Methods and systems are used for monitoring a global position or location of a prosthetic or orthotic device and to provide feedback control of the device. Certain methods may employ remote transmitting devices and receivers to recognize when a prosthetic or orthotic device user is in a moving vehicle and, therefore, initiate automatic shut-off, driving mode, or relaxed mode. Other methods may employ remote transmitting devices and receivers to identify the global position of the prosthetic or orthotic device, compare the global position to a stored terrain mapped database and output feedback control instructions and/or alerts to the prosthetic or orthotic device based at least in part on the stored terrain mapping information.