GSM/GPS vehicle tracking on Pent computer

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

This is a discussion of the features that a GPS/GSM vehicle tracking system must have implemented on a SBC Pentium computer. The embedded Pentium SBC (Single board computer) which runs of a 12Volt battery interfaces to the GPS and GSM units. It runs www.python.com on an embedded Linux distribution. The SBC has A/D inputs for water temp and oil pressure measurement and can be used as an immobilizer device. Oil pressure and water temp measurement would be features truck owners implement.

Connected to the SBC are: <br>
www.wavecom.com GSM rs-232 enabled AT command set modem (R1600)
www.trimble.com rs-232 OEM GPS module (R400)
Flash card which functions as the HDD. (R400)
Total cost should be no more than R4500 for a tracking system that belongs
to and is controled by you. There are NO monthly fees to pay to use the
system, since it is opensource.

The tracking software written in Python uses the embedded http://gadfly.sourceforge.net database to store way points and street data. Optional signal conditioning hardware: zener clamps, surge protecting inductors and low pass filters for the A/D inputs to monitor oil pressure and water temperature, excessive idling or revving of engine, open doors, disconnected trailers. Basically anything you want done.
Optional wi-fi 802.11b card. The SBC has an ethernet port on which street data can be uploaded at will.

Features that the system will have: <br>
When driving a specific route every morning to work and your wife turns left where she should have turned right you will receive a real-time SMS with the speed and GPS coordinates of the vehicle. In a hijacking the doors are always opened. If the vehicle's doors opens at a stop street (GPS coordinates
are stored in a gadfly python database) you will be alerted. If her door opens at the security gate of the company she works for, no alert will be sent to you (this is optional). Using an infrared diode shining on the drivers face one can determine the complexion of the driver. Should the complexion of the driver change an SMS will be sent to the base station. <p>

Recovery of a hijacked vehicle: <br>
The SBC on a vehicle or truck going below a certain speed at any designated point or deviating more than 20m from a specified
route will SMS the base station. The present situation with the tracking companies are that you are not alerted in real-time as to the
exact moment that your R1 000 000 truck has stopped on the N1 highway where it was not supposed to stop or the exact moment
it turned left instead of right.
<p>
Most hijacking takes place at 5pm in front of your gate. The system will SMS the base station after a vehicle returns to the person's
residence but leaves within a 10min (or any period) window.
<p>
Hijackers have now started to target women driving alone, no matter what the condition of their car. You only have
about 20min to save her ..... The tracking companies don't have the manpower to respond within the needed time frame.
If you can't convince them that she really has been hijacked (usually they want to speak to the
driver of the vehicle) you are basically out of luck. I have a much better idea. We must sign an agreement with Chub or any
large security company that they will track down the vehicle. You the distressed husband relays the street GPS data from
your computer to the driver of the Chub Corsa bakkie. Once he has visual contact , you remotely via SMS cut the
engine. If you make a prepayment into their account to cover the cost of a pursuit then you are guaranteed of a prompt response to your distress. So the question is: What is your wife and kids worth to you ? And if it turns out to be a false alarm, your wife forgot her cellphone and she did not tell you where she was going, then next time she will know better. But now you had to pay for a false pursuit and not the tracking company who financially just can't afford to look for people who forgot their cellphones at home. Since this system is opensource it can also be integrated with www.eblockwatch.co.za

<p>
All these features are trivial to program and implement. The only OOP that will be used is to wrap the serial driver routines into an object that must be instantiated. You therefore don't need to know anything about serial port drivers. To send an SMS to cut of the engine:
myser = PythonSerial()
myser.SendsMs('cutengine', '0831234321')

These two lines of code sends the instruction via the AT command set to a wavecom GSM modem on the Rs-232 serial port from my base station PC or laptop. The modem SMS's this instruction to the vehicle SBC.
The I/O port of the SBC actuates a relay which cuts of the engine on reception of the SMS. The list of features are only limited by your imagination. The source code will be released on www.sourceforge.net under the LGPL license. I will limit the use of OOP so that people who only understand procedural programming can tinker with the source
code.

Any questions, post on this thread.
 
