3 ms·
Wouldn't a dip needle be better for vertical pathfinding? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dip_circle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dip_circle
by goldenkey 8y ago
Wouldn't a dip needle be better for vertical pathfinding?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dip_circle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dip_circle
- Sharlin 8y agoHow would that help? The problem is the disorientation one may experience when exiting an unfamiliar underground metro station. A regular compass restores your bearings (literally!) very effectively.
- goldenkey 8y agoI don't understand how a regular compass will tell you which way the stairs going up are. A dip needle would point towards the stairwell.
- jstanley 8y agoIt's pretty easy to tell which stairs go up just by looking at them, but it's pretty hard to tell which stairs go north.
- goldenkey 8y agoI'm guessing you haven't taken the subway in NYC. A lot of times the stairs are only on one side. And the tracks are extremely long and have many trash cans and objects occluding a clear view.
- jstanley 8y agoI have read the wikipefia article a few times, but maybe I don't understand what a dip circle does. My understanding is that it tells you how parallel you are to the magnetic field lines. I don't see how that helps you find the stairs. All I can see is that if you lay it down on some steps, it will tell you whether it's pointing uphill or downhill. Is that not correct? Do the magnetic field lines in a tube station somehow point towards the exit rather than the north pole?
- goldenkey 8y agoWell.. steel or any metal in the ground will distort the field. I don't know if it would point to the stairs but it would definitely show you the least occluded path.