Is this possible

LOstBoy · 02-19-2005, 03:28 PM

I'd like to make a car tracking webpage. Basically my gps position on a map on a webpage. Any scripts or proggys that will do this?

DallasCamaro · 02-19-2005, 03:30 PM

Anything's possible......just dont ask ME how, but I'm sure it's possible....

Peoples · 02-19-2005, 03:35 PM

people talk about this all time...havent seen any programs out for it yet though. people like to banter zorro of a solution of this

RS3RS · 02-19-2005, 03:39 PM

That hardest thing I see with that is the carputer sending the signal as to where you're currently at... You'd need some sort of constant internet connection/wireless connection with SOMETHING...

Cocoman · 02-19-2005, 03:55 PM

If you're in North America a CDMA phone could be used to send an SMS e-mail of it's current location periodically. At the other end, a server could parse this information and display it on a website.

The reason I said CDMA phones is because CDMA technology uses GPS for timing purposes. I am not sure, but I think that there should be a way to fetch co-ordinates using the built-in reciever. If you have a windows smartphone or a symbian phone(not sure if cdma symbian phones are out yet) than you could probably write an application that sits on the phone to do this.

Another perhaps easier to implement option is to use a GPS reciever in conjunction with a laptop/carputer and a cell phone capable of packet data transmission. The laptop would dial out and establish an internet connection and feed the co-ordinate data out to the server requesting the data periodically.

It should be noted that both these methods would be fairly costlly with data rates/sms sending being so high. Also, im not sure if there are any free software packages available that already provide this functionality(google?).

There are probably a million other ways to do this, but if you have a programming background this should give you at least a starting point.

mookie · 02-19-2005, 04:34 PM

I've got the stuff to do this if only I had a constant internet connection. I wrote a plugin for MapMonkey that would send GPS co-ordinates to my website every x number of minutes and the website would store them in a database that could be used for tracking. It also pulled the map from MapQuest.

Some of the web-based part was borrowed from this guy:
whereismatt.com

I may make this something that I can let other people use. Have accounts on my site then release the plugin and people can track themselves. If enough people are interesed I'd take a look at doing this. Let me know.

Goose · 02-19-2005, 04:39 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by mookie

I've got the stuff to do this if only I had a constant internet connection. I wrote a plugin for MapMonkey that would send GPS co-ordinates to my website every x number of minutes and the website would store them in a database that could be used for tracking. It also pulled the map from MapQuest.

Some of the web-based part was borrowed from this guy:
whereismatt.com

I may make this something that I can let other people use. Have accounts on my site then release the plugin and people can track themselves. If enough people are interesed I'd take a look at doing this. Let me know.

I am intrested

TheLlama · 02-19-2005, 04:44 PM

LOst: do you want the website to be live? Or do you want it to be something you can upload to your computer when you get home and look at a report?

xBrady · 02-19-2005, 05:14 PM

I am partway through an application that will do this as long as you have an internet connection. You can use WINC with access points or your cellphone. It logs your movement and sends it to a server I have created. I am probably going to create a web service so you can grab the data and do what you want with it if you can program. I am also going have another client that you can use on your desktop computer to grab the information from my web service and display it. It will probably end up having travel log features and such but we'll see.

LOstBoy · 02-19-2005, 05:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TheLlama

LOst: do you want the website to be live? Or do you want it to be something you can upload to your computer when you get home and look at a report?

Live more or less on the fly. I can set up a webserver and forward domain name easy enough just a matter of getting the data to the page.

Bugbyte · 02-19-2005, 11:39 PM

There is a ham radio technology that does this. My friend alternates using it between his car and his boat. It uses a ham technology called APRS and a device known as a Tiny Trak II that converts GPS NMEA output to the packet radio protocol required to transmit the information.

The position information is transmitted via a ham radio (he says this is about $100) and you can then locate the device on findu.com. Here is his current position: find u.com

You may find that he's had the device turned off and thus there are no positions, or you may see that it's in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay -that means it's on his boat. I've seen it where he's got a map and a satellite photo of the current position on this page. The most recent time I checked, it was a photo of his house and driveway, where the car was parked.

From http://nwaprs.org/aprsinfo.htm:

"An APRS system typcially consists of a computer (PC or Macintosh color system), a TNC (take your pick), and a radio (HT, mobile, desktop) operating on VHF or HF, or both. A mobile APRS system is complemented with a GPS (one with data output). Routine updates in position are transmitted over the air, and show up as moving symbols on a map. This is similar to commercial systems found in rental or high priced cars, yet different because the information is transmitted over the air and displayed on computers running APRS. Fixed APRS stations with internet connectivity can also log onto one of several regional or worldwide APRS databases to see APRS in action around the globe."

WebDog · 02-20-2005, 07:00 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by brady

I am partway through an application that will do this as long as you have an internet connection. You can use WINC with access points or your cellphone. It logs your movement and sends it to a server I have created. I am probably going to create a web service so you can grab the data and do what you want with it if you can program. I am also going have another client that you can use on your desktop computer to grab the information from my web service and display it. It will probably end up having travel log features and such but we'll see.

Do you have any idea when that will be done>?

xBrady · 02-20-2005, 08:15 PM

I'm not real sure on that because I don't know how much homework I will have before spring break. I am hoping to have a beta within a few weeks. I have the car client and server almost done. I will be starting the desktop client pretty soon. My hope is that with the desktop client you will be able to click whichever day on a calander and select what day you want to get information on. I don't know how I am going to do real-time yet because of the issue with maps. Unless I can figure out how to use the Google maps with it...

WebDog · 03-04-2005, 02:55 AM

any updates on this?

xBrady · 03-06-2005, 02:07 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by WebDog

any updates on this?

I am still working on it. I am still in the proccess of creating the database and haven't had much time to work on it. It sounds like my spring break trip is being cancelled so I'll have plenty of time in the near future.