tool for measuring geographic coordinates on the ocean.
10. Geomagnetic navigation technology
In the 18th century, in order to eliminate the compass error caused by the magnetic field generated by steel, the simple compass was transformed into a magnetic compass with complete indication, correction, lighting and observation systems.
11. Inertial navigation technology
Inertial technology is the abbreviation of inertial guidance, inertial navigation and inertial instrumentation technology. Inertial navigation system (INS, hereinafter referred to as inertial navigation) is an autonomous navigation system that does not depend on external information or radiate energy to the outside.
12. Radio navigation technology
Radio navigation was produced in the early 20th century, and the known markers were replaced by radio transmitters, and the distance between radio stations and measurement carriers was measured by radio propagation and reception.
13. Satellite navigation technology
Satellite navigation uses navigation satellites for navigation. Satellite navigation actually puts radio transmitters in the sky, but its influence is far beyond that of radio navigation.
14. GPS satellite navigation system
In the late 1960s, the United States began to develop a new GPS satellite navigation system. The GPS system was officially developed in 1973, and it was completed in March 1994. It has realized global, all-weather, continuous, real-time and high-precision navigation and positioning, which has a great impact on human activities and has extremely high application value.
15. GLONASS satellite navigation system
The Global Orbit Navigation Satellite System (Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, GLONASS) was established by the former Soviet Union to meet the needs of time service, sea, land and air positioning and navigation, geodesy and mapping, and ecological monitoring research. It was developed in 1978 and put into operation in early 1996. use.
16. GALILEO satellite navigation system
In order to establish a civil global navigation and positioning system controlled by Europe itself, the Europeans decided to implement the "Galileo" plan. The Galileo system is a new generation of civil global satellite navigation system led by the European Union.
17. Beidou satellite navigation system
The Beidou satellite navigation system is a satellite navigation system independently constructed and operated by the People's Republic of China. It can provide global users with all-weather, all-day, high-precision positioning, navigation and timing services. The development of the Beidou system is divided into three generations, and it has now developed to the third generation of Beidou satellite navigation system to serve the world.
18. Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (English: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), NAVIC) is a free regional satellite navigation system developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System will provide two services, including Standard location-based services for civilian use, and restricted services for certain authorized users (military use).
19. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (Japanese: Quasi-Zenith Satellite システム, English: Quasi-Zenith Satellite System; abbreviation: QZSS) is a satellite amplification system that uses three artificial satellites to complete the regional functions of the Global Positioning System through time transfer.