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Development and Performance Analysis of a GPS-GSM Guided System for

Vehicle Tracking

Conference Paper · January 2020

DOI: 10.1109/ICCAKM46823.2020.9051533

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2020 International Conference on Computation, Automation and Knowledge Management (ICCAKM)
Amity University

Development and Performance analysis of a GPS-

GSM Guided System for Vehicle Tracking
Bernard Akindade Adaramola Ayodeji Olalekan Salau Favour Oluwatobi Adetunji
Department of Mechanical and Department of Electrical/Electronics Department of Mechanical and
Mechatronics Engineering, and Computer Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering,
Afe Babalola University, Afe Babalola University, Afe Babalola University,
Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Olatomide Gbenga Fadodun Adebayo Tunbosun Ogundipe

Centre for Energy Research and Directorate of Information
Development, Obafemi Awolowo Communication Technology,
University, Nigeria Afe Babalola University,
[email protected] Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
[email protected]

Abstract— Vehicle theft is a growing menace which poses reduce the insurance cost on the vehicle, because the risk of
serious problems in the society. The theft of vehicles affects loss of the vehicle is reduced [2-3]. In asset tracking
vehicle owners, insurance companies, security companies as scenarios, vehicle tracking devices are used to track
well as the society at large. Tracking devices offer a cost valuable assets for insurance or other monitoring purposes.
effective and reliable solution to this problem. This paper,
Asset tracking is achieved by real-time asset detection on a
therefore presents the development of a GPS-GSM guided
system for vehicle tracking. The developed system comprises of map for mobile field sales where the parties involved might
an integration of both hardware and software such as a be in unfamiliar territories. The parties involved can
microcontroller (Arduino), GPS module, GSM module, and a subsequently locate themselves by getting driving directions
vibration sensor. The hardware development consists of wiring thereby increasing productivity, reducing drive time,
between the GPS module, GSM module, Arduino, and increasing time of interactions with customers, reducing fuel
vibration sensor. The software development uses Arduino costs, and reducing mileage [4-6].
source code, GSM module AT commands, and the GPS The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section
protocol command. The system is controlled by the user with II, the materials and methods employed for the development
the use of text messages. The system uses the correlation
of the vehicle tracking system is described in detail. The
between the text messages and programmed keywords to send
the vehicle coordinates directly to the vehicle owner or to local results of the hardware implementation are discussed in
authorities. Performance tests show that the system sends Section III. Finally, Section V concludes the paper.
coordinates to the owner whether or not the vehicle is in
motion. The system is reliable and cost effective for monitoring II. RELATED WORKS
vehicles in the eventuality of car, motorbike or bicycle theft. This section provides a review of related works. In [7], a
vehicle tracking system based on GPS and GSM technology
Keywords— Vehicles, Tracking, GSM module, GPS module, was developed. The components used for the design include
Arduino microcontroller.
AT89C51 microcontroller (MC), GSM, and GPS module
powered by a 12V/3.2A battery. A hardware prototype was
I. INTRODUCTION developed in [8] which used GPS to obtain the coordinates
A vehicle tracking system consists of an electronic of a vehicle. The main components used in the
device installed on the vehicle which relays its position or implementation are: Arduino Uno microcontroller, u-blox
location to the necessary authorities at all times. Most of LEON-GIOO GSM module, and u-blox NEO-6Q GPS
today’s vehicle tracking systems use the Global Positioning receiver module. The developed system is cost effective,
System (GPS) to get an accurate or precise fix on the and is accurate in determining the location of vehicles.
vehicles position. In addition, components such as cellular Authors in [9], presented the design of a vehicle tracking
(GSM) and satellite transmitters are combined and used to system using a GSM Modem, GPS unit, two relays, and two
communicate the vehicle’s position to the user. The microcontroller units (MCU). A similar system was
vehicle’s information such as current location, past developed in [10] to track vehicle locations using GPS
locations, and timeframe can be viewed by using a software technology which incorporated a web platform. In [11], an
on a computer, an application on a phone or a website [1]. android OS and GPS tracking system was used for the
Vehicle tracking systems are commonly used by fleet location of vehicles. Furthermore, a software application
administrators for fleet management functions such as was designed with the android OS which was interfaced
routing, dispatch, on-board information, and security. with google map for accurate tracking of vehicles. This
Tracking technologies available to fleet managers enabled a RFID tag interfaced with GPS and GSM
include mobile tracking, satellite tracking, and passive technology to track vehicles and convey goods from one
tracking. Fleet managers use vehicle tracking devices to destination to another.

