Building a 4G GPS tracker for my car

Using Arduino Project Guidance
1

I apologize if this post is incomplete because I am unsure of what I am looking for. I will do my best to present the findings I have currently.

I want to track my car, and I bought the SinoTrack ST-901L for that purpose and built a little TCP server. The problem is that it is very unwieldy when it comes to data packets sent, and the intervals that they are sent. It does not respect the intervals you can set for it and keeps sending binary data every second regardless. It also supposedly has two Chinese IPs hardcoded in the firmware, and that's a privacy issue.

Instead of spending more time trying to get the thing to work, I want to build my own tracker. I was thinking something like:

I will need to power this from the car, and I would like to copy the SinoTrack functionality of detecting when the car is running. This can be done by tapping into a fuse that gives power only when the ignition is on.

So I will have one 12V cable from a fuse that is always on, and another from a fuse that is only on when the ignition is on. I probably need to downstep that voltage for both the Arduino and the LTE+GPS-module somehow (how?).

This way I can send data to a custom HTTPS-endpoint at different intervals depending on if the car is running or not, and I can add a sleep-mode if I want.

I also will need to be able to receive SMS to change parameters like intervals, and to trigger a HTTPS-call with positioning no matter the mode the device is in.

The coding part I think I will be able to figure out, but what stumps me a bit is if the Arduino Nano pairs well with this module? What should I be looking for? I have read a bit about baud rates and software vs. hardware serial lines etc. that can be potential issues.

But it seems to me that the module sends and receives data for both the LTE and GPS part of the module through a single serial line? And if I hook that up I should be able to communicate with both?

I can also go for a bigger Arduino if needed. I'll just package everything in a box anyway and hide it somewhere under the dashboard of the car.

Any tips, tricks, or experiences here? I'll be sure to share my progress and code when I am done so anybody else can benefit from it so we can stop sending all our positioning data to China :smiley:

2

Have a look at the SIM 76xx series of modems from SIMCOM

Literally all the RF tech you need is in that chip.

3

I have searched a bit and am unsure exactly what model or how to find what I am looking at. My main issue is I have read so many problems on this forum and elsewhere of people struggling to get any data back from the modules, and I don't want to buy a lot of hardware only for it to not communicate well.

So I was hoping for specific recommendations of hardware that will fit together and is "proven to work" so to speak to give both GPS-data and 4G connectivity. I am considering using an ESP32 now because I can put it to deep sleep when the car ignition is off, and wake it up using and SMS if needed, extending the time the car can stay unused without using up the battery.

4

still stands, either as a chip or module.

5

Now I am looking to go for a bit more expensive version, but with possibly less fiddling?

nRF9160

6

Have you looked into this ?

I have worked with it in several projects, utilizing both GPS and LTE features, proven to work seamlessly

It is very likely to support most ISPs' bands in your country too

7

Well that seems promising. It's cheaper and seems easier to program for than the nRF9160. Has all the inputs I would need it would seem. Great!

Are there any examples of this used in a GPS tracking project that you know of? I mean, available online as learning material? :slight_smile:

And there can not be any hidden firmware on this sending data I don't want sent?

8

here you go

That toy is based on an ESP32 that you can program from Arduino IDE

9

Ah, great!

I will look into this and see if I can order one :smiley: