We’ve come a long way from navigating road trips using large fold-out maps that often led to confusion, arguing and, inevitably, asking a stranger for directions.
With this in mind, we thought we’d tell you a little about where in-car satellite navigation started and where it’s headed.
In 1930 a “map guidance tool” called Iter Avto was created. The device came with a set of paper maps. These were wrapped from one roll to another across a display and a cable connected to the speedometer controlled the scroll rate.
The speed at which the display moved was proportional to the speed of the car, so it always showed the correct point.
The problem was that the moment you drifted from your route, you would have to load a new map and find the exact spot of your location.
The first true automotive navigation system was developed almost 40 years ago by Honda, Alpine and Stanley Electric and was called the Electro Gyro-Cator.
Introduced in Japan in 1981, this “inertial navigation system” used a small helium gas gyroscope and was more like the systems used by fighter pilots in the Cold War.
The unit was optional for the equivalent of about $2750 — nearly 25 per cent of the price of the cars in that day.
Then there was Etak Navigator in 1985 that read map data from a cassette tape with each city listed on a different cassette.
In 1987, Japan gave the automotive world two important advances in navigation technology. The first was the Japan-only Toyota Crown Royal
Saloon G with an in-dash CD-ROM mapped dead-reckoning navigation system and colour display.
And in 1990, Mazda introduced the first GPS system for automotive navigational use. Offered in the top-of-the-line Eunos Cosmo cars, and (again) only available in gadget-loving Japan, Mazda’s navigation system was built into the car.
Moving to 1997, Alpine introduced its version of a pop-out CD-ROM (stored map) navigation system that used GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites. Each CD disc containing mapping data covered only a few US states. However, this system would allow retrofitting and any car buyer could add GPS to a car.
1998 brought Garmin portable units, that opened the market to a wider audience. From there, GPS technology advanced into phones and into luxury vehicles.
Today we have 3D views that see buildings rise inside the map and huge crystal-clear touch screens that can show incredible detail.
Just when you thought the tech had reached its pinnacle there are a few recent additions.
Mercedes-Benz has a new system called Active Distance Assist Distronic, where the speed preset is predictively reduced according to the route ahead of bends, junctions, or roundabouts, then increased once the road ahead allows.
If the route has been selected using the navigation system, the car responds accordingly: if the car is in the slow lane, it decelerates when approaching the desired motorway exit.
The same applies to junctions where the navigation route prescribes a turn-off or when the driver activates the turn indicator.
The same manufacturer has also launched an augmented reality navigation upgrade.
This is where navigation instructions are laid over objects in a live camera view. Street names, turn instructions and building addresses all pop up in a zoomed-in street view as you approach.