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John,you have a very good idea, but there are a lot of gremlins with gps/gsm etc. I have worked with vehicle tracking since 1992 and boy we had fun. GPS in a car are not always accurate to 20m. But an idea i have toyed with is a intelligent learning system which learns the habits of the driver and can react to something out of the ordinary. The GIS data in SA got better but it is still not very accurate. If you want I will play devils advocate and give ideas. ;)
 
I have written a GPS/GSM system for windows using a Nokia 5110. There were no gremlins , the thing worked everytime. The GPS embedded modules with Rs-232 has become extremely reliable and stable since 1992. What is GIS data? What we need is a gps/street dictionary, but I guess this will be expensive. You have to give the end user complete control over the system, which is presently not the case with www.matrix.co.za , www.tracker.co.za and www.netstar.co.za

If you look at these companies websites, you will see that you do not
directly get the SMS from their SBC to your desktop. They remain in
control. They expect you to log in on the internet to see where is your
car and you have pay much more than 15c/sms that it cost them.
To quote one of them:" The really great news is that this service is absolutely free for the first 30 positions per vehicle per month! "
But with my opensource system you can get as many updates as you
want for 15c/sms. And none of them has a system whereby their onboard SBC determines by itself if your R1,5mil truck deviated from it's carefully planned GPS'd route you plotted the previous night.
A further complication is that if you don't get your car back within 20min
it could be stripped to look for the tracking companies radio transmission
device or hidden inside a Faraday Cage, through which no radio signals
can leave or penetrate.
Your point about the AI system to determine automatically that
you are following a strange route would be a nice feature but use up
cpu cycles and be very error prone. I think a better idea would be for the
SBC to SMS the GPS data everytime her door opens on this unknown
route.
 
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GIS = Geographical Information System. The best way to gather this data for personal use is to actually drive all routes and log every x seconds the coordinates . Then your pretty sure its the data what you want. Using maps like Mapstudio you'll find that gps plots the N1 about 100m east in Midrand. So setting an deviation alert for 50m on that route could cause false alarms.
On the subject of tracking companies most of them use either radio trangulation or GSM on cars and not GPS. So there your idea of GPS is good.
I wish we had a WIFI mesh that you could stream the GPS and other data in realtime to a pc/server todo all the clever bits.
 
Why reinvent the wheel?

Old thread I know - but still relevant?

There are already existing GSM/GPS units priced at around R3800, which you buy outright and control yourself. You have to remember the following:

GSM normally = monthly fee or expensive SMS's;
Installation in most new vehicles would have an implication on the electric warranty. i.e. Volvo doesn't generally allow you to muck around with their wiring;
Recovering the vehicle shouldn't be difficult via the SAPS. Yes, they do actually do good work - we only hear about the bad stuff. Good idea about eblockwatch - mind if I use it ;) ; and
Mapping software poses another cost - even if it isn't all that accurate.
 
Farm protection with Thermal imaging camera mounted on a model helicopter

A thermal imaging camera from http://www.rohloff.co.za can spot a human being in dense bushes on his heat signature by day or night at a distance of 1km even through dense clouds. With an unseen silent small model airplane (25kg) or helicopter known as an RPV (remotely piloted vehicle) fitted with a thermal imaging camera patrolling Kiepersol/Hazyview/Sabie Valley at a height of 1km we will eliminate crime from farms and surrounding areas. Contact Tjaart Broodryk 082 900 8132 / 011 704 2233 at Rohloff for more info on Thermal imaging cameras.

See http://www.aerosonde.com/drawarticle/42
http://www.bluebird-uav.com/
http://www.inventus-uav.com/ for pictures of a fully operational UAV doing surveillance of farms and roads in America.

Each farmer or lodge can see in real-time via the Internet if there are people in an exclusion zone like a macadamia plantation or around a house. The RPV will cover all macadamia farms from Hazyview to Komatipoort A farmer arriving at home at night can be alerted on his cell by the security company that somebody is waiting for him before his gate etc. The deterrent value is tremendous since the attacker can't escape the RPV's camera as he flees into the dense bush and so might not attack a farmer to begin with.

I propose that to get the project of the ground we setup a company and purchase for R230 000 the 1km range Thermal Imaging camera unit. We strap this to a microlight and do periodic surveillance of the dense bush etc. Once the RPV is built we will have a permanent cheap thermal imaging surveillance system that will stop crime in Hazyview/Kiepersol/Sabie Valley .
By pooling our funds together we can share the cost of this system.

