GSM/GPS vehicle tracking on Pent computer

[captainwifi]

smtag a few questions.
1) What is your webaddress ?
2) What embedded platform are you usingc104 , Via mini-itx, pcengines wrap etc. Will every single street (I think there is a million) be contained on the embedded database with it's GPS coordinates.
3) Will you use flash, DOM or 20gig laptop hdd. Flash can only handle a few read/write cycles.
4) How will you deal with phone jamming devices? www.roundsolutions.com has a patented GSM/python modem that activates a latch if the 900mhz spectrum is jammed. Connect this relay output to the panic button of Netstar/Tracker to alert them that a hijacker is attempting to steal the car. It is for this reason that I doubt hijackers would use Gsm jamming devices, the risk of Netstar being alerted is just to great.
5) Do a google on Garmin,GPS,python on sourceforge.net for fully debugged
posix/windows rs-232 routines. No need to reinvent the wheel. This code is released under the GPL license. How about yours?
6) Combining GPRS/sms/GPS/Netstar/Tracker makes it virtually impossible to steal a car. The technology is stable and mature and can be implemented for a cost of no more than R3000.

Any vehicle security system no matter how sophisticated can be subverted if one can open the bonnet to obtain physical access to the engine. The fuel cut-out devices actuate if the vehicle is started via 'hot wiring'. On the diesel pump of your Isuzu is a 12volt actuating solenoid. Simply bridge it to the battery via a wire and the solenoid pulls in allowing the diesel to flow freely to the pump. Push the car and drive off without the fuel cut-out electronics even being aware of diesel flowing to the pump.

Weld rods to the inside of the bonnet that will clamp the bonnet shut via a solenoid or whatever device. Place a solid state relay in series with the solenoid12v actuating wire and monitor this relay with a 8051 cpu. The thief would have to cut open the bonnet to get to the diesel pump. The question is why do the insurance companies and car alarm installers not inform the public about just how easy it is to steal a car. ?

If a wire is placed on the solenoid of the diesel pump, the fuel-cut out electronics can easily monitor for this via a simple Op-amp/A/D converter configuration. But this will only work if they don't cut the original wire attaced to the solenoid. A better idea is to continually read the GPS coordinates of the vehicle and to SMS the owner that his vehicle is moving without the car electronics 'knowing' about it. Or sms the owner everytime the bonnet is opened. There is always a solution to a problem, you just have to find it!

 

[RichardP]

Hi there,

Most GSM based tracking companys use a feature in the Modems that report the nearest 6 base-stations (in Active mode) so it makes it easy to triangulate. The only problem is that the 'common man' doesnt have access to the base-station identitys and the Lattitude /longitude of the towers.

GPS is nice, but doesnt work in Urban canyons or parking lots where the skyline is obscured.. as for the SBC, I think its overkill! as most tracking modules are embedded processors avaliable for about R100, a trimble GPS core and a wizmo/siemens GSM module ;-) If you had electronic experience, you can build the entire thing quite cheaply. (I would say R2000 as a thumbsuck for a prototype)

One Quirk of GPS is drifting.... do the experiment - place GPS module in once place and log its latitude/longitide ($GGA message if I remember).. log the data for a few days. you will notice on a distance calculation, the receiver would have traveled a few KM's

Features of the commercial tracking systems are...
Ignition ON/OFF detect
Battery Connect/Disconnect
Beacon switch (so that it can be tracked by Helicopter)
Zone's - e.g. If your car leaves Gauteng - it alerts you
Fuel cut-off
Ignition Kill
Reverse light activate - makes it easy for the helicopter to track a speeding white light


Richard
Need any help, just shout ;-)

GSM , GPS vehicle tracking device on a single board Pentium computer

<snip>

Any questions, post on this thread.

 

[AntonD]

Please contact me

Hi John

Please contact me via the administrator.
Thanks

 

[captainwifi]

Ideally every vehicle in South Africa must have a tracking device with an onboard database containing every street and GPS coordinate, installed. These vehicles must be in 24hour GPRS communication with http://www.eblockwatch.co.za MySql database.

If 10000 such vehicles register with http://www.eblockwatch.co.za then Andrei Snyman can approach Chubb, Coin etc security and work out a monthly subscription service where all the money is pooled and the security companies are used to respond to distress situations. There will obviously be many false alarms but with a large pool of funds one can bugdet for this. And as I have posted elsewhere the user interface of pressing buttons on a cell to interface with E-blockwatch is not ideal.

The whole response network to crime is all wrong at the moment. Security firms shouldn' compete against one another. They should cooperate. But they will only do this once we the public establish our lines of communication between one another. This will enable us to leverage the considerable security apparatus of the security firms and SAPS. Presently you have to phone 10111 and explain to 'Precious' your predicament.

And establishing your lines of communication involves using all mediums and network topologies like DsLam, copper,fiber Mesh, Wi-fi and GPRS.

During the first Gulf War there was very little coordination between the Airforce, Navy and Groundforces. The airforce went in first and bombed Iraq. Then followed by the ground forces. Today a Marine sargeant directs the Apache airstrike and Abrahams tank bombardment. Rumsfeld has forced the Navy, Airforce and Army to break down their artificial barriers and cooperate.

Breaking down the barriers between us as South-Africans is also possible. The constraints to this happening are Social, Technical, Financial and Legal. Each of these I have addressed. Should you object to my evaluation of the situation in South Africa you must object in terms of these four factors. Any objections?

 

[Tracker_Giant]

Looking For Vehicle Tracking Units:

Hello,

We are also Vehicle Tracking Company and doing this business since last many years. We have good number of customers and we are trying our best to serve them with most reliable and economical solutions. We have our own developed Vehicle Tracking Software so we are still looking for some reliable and economical Vehicle Tracking units so can someone suggest any Vehicle Tracking unit? If some one has any suggestion for us then it would be really appreciate able for us.

Regards,
Picasso

 

[epailty]

Talent

Hi,
I'm doing some work for a Security company, makinga vehicle tracking system.
The tracking device is very compact - using an ARM7, a GSM module and GPS module, and some flash etc. Its usinga compact protocol to communicate with ethe server, which is as much as possible Open Source (LGPL).

I heard there was a group doing an Open Source vehicle tracking system... just wondered if this is it (in this thread) ??? - we're looking for talent, especially Open Source programmers...

Brian Modra

 

[Vincent_Thorn]

vehicle tracker

Hello, Brian!

I'm newbie in GPS tracking, but have a big experience in programming.
I'm interested to make vehicle GPS tracking device, but see very limited/closed hardware to do it. If you interested, we can cooperate to make smth useful. Please contact me.