First of all, i will try to explain what my plan is.
What i try to make is a sort of device that will pinpoint it's location to me. For example, if i put the device in a car, i'd like to know where that car is on any moment of the day.
I will use an Arduino uno and a GPS module for this. I found some information on the internet that will help me too, i will put the link at the end of the topic, but there is still one problem that is not mentioned on this site. I'd like to send the gpsdata via wifi, i suppose i will need a WifiShield for that. But as you probably know, i'm not sure how to begin with it and more importantly, how to let it work. btw, it's the first time i work with Arduino, so all information is welcome!
Kvdb:
if i put the device in a car, i'd like to know where that car is on any moment of the day.
I'd like to send the gpsdata via wifi, i suppose i will need a WifiShield for that.
So your car will never leave the range of your WiFi network? If that's the case you could just look out the window to see where the car is.
Most trackers use the cellular telephone system for communications. You can eliminate the Arduino by using a cheap Pay As You Go cellphone and install tracking software.
The plan is that the device will connect to every hotspot it passes. When he does connect with a hotspot, i would like it to send a signal to a website (that i probably will set up myself) or my mobile phone, something that will tell me where it is located. The question is: Is this possible? and if it is, how do i start?
It is a schoolproject so i will have to use an Arduino. I'm not allowed to just download and install some tracking software.
It's probably possible to scan for available hotspots, send appropriate logon details, and send your payload, but I'd be inclined to use GPRS instead and SMS the location details.
If you can get an old Linksys WGA54G Game Adapter it will automatically connect to the strongest open WiFi signal it can find. You'd need a Ethernet Shield to talk to it.
The problem is not how to make a connection i guess...
WHEN it makes a connection it can send all GPS data to a website.
Then we now where the bike or car has been or is at the moment.
Problem is the GPS module outputs serial data to a SD card or to the arduino directly.
The big question is, can we read that data that comes from the GPS module and send it through the wifi-shield?
connection or no connection. maybe we can read the data with the wifi-shield and store the data on the internel SD card from the wifi-shield and send it all at once when there's a connection?
You need to learn about how GPS and Arduino can work together. Here is a Arduino library that works really well with GPS. I recommend finding tutorials about Arduino and GPS.
StijnK:
The big question is, can we read that data that comes from the GPS module and send it through the wifi-shield?
Sure you can. You do know that GPS won't work instantly and needs minutes to boot up and won't work inside a garage or tunnels, right? Unless the car only passes heavily populated areas to pick up wifi everywhere it goes, you will only have bits of information while the car is near a coffee shop or public library. The wifi range is so short, thanks to all other wireless signals in the airway, you are better off just printing off which wifi network you are on instead of printing your GPS locations. Both probably have around 5m range/accuracy so really the GPS sensor is useless. My home wifi connection is lost once I'm about 5 meters away from my front door.
sbright33:
There is a database you can use. Or a website. Not sure about cost.
I'm aware that Google got into a lot of bother when it turned out they were collecting information about all the unsecured WiFi hotspots they found. If you had access to that database, you would be in with a chance. I'm not aware that Google were making it publically available, though. And obviously that database is rapidly going out of date. I guess that BT will know where their BTFON hotspots are but whether they would tell you is another matter. Other than that sort of approach I can't imagine how you would figure out which hotspot was where. I would have thought that using GPS for location was far easier, more accurate and more reliable.
The plan is that the device will connect to every hotspot it passes.
Not likely. My hotspot is not going to let your wifi device connect, unless I authorize it, by giving you the necessary key.
Sending important data through an unsecured connection doesn't seem like a good idea, to me. And, there are fewer and fewer unsecured connections, as people wise up about the risks (and costs) of allowing unsecured access to their wifi devices.
Yeah Right super slow black and white but what you need to use your GPS tracker... Free for the price of a Kindle... Probable won't work as it uses a radio connection to the whisper net... Much better to scan about for "Free and open" wireless "hotspots" and figure how to log on every time. MUCH BETTER.