The operator flies the RPV under direct radio control on it's instrument panel. The RPV sends back a realtime video image of what the thermal camera sees and ltimeter,pitch,yaw etc data. This data is displayed on a PC screen in realtime as though you were sitting in the cockpit of the model. Using a RPV model helicopter ensures a quick respons to a farm attack: DETERING AN ATTACK FROM TAKING PLACE TO BEGIN WITH.

A RPV model helicopter under direct visual and radio control is the most realistic option to deter farm attacks and track assailants hiding in the bush. The operator loads the RPV helicopter in his bakkie and drives from farm to farm on a periodic basis, searching for assailants in the bush. Random spot checks on macadamia plantations from a height of 1km will deter theft.

The model helicopter runs on a small petrol engine, thus it's operational costs are extremely low. It is just to expensive to use an airplane for routine periodic surveillance.

Radio systems to transmit video and data
http://www.electronicsinfoline.com ,,, http://www.avalonrf.com/products/selection.htm ,,, www.intellicamsystems.com
http:// www.radiotelemetry.co.uk

Micropilot is a full commercial solution to pilot a UAV:
http://www.micropilot.com/
http://autopilot.sourceforge.net
http://www.aeroconcepts.com/UAVHome.html
http://www.uavflight.com/
http://www.uavworld.com/
http://www.bordertechnology.com
http://www.electronic-engineering.ch/study/ins/ins.html
http://www.inventus-uav.com/
UAV flying to crater in Amazon and flying back using Micropilot www.micropilot.com
http://www.aeroconcepts.com/IturraldeExpedition/Iturralde.htm
Windows media player file of a UAV with thermal imaging camera footage http://www.inventus-uav.com/S_UAV3-4.wmv

Commercial UAV for civilian use:
http://www.nationalinfrared.com/x20/shop/pshow.php?SKU=UAV-E2&id_category=17
Thermal camera module to integrate into your own design. Phone 091 818 735 0049
http://www.manufacturers.com.tw/computers/infrared-security-cameras.html

The Mark I Aerosonde is the first robotic aircraft to cross the North Atlantic Ocean. It flew ~2000 miles from St. John's, Newfoundland to the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in roughly 26 hours
http://www.rnrproducts.com/
http://www.aerosonde.com/drawarticle/73
http://www.flir.com/imaging//Ground/Applications/Recon.aspx
http://www.cq-vhf.com/
http://www.ate-aerospace.com
 
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Actualy you get can get a combined gsm/gprs/gps module for R1200 from rfdesign or for about R2000 if you want something with a CPU built in. (does not run Linux but comes with some example code)
 
i worked for netstar for 8 years ,technican.i still cant say muchcause of contract laws but ask me what you want to know. and ill try to help.
 
What has this thread got to do with wireless 2.4Ghz tranmission ?
Everything. In Hazyview the local Spar has a backdoor entrance where the security company pickes up the cash. But the entrance doglegs to the left, has high walls so nobody can see what is going on inside. So as things go in this country the so-called security guard left the gates open etc. etc..and the chaps with Ak-47's were waiting for the security van. Like a dingbat the owner walked into the assailants because:

1) There was no surveillance camera at this pickup spot. Just the sight of a camera might have prevented a heist to begin with. Install a www.mini-itx.com fitted with 2.4ghz wi-fi card and a Phillips Web-cam Pro CCD camera at all potential ambush sites.
2) Install www.mini-itx.com SBC computer in his car with
a 2.4ghz or 5.8ghz PCI wi-fi card.
3) A 10x10cm LCD display inside the car from which you can see in real-time if anybody is lurking behind a corner. The video image is streamed over wi-fi from the surveillance point using a Phillips Web-cam Pro with a moulded plastic lens holder that attaches to this CCD webcam to hold an uto-iris/auto focussing zoom lens. What you really want is for the last detected motion to be streamed to you. There is crude motion detection software available for linux. Windows has better software available.
The SBC computer is therefore used for MP3 audio, GPS/GSM , 2.4ghz video
trouble spot surveillance and downloading GPS waypoints And the whole thing runs of www.python.org and not some cryptic embedded Atmel C. A quick search on www.froogle.com revealed R500 for a GSM modem
and not R1600
 
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You don't need a miniitx at the camera location, you can get cameras with wifi built in quite cheaply.
 
