I built a LoRa-GPS Tracker // Range test, battery life & firmware
Channel: Sayanee Basu
Date: 2022-03-11

#lora #gps #eink

I built my LoRa-GPS Tracker with PCBs from PCBWay https://www.pcbway.com. I worked on the firmware and ran some tests before doing an outdoor range test. Here, I describe each of the components of building the device. 

Checkout the PCBWay project page: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Oak___the_lora_gps_tracker.html

‣ Some links below are affiliate. I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:17 Idea
00:45 Range test - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/demo
02:54 BOM and Cost - https://hutscape.com/oak/bom
03:25 Battery and power circuit https://hutscape.com/oak/pcb
04:21 Charging battery - https://hutscape.com/oak/design#charging-the-battery
05:53 Measuring battery life - https://hutscape.com/oak/design#measuring-battery-life
06:46 LoRa communication - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/lora-duplex-a
07:17 GPS Module - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/gps-fix-parsed
08:34 GPS Format - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/latlong-conversions
10:28 E-Ink display - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/eink-rotated
11:26 Microcontroller - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/custom-arduino
11:52 Code configuration - https://hutscape.com/oak/code/demo#makefile
13:33 Inspiration LilyGO T-Beam - https://hutscape.com/tutorials?search=t-beam
14:18 Applications for LoRa-GPS Trackers?

🛍️ PRODUCTS MENTIONED
LilyGO T-Beam https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_9ggvh6
Opus BT - C3100 rechargeable battery charger https://amzn.to/3oHWqwF
HopeRF LoRa RFM95 module https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_A49mJI
Waveshare 1.54inch E-Ink display black/white 200x200 https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Aa47iU

🎩 PROJECT FILES
Project Oak https://hutscape.com/oak/

📺 WATCH NEXT
Using 121GW Multimeter as Datalogger for battery charging profile https://youtu.be/gwlWutQANIc
How to read GPS NMEA Sentences  https://youtu.be/2WIaRukQKbk
Using LoRa for P2P half-duplex long-range communication https://youtu.be/tO1hYr6hNa4
Uploading Arduino bootloader on a new micro-controller https://youtu.be/h2nKROPlFy0
Why does PCB to blinky LED take so long? https://youtu.be/R5ralwwUV8A
A case study of LoRa-GPS tracker and how to evaluate similar projects https://youtu.be/Kgxx7jivSes

🔗 LINKS SHOWN
Sketch specification - Arduino CLI: https://arduino.github.io/arduino-cli/dev/sketch-specification/#src-subfolder
Arduino zero bootloader https://github.com/arduino/ArduinoCore-samd/tree/master/bootloaders/zero
waveshare/e-Paper: https://github.com/waveshare/e-Paper/tree/master/Arduino
Adafruit_GPS https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_GPS
Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D https://www.adafruit.com/product/4415
Antenna, Compressed Whip, Stub Straight: https://sg.element14.com/lprs/ant-ss900/antenna-stub-straight-868-915mhz/dp/2096218
Frequency Plans by Country https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/docs/lorawan/frequencies-by-country/
sandeepmistry/arduino-LoRa https://github.com/sandeepmistry/arduino-LoRa
MCP73831/2 Data Sheet: http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/20001984g.pdf
Introduction to Battery Chargers: https://predictabledesigns.com/battery-chargers-introduction-part1/
18650 battery holder datasheet: https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2067690.pdf
CRC library for Arduino: https://github.com/RobTillaart/CRC
PA1010D GPS module https://www.cdtop-tech.com/products/pa1010d

🙏🏻 CREDIT
Kayaking video by Mikhail Nilov https://www.pexels.com/video/people-kayaking-in-an-arctic-environment-8318475/

🔌 TOOLS USED
https://hutscape.com/tools