GPS Tracking for Stolen Bikes

OK, It's for dogs really, but it should be possible to take this dog collar, re-factor it so that it can be powered by a self-sufficient power source and fix it to a bike... perhaps power it from the BB and put it in the downtube?

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3501141.ece

The lockable collar, on sale from July, is made of anticut material to deter thieves and sends texts to the owner’s mobile telephone if the dog crosses a preset boundary. The owner can log on to a website where, using the sat-nav technology of the collar, they can pinpoint the pet’s location.

The collar is not cheap at £200, but its makers, Retrieva, insist that it is worth it.

I actually think £200 is worth it. I'd rather recover a stolen bike than go through the process of acquiring a new one. Plus it would get a bike thief caught.

I do want something like this, and in the past have considered just hacking an old pay as you go phone and seeing if the Ericsson developer tools allow you to send txt messages upon receipt of a txt (i.e. you txt it when it's stolen and it tells you the grid reference that it's at).

the problem is how do you fix this to a bike in a way it cannot be removed

An SMS activated bike lock has been trialled coupled with CCTV cameras that start recording if bike is moved in Portsmouth

Text a security guard to monitor your bike (sort of)

WASP cycle security system

I was looking at something similar, ill dig around for the link, but it was a GPS/GSM device so you could pop it down the seat tube and if it ever got stolen you just send the device a txt and it sends a txt back with GPS co-ords accurate to 3 meters!

when I say you could pop it down the set tube, that was after I theoretically took the plastic casing off ;) it was the size of a match box, and the only problem was it had a battery life of 72 hrs so that would mean.. a) popping it out every three days and charging it.. b) modifying a seat post with a small connector at the top to charge with out having to pull the seat out (also could double as an antenna for a signal boost?).

dragons den anyone?

you can already do something similar using mobile phones. all you need is a small receiver (a cheap mobile phone) and use a service like this http://www.traceamobile.com/ that essentially connects to the mobile phone being tracked and triangulates its location. i've been looking into developing a bike specific one - and i think i can get it down £20, minus the service.

yes but abattery life, and when thives get wise they will jsut chuck them out.

we had a police freebie bike tagging day at work, this is just a simple scannable chip about the size of a pill, but the mounting system could be used for this, it was a plastic thing a bit like a mini badminton shuttlecock that is pushed down the seat tube, now if you could power it by a simple rotating magnet on your BB (I'm thinking old style loose ball BB here, bond a magnet or two to the axle) and coil on the actual transmitter.

chris, yes it could be removed, but you would be fine if you worked fast, get the bike recovered before they have time to strip it

BillB we had a police freebie bike tagging day at work, this is just a simple scannable chip about the size of a pill, but the mounting system could be used for this, it was a plastic thing a bit like a mini badminton shuttlecock that is pushed down the seat tube, now if you could power it by a simple rotating magnet on your BB (I'm thinking old style loose ball BB here, bond a magnet or two to the axle) and coil on the actual transmitter.

That's the thing... powering it after the theft.

I like the idea of the bottom bracket itself being part of a dynamo, so that pedalling is generating the power without friction.

I'd imagine for this to suit our needs the electronics would have to be hot glued into a tubular shape, and the device remotely configurable by TXT. The bike frame would have to be the aerial, otherwise the frame could impede the signal. And the BB the heart of a dynamo, so that it never needs batteries replaced.

well you would want it well down the seat tube so you couldn't get it out, and a long tool keyed ot the shape of a plastic covering (like watermains)

but then you run in to diameter problms wiht how many times the tube is butted, and internal/ external butting.

silver you can already do something similar using mobile phones. all you need is a small receiver (a cheap mobile phone) and use a service like this http://www.traceamobile.com/ that essentially connects to the mobile phone being tracked and triangulates its location. i've been looking into developing a bike specific one - and i think i can get it down £20, minus the service.
I thought GSM triangulation was only accurate to about a 20m² :(

i was thinking of a more DIY/grassroots solution to begin with. Could be used on a "bait bike" or something.