True, Linksys has Mpeg4 cameras under the GPL license. I have posted details elsewhere. But they don't implement mesh so you can't place them on the four corners of your scrapyard , unless they can be connected in infrastructure mode to a highsite. If you have LOS issues you must mesh. If you have a highsite a vanilla AP will do fine.
 
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dablakmark8 yes here is a question. There is a slight problem with GSM data networks.
Using a R400 phone jammer the 900mhz signal can be jammed in a certain radius.
Netstar told me that their radio stransmitter sends a signal on their secret frequency if their installed GSM/GPS module loses it's 900mhz signal. So it would be incredibly stupid for a hijacker to jam the 900mhz spectrum. Furthermore MTN can pick up immediatly if their 900mhz spectrum is being jammed. Driving a stolen bakkie down
the N3 highway jamming the 900mhz signal results in MTN/VODACOM allerting
Netstar, Tracker, Matrix. They would be more than eager to apprehend these culprits
since any perception by the trucking industry that you can simply jam the 900mhz signal would severly damage the business model of the tracking companies.
Would you like to add some thoughts?
 
hi john,

I love to see your project coming as a sourceforge one. waiting to see that, can you tell when you planned to release it. i do have a modem and like to see how it works on my ststem.

thanks a lot
 
ghostim said:
GIS = Geographical Information System. The best way to gather this data for personal use is to actually drive all routes and log every x seconds the coordinates . Then your pretty sure its the data what you want. Using maps like Mapstudio you'll find that gps plots the N1 about 100m east in Midrand. So setting an deviation alert for 50m on that route could cause false alarms.
Click to expand...

On the subject of tracking companies most of them use either radio trangulation or GSM on cars and not GPS. So there your idea of GPS is good.
I wish we had a WIFI mesh that you could stream the GPS and other data in realtime to a pc/server todo all the clever bits.
Click to expand...

I've been in vehicle tracking for 4 years too - built the original Netstar helicopter tracking boxes myself!

The maps we were using last were 100% GPS accurate - MapIT are the best. Garmin GPS units use them in their Garmap software.

On quote 2:
Unbelievably, Netstar, Matrix and Tracker continued to hold a large chunk of the market share with outdated beacon-based and GSM triangulation methods; and accusations have been made that they managed to retain exclusivity through their collaboration with the VESA approval committee. Finally, they and 2 other vehicle security companies have been referred to the Competition Tribunal for ruling.

Out of interest's sake - how would you get a unit to SMS you if you deviate from a route?
How is the data harvested? In real time via GPRS to a base station running the map with the route marker?

What happens when someone takes an alternative route because of road works or an accident? How many SMS's get sent, and at what frequency?
When you've got a fleet of trucks and some numbskull ticks the 'SMS alert' box on every I/O, you're in for a nice big SMS bill...

:D
 
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anyone seen some codes on this type, i'm trying to do something for my vehicle now .. just cant wait to see my vehicle moving on web.
 
I will limit the use of OOP so that people who only understand procedural programming can tinker with the source
Click to expand...

How are you going to do that in a language where everything is an object :P

Most people should be able to understand Python OOP, its not rocket science..
 
Gsm / Gps

Hi there All

At Last the first DIY GPS tracking system with "the required Software" just released.

GPS tracking systems been around for some time, but one always had to develop ones own interface .... which just means money money and more money.

Now, we have just completed a GSM / GPS system with all needed software to track you vehicle live or view history trips, and the tool to answer all those question most fleet managers wrestle with, was the driver speeding, did he travel the planned route, did he stop any where and for how long...etc

for more information email [email protected]

later


Mark







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

This is a discussion of the features that a GPS/GSM vehicle tracking system must have implemented on a SBC Pentium computer. The embedded Pentium SBC (Single board computer) which runs of a 12Volt battery interfaces to the GPS and GSM units. It runs www.python.com on an embedded Linux distribution. The SBC has A/D inputs for water temp and oil pressure measurement and can be used as an immobilizer device. Oil pressure and water temp measurement would be features truck owners implement.

