GPS Systems in Industrial Automation

Good Afternoon ,

I was on a flight back from Cincinnati last night and was looking thru that Skymall Catalog. I took notice of GPS Tracking systems that mount on vehicles. I have been brainstorming alot lately about the "What If's". In the yard we have forklifts taking our cubes to different bays. What I was thinking is if I can draw our yard on a HMI , and be able bring a GPS system into the plc and use the latitude and longitude , use a barcode reader on the forklift. I can keep track of his trips and roughy inventory. I imagine that there are regular GPS / software systems out there , but for big money. Any ideas.

Thanks again,

check this out

http://files.inductiveautomation.com/casestudies/KSBCaseStudy.pdf

Check this thread and links posted in it.
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=69958&highlight

I know several plants that have AGV systems doing exactly that. 1 of them uses a 3 dimensional array in a ControlLogix. This system fills the rack with part 1234 and then does a Aeschylus for that part number. 1 St dimension is the row (X axis),2nd is the column (Y axis), 3rd is the height (Z axis).

Complex search program to find the position. But it does work.

Siemens has a nice example. If you have time watch the video.

http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/view/en/31745883

GPS sensors are now pretty cheap, complete with RS232 output and wide voltage input:
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-010-00258-63-GPS-16x-HVS/dp/B0016NYHSG

I think the problem would be accuracy, maybe you could combine it with encoders to get a better fix.

Thanks for all your responses. I took notice of a GPS device called Tracking Key . It says it is capable of keeping track to 2.5 meters ( 8.2 feet ) . Any of the systems that you have seen , are they that precise that you can pickup about 8' of movement. Some of our inventory bays are about 8' or so apart.

Thanks,