Tiny Arduino Compatible GPS Car Tracker :: James Bond Wanna Be

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Isn’t it hard to finish watching a spy movie and not want to do something...spy-like? You know, like having 40 video cameras in your house, dancing the tango with some ambassador, or jumping off a helicopter onto a wild cheetah?

Well - what about secretly logging the GPS coordinates of a car on an SD card?

Here is the basic concept - you build a GPS data logger and put it in a magnetic key case. Then attach the key case to the vehicle you want to track. When the car returns, you pull off the GPS tracker, upload the secret data to your computer then map the data using the free Google Earth software.

This turns out to be really easy to do. We can use existing code that was originally featured in MAKE magazine for building a cat tracker. Track cats or be a slick - your choice!

In this video we will walk step by step through building this GPS logger.

I wanted to keep my tracker discreet - so it needed to be small. For this project, I chose to use the TinyDuino platform. For all intents and purposes, it operates basically the same as an Arduino UNO, it’s just a whole lot smaller.

You Will Need:

1 TinyDuino Processor (TinyCiruits) for this project I would recommend getting it without the coin cell battery holder as it makes getting to the positive hookup a little more difficult (but not undoable by any means)

1 TinySheild USB and ICP Adapter (TinyCiruits)

1 TinySheild MicroSD card (TinyCiruits)

1 microSD Card (i used a 4GB card, but I am sure much smaller would work fine. I had one lying around from an old cell phone I had bought it for.)

To read the card, you will also need an microSD card reader. I used an SD card adapter so my mini-USB card could fit right into my computer.

1 TinySheild GPS (TinyCiruits)

1 Lithium Battery - I used the 3.7v, 2700 mAh. As long as you supply between 3 - 5 volts, you will be fine, just don;t supply more than 5.5 volts. (Adafruit)

1 Female JST Connector - I just snipped the male connectors side off and used the negative connector (Adafruit)

1 Master Lock 207D Large Magnetic Keycase

Dark Sun Glasses

This sounds like a lot of stuff - but really it’s not! Essentially it’s a processor board and two shields with a battery and a case.

Tools You Need:

You will also need to solder for this project, so you will need:

Soldering Iron

Solder