Connected to the SBC are: <br>
www.wavecom.com GSM rs-232 enabled AT command set modem (R1600)
www.trimble.com rs-232 OEM GPS module (R400)
Flash card which functions as the HDD. (R400)
Total cost should be no more than R4500 for a tracking system that belongs
to and is controled by you. There are NO monthly fees to pay to use the
system, since it is opensource.

The tracking software written in Python uses the embedded http://gadfly.sourceforge.net database to store way points and street data. Optional signal conditioning hardware: zener clamps, surge protecting inductors and low pass filters for the A/D inputs to monitor oil pressure and water temperature, excessive idling or revving of engine, open doors, disconnected trailers. Basically anything you want done.
Optional wi-fi 802.11b card. The SBC has an ethernet port on which street data can be uploaded at will.

Features that the system will have: <br>
When driving a specific route every morning to work and your wife turns left where she should have turned right you will receive a real-time SMS with the speed and GPS coordinates of the vehicle. In a hijacking the doors are always opened. If the vehicle's doors opens at a stop street (GPS coordinates
are stored in a gadfly python database) you will be alerted. If her door opens at the security gate of the company she works for, no alert will be sent to you (this is optional). Using an infrared diode shining on the drivers face one can determine the complexion of the driver. Should the complexion of the driver change an SMS will be sent to the base station. <p>

Recovery of a hijacked vehicle: <br>
The SBC on a vehicle or truck going below a certain speed at any designated point or deviating more than 20m from a specified
route will SMS the base station. The present situation with the tracking companies are that you are not alerted in real-time as to the
exact moment that your R1 000 000 truck has stopped on the N1 highway where it was not supposed to stop or the exact moment
it turned left instead of right.
<p>
Most hijacking takes place at 5pm in front of your gate. The system will SMS the base station after a vehicle returns to the person's
residence but leaves within a 10min (or any period) window.
<p>
Hijackers have now started to target women driving alone, no matter what the condition of their car. You only have
about 20min to save her ..... The tracking companies don't have the manpower to respond within the needed time frame.
If you can't convince them that she really has been hijacked (usually they want to speak to the
driver of the vehicle) you are basically out of luck. I have a much better idea. We must sign an agreement with Chub or any
large security company that they will track down the vehicle. You the distressed husband relays the street GPS data from
your computer to the driver of the Chub Corsa bakkie. Once he has visual contact , you remotely via SMS cut the
engine. If you make a prepayment into their account to cover the cost of a pursuit then you are guaranteed of a prompt response to your distress. So the question is: What is your wife and kids worth to you ? And if it turns out to be a false alarm, your wife forgot her cellphone and she did not tell you where she was going, then next time she will know better. But now you had to pay for a false pursuit and not the tracking company who financially just can't afford to look for people who forgot their cellphones at home. Since this system is opensource it can also be integrated with www.eblockwatch.co.za

<p>
All these features are trivial to program and implement. The only OOP that will be used is to wrap the serial driver routines into an object that must be instantiated. You therefore don't need to know anything about serial port drivers. To send an SMS to cut of the engine:
myser = PythonSerial()
myser.SendsMs('cutengine', '0831234321')

These two lines of code sends the instruction via the AT command set to a wavecom GSM modem on the Rs-232 serial port from my base station PC or laptop. The modem SMS's this instruction to the vehicle SBC.
The I/O port of the SBC actuates a relay which cuts of the engine on reception of the SMS. The list of features are only limited by your imagination. The source code will be released on www.sourceforge.net under the LGPL license. I will limit the use of OOP so that people who only understand procedural programming can tinker with the source
code.

Any questions, post on this thread.
Click to expand...
 
GPS / GSM ... now DIY

Hi there All

At Last the first DIY GPS tracking system with "the required Software" just released.

GPS tracking systems been around for some time, but one always had to develop ones own interface .... which just means money money and more money.

Now, we have just completed a GSM / GPS system with all needed software to track you vehicle live or view history trips, and the tool to answer all those question most fleet managers wrestle with, was the driver speeding, did he travel the planned route, did he stop any where and for how long...etc

for more information email [email protected]

later


Mark
 
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