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GPS for Golf Course
Middletown, R.I., March 6, Is the foursome ahead of you moving at a glacial pace? Want to know how everyone else on the golf course is doing, how long your last drive was, or the shortest route back to the clubhouse? The C80 compass sensor from KVH Industries has been integrated in a system designed to help golfers and course managers address these issues as easily as a PGA champion addresses the ball. KVH announced today that a contract manufacturer has placed a $1.75 million order for the C80 compass sensors, which are integrated with the ProLink System, a golf cart-mounted, Global Positioning System (GPS)-based navigational and tracking system being assembled on behalf of ProLink. These systems will be installed aboard standard golf carts found at a typical local golf course.
"With a growing number of golfers in the United States, it is critical for course managers to maximize the number of players who can be on and complete the course during any given day to ensure that the golfing experience is pleasurable for the player and profitable for the course," noted Jim Dodez, KVH's vice president of marketing. "To help achieve this, golf courses nationwide are beginning to use GPS-based course management programs, like the ProLink system. The C80 compass sensor is ideally suited to enhance this system through its accurate heading, GPS-backup, and dead reckoning capabilities."
The ProLink system uses a GPS receiver integrated with the KVH C80 mounted aboard golf carts to pinpoint the location of each cart. This data can be transmitted back to the golf course's base station, where course managers can track golfers' progress in real time. At the same time, the ProLink color monitor provides golfers with such information as exact yardage to the pin, pace-of-play monitoring, scoring with real-time leaderboard, and snack bar ordering. The system also permits two-way communication between players and course managers, including requests for assistance, weather updates, or warnings that players are playing too slowly.
"Because GPS signals can be blocked by foliage or disrupted by other factors, it is very important to have a compass-based backup, dead reckoning, and heading sensor aboard ProLink-equipped golf carts," noted Jay Napoli, KVH Industries' Director for Fiber Optic Gyro and OEM Sales. "Now, golfers and course managers can be sure that their position data will be available 100 percent of the time, regardless of the status of the GPS signals. And unlike GPS systems, the C80 compass sensor can tell players and managers which direction the golf cart is facing, even when it has come to a stop, a real plus when you are navigating around a golf course."
About KVH Industries
KVH Industries, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative high-bandwidth communications products, navigation systems, and fiber optic products. Using proprietary fiber-optic and satellite antenna technology, the company is developing next-generation systems with greater precision, durability, and versatility for communications, navigation, and industrial applications. An ISO 9001-registered company, KVH has headquarters in Middletown, Rhode Island, with a fiber optic manufacturing facility in Illinois, and European sales, marketing and support office in Hoersholm, Denmark.
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