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978-1-7281-0666-3/20/$31.00©2020IEEE
 III. MATERIALS AND METHODS Capacitors, Piezoelectric Transducer, Batteries, and NEO
The procedures taken in the development of the GPS- 6M GPS module. The list of components used to develop the
GSM based vehicle tracking system are discussed in detail GPS-GSM based vehicle tracking device are presented in
in this section. The GPS-GSM based tracking system for Table I.
vehicles is constructed based on optimum material
consideration, i.e., locally sourced materials were used to B. System Design
achieve similar efficiencies as their more expensive This section presents the flowchart, block diagram, and
counterparts. The methodology employed for the design and circuit design of the proposed vehicle tracking system. The
construction is elucidated subsequently. block diagram describes the modules that make up the
system as shown in Fig. 1. The Arduino Uno
A. Hardware Components microcontroller processes inputs and sends the
The hardware materials used for the development of the corresponding output to the respective modules.
GPS-GSM based vehicle tracking system are: SIM 800l
module, Arduino Uno microcontroller, MCP 602 Op Amp,
Resistors, Irlz44n MOSFET, Lm2940CT voltage regulator,

Fig. 1. Block diagram of the GPS-GSM system.

The input to the system can either be from the GSM module The output of the Arduino Uno is majorly geared towards
in the form of text messages, GPS module or piezoelectric SMS transmission.
transducer.
TABLE I. COMPONENT LIST AND DESCRIPTION.
S/N Description Quantity Unit
1 SIM 800l Module 1
2 Arduino Uno 1
3 MCP 602 Op Amp 1
4 Resistors 4 20kΩ,
680kΩ,
10kΩ, 470kΩ
5 Variable Resistor (pot 1 50k Ω
trimmer)
6 LM2940CT Voltage 1 5V
Regulator
7 Capacitor 2 220nF, 22µF
8 Piezoelectric Transducer 1
9 Battery 3 9V, two
3.7V
10 NEO 6M GPS Module 1

The electronic circuit used to build the system was The systems programming was performed using the
designed and simulated with Proteus software. The design Arduino IDE and was uploaded to the Arduino
was then implemented and tested on a solderless microcontroller using the same platform. The programming
breadboard. All the components were tested in real time to language used in the Arduino IDE was C++. After the code
ascertain the workability before soldering them on the Vero was written, it was debugged and tested by simulation using
boards. The designed circuit diagram is shown in Fig. 2. the Proteus Software.

287
 Fig. 2. Circuit diagram of the proposed GPS-GSM Guided System for vehicle tracking.

C. Design Integration IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This stage involves the integration of electronic Performance evaluation was carried out on the
components and mechanical components through the use of developed system. This includes battery life test, position
commands (programming). The order of module integration accuracy test, and time to first fix test.
is detailed as follows:
i. The GPS and GSM modules were tested by A. Battery Life
uploading the command to the Arduino The battery life test involved recording the two batteries
microcontroller and interfacing the modules with voltages for every 5 minutes to test how long the batteries
the Arduino. could power the system. Battery 1 supplies a maximum of
ii. The vibration sensor circuit was built and tested on 9V which is used to power the vibration sensor in the
a breadboard. system. Battery 2 consists of two 3.7V Lithium Polymer
iii. The GPS module, GSM module, and vibration batteries connected in series. They are used to power the
sensor circuit was integrated into a single circuit Arduino, GSM module, and GPS module. 3.3V is the lowest
and tested; after which it was transferred unto a voltage that can be supplied by a 3.7V Lithium Polymer
Vero board and soldered. battery before it needs to be recharged. Thus, two lithium
iv. The circuit’s connection to an external power batteries connected in series will produce 6.6V before it
source was established. needs to be recharged. For the 9V battery the lowest voltage
that can be supplied is 5.4V. The results obtained from the
D. System Control battery life test are shown in Table II. Fig. 3 shows the
graph of the voltage against time for battery 1 and battery 2.
The GPS-GSM based tracking device can be controlled From this graph, it can be deduced that the batteries voltages
through the use of text messages. When text messages are decreases linearly with time and are estimated to last for at
sent to the system, it responds by sending back the least 20 hours.
coordinates provided the keywords match. Two keywords
were used for the operation of the system which are ‘ON’ TABLE II. OBSERVED DECREASE IN BATTERY VOLTAGE WITH
and ‘OFF’. RESPECT TO TIME.
When the user sends a text message with ‘ON’ as the
message body the system is designed to send the coordinates S/N Time Battery 1 Battery 2
back to the programmed users number. When the user sends (min) Voltage, v1 (V) Voltage, v2 (V)
1 0 9.00 7.14
a text message with ‘OFF’ in the message body, this
2 5 8.87 7.10
signifies that the vehicle has been stolen and a message is 3 10 8.85 7.08
sent to a programmed local authority’s number to induce 4 15 8.81 7.06
quick action. The coordinates of the vehicle will be sent 5 20 8.76 7.03
back to the programmed number regardless of the number 6 25 8.55 7.01
through which the message is sent provided that the 7 30 8.45 6.98
8 35 8.15 6.95
keywords match either ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’. 9 40 8.05 6.91
10 45 8.00 6.88

