The Electro Gyro-Cator was claimed to be the world's first automated commercially available

automotive navigation system An automotive navigation system is part of the automobile controls or a third party add-on used to find direction in an automobile. It typically uses a satellite navigation device to get its position data which is then correlated to a position on ...

.Honda Worldwide , History
/ref> It was co-developed by

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

,Honda Worldwide , History
/ref>
/ref> and Stanley Electric Co.. Unlike most navigation systems of today, it did not use

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

Satellites A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

to maintain its position and discern movement of the vehicle. Rather, it was an

Inertial navigation system An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dire ...

, because it contained a helium gas

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...

that could detect both rotation and movement. A special servo gear was also attached to the transmission housing to feed information to the Gyro-Cator to help maintain position, map speed and distance traveled.Honda's 1981 Electro Gyrocator: vintage navigation at its finest – Engadget
/ref> Transparent maps were placed inside the unit and it would scroll them past a 6 inch monochrome CRT illuminated screen as the car traveled along. The monitor would indicate by a series of circles (or cross hairs) on the screen to show the vehicle's current location or display lines for path of travel. A marking pen was also included to help make personal indicators on the map if needed. Adjustments could be made to change the display scale, position, rotation, brightness, and contrast. In its only year of production in 1981, it was announced as an option on that year's

Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of cars manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States since 1989. ...

and

Honda Vigor The is a premium sedan that was derived from the Honda Accord. It was sold in Japan through the ''Honda Verno'' dealer network from 1981 until 1995, and sold in North America from June 1991 (model year 1992) until 1994 as the Acura Vigor. Early ...

, but at ¥300,000 ($2,746

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

), it was almost a quarter of the value of the car. It is not clear how many units were actually sold to customers as a "dealer option". A patent for gyroscope design was introduced to the US in design patent D274332.- "CTR Terminal for vehicle navigation" Patent D274332 at Google Patents
/ref> Documented weight for the unit was roughly 20 lb (9 kg). A display unit, with a cutaway of the Gyroscope, is currently shown at the

Honda Collection Hall The Honda Collection Hall is a transport museum housing a collection of Honda consumer- and racing-oriented artifacts. It is on the grounds of the Twin Ring Motegi race track located at Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. It opened in 1998. It is operated by ...

Twin Ring Motegi Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport race track located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility hav ...

, Japan.

References

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External links

Honda History - Electro Gyrocator
Navigational equipment Navigation Honda