GPS Workshop Lab Manual

Lab Manual Contents

This workshop covers everything from GPS fundamentals to building and testing your own GPS receiver unit.

What is GPS? History from 1981 truck-sized receivers to smartphones. GNSS constellations worldwide.

Three segments, trilateration with the Colorado example, why we need 4 satellites.

Understanding accuracy levels from 15m recreational to 1cm survey grade. DOP explained.

Wiring the GPS module to Arduino. Step-by-step assembly with diagrams.

Arduino IDE setup, GPS code, understanding NMEA sentences.

Measure Earth like the ancient Greeks! The same geometry you'll apply in the field experiment.

Practical tips, data collection, accuracy testing outdoors.

Test your GPS understanding with an interactive quiz.

This workshop aligns with the UCGIS GIS&T Body of Knowledge learning outcomes:

BoK #880 — Discuss the relationship of GPS to the Global Navigation Satellite System.

BoK #1198 — Explain the relevance of trilateration to GPS positioning and surveying.

BoK #1939 — Explain how position is determined in X-Y-Z space using GNSS.

BoK #1941 — Explain why horizontal positions are more accurate than vertical.

BoK #1942 — Explain why GNSS cannot work inside caves, underwater, or in buildings.

Assemble a working GPS receiver using Arduino and a NEO-6M GPS module, then conduct outdoor field measurements.