What are Car GPS trackers?

What are Car GPS trackers? Numerous circumstances call for using a GPS tracker, particularly those involving security.

A GPS tracker is a small tracking device that uses satellites to determine the precise location of an asset or vehicle to which it is attached and then transmits the information via GSM to a web platform or by SMS with coordinates.

A GPS receiver when in operation measures the time it takes for radio signals to travel between four or more satellites to its location and then calculates the distance from each satellite to determine its longitude, altitude, and latitude. The tracking system uses Trilateration or Triangulation methods to easily and reliably detect the location of the vehicle[1]. With the Trilateration method, the GPS receiver identifies the relative positions of objects using the geometry of triangles. Triangulation is the method where a GPS receiver accurately measures the time it takes for the satellite to make its brief voyage to Earth and thus calculates its distance from the satellite employing the radio signal’s travel time. To determine the distance between the satellite and the GPS receiver, the time measured is multiplied by the speed of a radio wave, which is 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second [1]. The coordinates of longitude and latitude can be sent to the GPS user by SMS upon request, or they can be transmitted via cellular or satellite modem—the GSM modem incorporated in the unit—and saved in the database (See Fig. 1 below).

Fig. 1 Diagrammatic Representation of  Vehicle Tracking System

The application areas of a GPS tracker are nearly limitless, and there are currently optimized trackers with several added features for practically every situation. However, only a few types of GPS trackers would be discussed below:  

2. Types of GPS Trackers:

2.1 Personal GPS trackers

This type of tracker is ideal for locating the elderly, children, and people with somewhat mental, or psychological illness/disorder, health issues etc. It typically has an SOS button that people in need can use to quickly reach out to the authorized number linked to the device in emergencies for help.

2.2. GPS tracker for pets

Pets can also be located using GPS trackers. There are various types of trackers in the market for animals but these are particularly light and small and are attached to the animal’s collar. It is also interesting to see what distances the pets, e.g. dogs, cover when they go on a racing or roaming expedition.

2.3 Car GPS trackers

Vehicle GPS trackers are the most popular and are usually installed in cars, motorbikes, trucks, containers, etc. They have many uses such as real-time monitoring, and scheduling management. They apply to fleet management including routing, dispatch, school bus management, taxi operation management, public transportation management, car rental services management, car theft prevention, etc. These trackers have common functions such as driving behavior monitoring, power disconnection alarm,  electronic geo-fences, remote fuel cut, etc., and upload these data to the web platform to provide complete vehicle supervision and security. A Car GPS device is controlled by a tracking platform and/or by a mobile phone, allowing the user to communicate with the system wirelessly. These GPS  devices have a SIM slot that uses GSM SIM to transmit and receive SMS Coordinates. The sent SMS usually includes a link to a map service, e.g., Google Maps that reveals the precise address where the tracker is located. The tracking portal with the maps can also display the route either in real-time or later as well as other vital information such as fuel level, engine status, driver behavior, etc. of the vehicle in which the tracker is installed. (see figure 2 below).

Fig 1. Tracking platform and google maps display of car GPS trackers location information

It is noteworthy that in recent times there are some vehicle GPS trackers that support both SIM cards and E-SIM but most of which are usually customized. One typical feature of a Car GPS trackers are that it is small in size, making it easy to install and hide.  

Most Car trackers are installed and powered by external car batteries. Nonetheless, they also have a built-in battery, and therefore can still give an alarm even if the power to the external battery is interrupted either by theft or because the battery is simply flat. Other vehicle GPS trackers are installed via magnetic cases in trucks, farm machinery, and containers. These types usually have larger built-in battery capacity and may be running for years depending on the working mode set for the device.

Have you ever wondered how your automobile’s GPS trackers navigation system operates? GPS antennas play a vital role in enabling that. Therefore, the next section briefly discusses tracker antennas in the next section.