Smartphone GPS Tracker Version 1.0
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ok. that makes more sense.
I've been reading the venus data sheet and it looks like a nice chip. I think you could make a really tiny tracker with that piggybacked on the back of the xbee, kind of like this:
https://imall.iteadstudio.com/im121019006.html
that one is for a ublox gps, but you get the idea. I've been experimenting with trying to place my gps module like this but it is just a wee bit too wide. it shorts out the xbee pins.
Derek, as i had posted before i do not have the electrics knowledge to completely understand the pieces that will be different in V1.0 and V1.5 if it is not too much trouble, can you explain what items i will be substituting in relationship to the post #"s 2 and 5. thanks
the only real change is the replacement of the 3dr radios with the xbee xsc s3b radios. the gps is the same. the base station uses a xbee shield so that it is really plug and play, no jumper wires needed. you just have to set a few jumper blocks correctly.
I'm in the process of designing little boards for the transmitter and receiver so that you can easily assemble one of these yourself. the soldering should be very easy to do and this will eliminate the need for an arduino. when I get to the point where I have something to share, I'll create a new thread here.
i understood the arduino was for future upgrades. i don't mind soldering and am good at it. i'm not trying to rush you and truly appreciate that you are sharing this knowledge and help. should i wait to order my pieces?
I don't envision changing the two major components (gps and radios) again, but anything is possible. Having said that, I'd wait if I were you. the components only take a few days to order from mouser or digikey.
I have looked at a couple of other gps chips, but they are more expensive. the ublox parts are $100 in single piece prices from ublox and I haven't found any distributors. the venus chip looks nice too, but at $40 it still requires an antenna and it isn't in a package that is easily assembled by people in their homes.
I'm waiting to try the xbee radios out in a rocket before I start making a pcb for them. that should happen in less than two weeks from now. I plan on flying them at least 3 times and I'm building a payload section for another rocket just so it can carry the tracker.
I have looked at a couple of other gps chips, but they are more expensive. the ublox parts are $100 in single piece prices from ublox and I haven't found any distributors. the venus chip looks nice too, but at $40 it still requires an antenna and it isn't in a package that is easily assembled by people in their homes.
I'm waiting to try the xbee radios out in a rocket before I start making a pcb for them. that should happen in less than two weeks from now. I plan on flying them at least 3 times and I'm building a payload section for another rocket just so it can carry the tracker.
mikec
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If you're going to make a PCB then the ublox-based Antenova M10382 is small and has its own antenna -- $30 quantity 1.
https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/m10382-gps-module/13756
that module will be a lot harder for most people to solder on to a board. interesting antenna, though. it actually works better pointing up.
thanks for the link.
Compared to the other datasheets that I've seen, this module looks like a certain level of RF design skills is advised to successfully implement it. Of course I might be completely wrong. I'm not really qualified to form an educated opinion about this.
Reinhard
mikec
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It's just the antenna matching circuit. If you're not trying to squeeze the last 3 dB out of the system I don't think it's too bad, worth a try for somebody given that non-integrated GPS antennas force a tracker to be fairly large at this point. I'll likely try it if nobody else does, though probably not soon.
i will wait then. thanks.
i think it would make sense that i would be able to build multiples of the transmitter portion and be able to have multiple rockets use the same tracker. as long as they all have the same address and only one were powered up at a time. is this correct. the reason i ask is i might need a different mounting method for different rockets and then i would not need to remount in the field.
someone mentioned the purchasing of items in the 1 off is more expensive, maybe after testing and a choice of components had been decided on, we could pool our orders and save some money. at least on the more expensive items.
yep. you can definitely do this.
this probably won't save enough money to matter. for example, from mouser if you buy 50+ gps modules, you'll save 99 cents. not worth it.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fastrax/UP501/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMv/bGM7XKYHK5cWKPdkcWhM
No i didn't. but i should have brought my running shoes, the flight went well, but the wind picked up as my turn approached. at launch wind was 20 mph. the rocket landed fairly close, then the wind kept filling the shute and dragging it along. it was recovered by a nice fellow rocketeer about 60 yards from the road we pull off of to get to launch pads about 1 mile away. the best part was i got a ride back.
Flight tested version 1.5 today. Everything worked prefectly. This time I used my tracks to record the flight. I need to see if I can pull the data off the phone to analyze it.
I only got one flight in. I had hoped to do more testing, but we were having fun launching other rockets. Oh well.
Now that I'm satisifed it works, it is time to get the transmitter pcb made. the schematics and layout are done. I was just waiting until after a real test before I spent the money.