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 10
9
8
7
Voltage (v)

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time (min)
v1 v2

Fig. 3. Battery-voltage time graph.

test, the coordinates provided by the GPS module were
B. Position Accuracy Test
compared to the actual coordinates provided by Google Map
This test involved measuring the accuracy of the and the difference in terms of distance was noted. The test
coordinates given by the GPS module under different was carried out for 5 different locations and the variation in
scenarios or constraints such as bad weather, enclosures, and distance were recorded. The variations in distance were
high rise buildings. Situations involving no constraints measured using tools provided by Google Map. The results
included good weather and clear skies (no tall buildings or obtained are shown in Table III.
enclosures within appreciable distance of the GPS). In this

TABLE III. COMPARISON OF POSITION ACCURACY.

Position Actual Coordinates GPS Module Coordinates Constraints Variation in

(Latitude, Longitude) (Latitude, Longitude) Distance (m)
1 7.60431, 5.30762 7.60440, 5.30767 Yes 2.57
2 7.60362, 5.30762 7.60438, 5.30765 No 0.90
3 7.60610, 5.30750 7.60570, 5.30680 Yes 5.00
4 7.60438, 5.30762 7.60438, 5.30763 No 0.69
5 7.60477, 5.30762 7.60441, 5.30765 Yes 3.67

The GPS module (Neo-6m GPS) used has a stated

C. Time to First Fix
accuracy of 0.50m. Using the obtained results in Table III,
the accuracy of the system relative to the stated accuracy This test is concerned with the time required for the GPS
can be calculated using: module to connect to at least three satellites in orbit for the
Accuracy (%) = purpose of triangulation. Once the module connects to three
satellites it has acquired a fix. The GPS-GSM tracking
100% 100%) (1) device can send coordinates once it has acquired a fix. This
therefore implies that the systems effectiveness partly
where: depends on the time to first fix. The test involved noting the
Stated variation = Accuracy of Neo-6m GPS, and Actual time to first fix for the GPS module for 5 different locations.
variation = Results of the variation obtained. The results of The results are shown in Table V.
the comparison of systems accuracy is presented in Table
IV. TABLE V. TIME TO FIRST FIX COMPARISON.
Location Time to First Fix (TTFF) (minutes)
TABLE IV. COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS ACCURACY (ACCURACY
Position 1 4.00
OF THE SYSTEM RELATIVE TO THE STATED ACCURACY).
Position 2 1.45
Position Percentage Accuracy (%) Position 3 2.60
1 19.46
Position 4 3.45
2 55.60
Position 5 2..00
3 10
4 72.46
5 13.62

289
 The developed GPS-GSM based tracking system programmed keywords used in the text message. Whenever
compares favourably cost-wise to existing or popular the vehicle is parked or stationary, the GPS-GSM tracking
tracking devices and is very convenient for small-scale use. system does not send any coordinates. In cases where the
The systems performance in terms of position accuracy car is dismantled in an obscured place, the GPS-GSM
is dependent on various factors such as bad weather, system will still send coordinates if requested by the user as
enclosures, and high rise buildings (constraints). The far as the system is not destroyed. The Arduino Uno
existence of such constraints can give rise to errors in the (microcontroller) was interfaced with a GSM, piezoelectric
systems readings. The errors produced vary depending on transducer, and GPS module in order to achieve this task.
the type of constraints. For example, the error produced by
the system in an area that is densely populated by high rise V. CONCLUSION
buildings will be larger than that of an area with a few high A GPS-GSM based tracking system for vehicles was
rise buildings. The accuracy of the developed GPS-GSM designed and implemented in this paper to send text
system can also be affected by other factors such as satellite messages with coordinate information remotely.
clock, orbit errors, multipath, and satellite geometry relative The developed system was made portable for security
to the user. However, in cases where there were no purpose. A wireless module was fitted to make the system
constraints, the system is highly accurate. fully smart and to communicate as an ‘Internet of Things’
The startup up time for the system which is the Time to device. An efficient vibration detection mechanism was
First Fix (TTFF) varies. From the test carried out, it was integrated and the system performed effectively under
observed that the TTFF becomes shorter when the system is different modes of operation.
restarted in the same position or at a position near the
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