Electronic navigation system

Article By:

Greenspan, Richard L. The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

May, Marvin B. Navigation Research and Development Center, Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Library, Warminster, Pennsylvania.

Last reviewed:September 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.225600

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• Electronic navigation systems, published April 2021:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Electronic navigation systems, published January 2020:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

A system that locates suitably equipped users and vehicles by means of measurements made by electronic sensors. Electronic navigation systems are extensively used by aircraft, ships, and land and space vehicles. Typical measurements involved in providing navigational guidance include distance or bearing from a user or vehicle to a known point, or direct determination of the present position of the vehicle in a particular coordinate system. From the knowledge of present position, the course and distance to a destination at a known location can be calculated. Most systems are based on the use of electromagnetic (radio) or acoustic waves or inertial sensing. Many practical and everyday applications of electronic navigation systems (Fig. 1) rely on satellites [such as those in the Global Positioning System (GPS)] to communicate with equipment onboard vehicles or within individual users' personal electronic devices.

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