I only got one flight in. I had hoped to do more testing, but we were having fun launching other rockets. Oh well.
Now that I'm satisifed it works, it is time to get the transmitter pcb made. the schematics and layout are done. I was just waiting until after a real test before I spent the money.
dickmoran
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I bread boarded my XBee module with the GPS chip and installed the other XBee into a USB board made for the XBee from India. Pluged the USB into the netbook upstairs and the RX data light blinked. Fired up my Delorme GPS software and played with the port setting etc and lo and behold a green dot appeared in the middle of the map. Now for the bad news. Half asleep I decided to wire up the rocket parts and made a tiny mistake and rediscovered that most electronic parts with active components do not like reversed polarity. Yesterday I received my brand new GPS module and 2 new 900 mhz XBee modules thgat are 250mw vs the 100mw from the original purchase. I still have 1 good 100mw unit as I only fried 1 XBee and GPS. Anyway I will start the build tomorrow after a good nights sleep. Here is the problem. If all goes well my net book will get some tracks from the GPS module which will show up on the map. I have the option of getting sat images to take the place of the stored maps so I will get an idea of where the rocket landed. My thinking goes that I would pin that location and then pop in my GPS store bought receiver and once it syncs up with the sat network a green dot would show up on the map showing me where I was standing. Then I tell the GPS SW to make a route from where I am now {GPS location start} to where I pinned the location of my rocket. I would then walk in a direction based on what my GPS tells me. There will not be any roads for the most part but the sat image overlay that is on the screen should show land marks, hedge rows, woods etc. Does that make sense?
Dick
Dick
i am planning on going a little lower tech as we fly on a dry lake bed with mountains in the distance. once rocket is close to landing i will take final gps direction data and use a compass to figure out direction to travel in. i might even be able to use lankmarks in the distant mountains and just look at the direction and keep walking that way.
I really like the concept of pinning the locations and using long and lat to get "turn by turn" directions to the rocket.
dickmoran
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In discussing my assembly plans with my cousin who is a veteran at Hi Power Rocketry and an electronics genius and he was toiling with the idea of how to power the XBpro TX/RX. The specs are tight for the XBpro putting it out of the range of a single charged Lipoly and the XBpro bread boards with on board 5 VDC regulators won’t handle 2 Lipoly in series and 1 Lipoly will not give enough! Derek, it looks like you have flown the XBpro, what did you use for power?
Thanks,
Dick
NAR 6306 L1
Tri 14074 L1
MDRA 106
Thanks,
Dick
NAR 6306 L1
Tri 14074 L1
MDRA 106
I used a single cell lipo. a fully charged lipo has a voltage of about 4.2v. as long as you keep the battery voltage above 3.5v or so, it will work fine. Since the current draw isn't that great, a 300mah lipo lasts a long time.
The board I'm designing will also use a singe cell lipo. a voltage supervisor is used to shut the board off before hte battery can be damaged. this fail safe isn't present on the system I kludged together.
there is no need to use a 2 cell lipo. it is just extra weight and the extra voltage is just converted into heat.
that board isn't all that great. the voltage regulator can't supply enough current for the radio and the gps. I'd suggest looking for a different one if you go that route.
Green Jello
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Hey Derek, I'm gonna unsubscribe to this thread since 99% of it is over my head. If you ever decide to mass produce the finished product, let me know and I'll probably buy one. Awesome work.
no prob. look for a new thread coming soon, although it will probably be more detailed than this one.
dickmoran
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I have bread boarded my new equipment and I am getting a signal into my netbook but my GPS SW is not seeing it. I thought that the last time I lashed this stuff together I was able to get the GPS SW to lock on but not this time. Anyway I have some GPS diagnostic SW which is seeing the XBee received signal and is decoding it and showing Lat and Lon along with all the other bits in the stream like what sats it is seeing etc. So what I will do now is plug my Earthmate GPS receiver in one usb port so my GPS SW will be operating and plug my XBee usb device in another usb port. Fire up the GPS SW and the GPS Diag sw. Read the last Lat/Lon from the XBee and put that into the GPS SW manually as my destination. That should work for now. I would love to purchase a TX PCB if you get it built. I did pick up 2 of the Droids simple boards and some other fun stuff before I read your last post. Anyway I need more stuff on my bench that I won't use.
Thanks,
Dick
Thanks,
Dick
The lower limit shouldn't be a problem for the radio - it will run at reduced output power down to 2.1V (but the battery should be cutoff at ~3V). On the other hand, Digi's upper limit spec is 3.6V. It's that extra half-volt with the fully charged lipo that I believe should be avoided.
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