1.Buy a £20 mobile phone (which has a one week battery life)
2.strip al the unnecessary stuff like screen and key pad off it till its small enough to be stuffed in a frame.

1. wrap it in a plastic bag to waterproof it
   
   

Charge the phone up...wait till it gets stolen and presto...you can follow its movements for a week until the battery dies.

20m² is still reasonable, you should have a look on hackaday and see if anyone has come up with something suitable.

Chris

so long as the tube will fit inside the seat tube you will be fine, you can have some sprung/expanding system to hold it in place as long as it will go in.

lose the screen on a phone and I reckon that must be the most power sapping component, especially a back lit colour one.

Li-Ion batteries are light and should be able to be charged off a dynamo I think, give you a decent ammount of reserve power. the battery in my sony 880i is 3.6v 950mAh, you could easily swap that for a 18650 Li-Ion cell with 2400mAh and you have a LOT more battery life, use the dynamo to top up charge it on the go. getting the alignment between the BB dynamo and coil in the unit could be tricky (wel it will probably be beyond just stuff it down the seat tube and it will work).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-1600-Vodafone-Mobile-Weekends/dp/B000BPCD5Y/ref=pd_sbs_ce_title_1

"The best feature about this phone is boring but great: the battery lasts for absolutely ages!
...the battery only needed recharging after seven or eight days, and that included calls and texts every day"

http://www.spygearco.com/gps-tracking-devices.htm

That's expensive but the idea is right, 5 weeks life!

Chris

I'm sure we could source a couple of crappy old phones to mutilate between the lot of us. Those slim, lipstick ones would do the job. Rip off the plastics and encase in latex/rubber compound. Stuff in the seat tube by the bb. I was thinking maybe as a sting operation but linked to a dynamo, it could work for ages.

could just slip it inside a piece of inner tube, and zip-tie the ends

what about that kinetic voodoo? like the watches that are powered by movement, could that be adapted some how?

hael what about that kinetic voodoo? like the watches that are powered by movement, could that be adapted some how?

Too low a power source. The watches work by gently winding a spring, the power is miniscule.

Dynamo off the BB is what I think would work the best for a piece of electronics.

Hi - I am in the final testing stages of a GPS tracker for dogs - its small at only 50mm x 35mm x 7mm and can use a variety of different capacity/sized batteries - I would be very interested in talking to you guys about developing a suitable soluton for bikes

Hi - I am in the final testing stages of a GPS tracker for dogs - its small at only 50mm x 35mm x 7mm and can use a variety of different capacity/sized batteries - I would be very interested in talking to you guys about developing a suitable soluton for bikes

Sounds excellent, we would be very interested, perhaps start a new thread and keep it updated.

You have one customer already.

Where do you see it fitting on a bike? It kind of needs to be internal, in the frame or bars somewhere, would that cause problems for the unit being 'visible' to the satellite?

GSM Triangulation accuracy depends on the cell site density of the area the phone is in. In London, you might get down to a 50m radius if you're lucky, but in London that's a lot of places to search. In rural areas, you might be looking at a couple of miles radius. I know this because I spent two years looking after location-based services for Orange. GPS is the way to go.

I remember reading in the news a few years ago about a method of tracking a partner/spouse for suspicions of infidelity. You had to have access to their phone, you send a text from it to a certain number, and then it would be 'active', and you were able to track it from your own phone or computer. I can't remember the specifics, but it sounded very interesting.

I think this is the best way to go. Do this to a cheap, small mobile. Take it apart, wrap it in a condom, stuff it down the seat tube (I'm sure you can get reception inside a seat tube). Without the backlit screen and the speaker, the battery might last for weeks. When it does need to be recharged, take it out and plug it in, just like you would a normally. Especially if you can get it on a 'standby' mode.

Any one used one of these? Seems to answer the description. I know its e*ans, but...

Best of all, "The ultra-destruct ID labels and a polychromatic sticker warn off potential thieves" !