Electro Gyrocator
From Honda Wiki
The Electro Gyrocator was claimed to be the world's first automated commercially available Automotive navigation system[1][2]. It was co-developed by Honda[3] and Alpine Electronics[4]. Unlike most navigation systems of today, it did not use GPS Satellites to maintain its position and discern movement of the vehicle. Rather, it contained an experimental gas Gyroscope[5] that could detect both rotation and movement. Maps were placed inside the unit and it would scroll them past a CRT illumination screen as the car traveled along. In 1981, it was announced as an option on that year's Honda Accord, but at Y300,000 ($2,746 USD) it was almost a quarter of the value of the car[6]. It is not clear whether any units were actually delivered to customers in the form patented in the US in design patent D274332 [7] ; as a "dealer option", it's possible that Electo Gyrocators never appeared in any showrooms.
References
- ↑ Honda Worldwide | History
- ↑ "20 Years of Car Navigation" (in Japanese)
- ↑ Honda Worldwide | History
- ↑ Alpine Electronics, Inc. alpine.com | Corporate Info > Beginnings of Alpine
- ↑ Honda's 1981 Electro Gyrocator: vintage navigation at its finest - Engadget
- ↑ grandJDM » Old School JDM Sat-Nav
- ↑ - "CTR Terminal for vehicle navigation" Patent D274332 at Google Patents
