I built a LORA GPS-Tracker with ESP32 | makermoekoe

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Content:
0:10 PCB assembly
2:53 Finished device and basic explanation
3:56 First test with my self made solar system
5:00 Power measurements with the Power Profiler Kit
5:52 Simple test with the GPS module
6:30 PCBWay is a huge supported of my projects
Actually this board was designed to test three new modules I haven't worked with so far: The ESP32-S2-Mini, the RFM95 LoRa transceiver and the ATGM336h GPS module. In the end, this device can be used as a simple GPS-Tracker which will publish its current position and other data over LoRa (-WAN). Due to its main processor, the ESP32-S2, the device is able to communicate over WiFi and thus can be used as a LoRa2MQTT bridge as well.
Did you ever work with LoRa? Tell me your experiences and suggestions for future projects with such a module in the comments below!
This project is fully available on my GitHub:
github.com/mak...
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Links:
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[@mIkeyGermita]

I wish there was 100x more content like yours. So much effort goes into every single one of these projects behind the scenes, including stellar production value. May be something for later down the channel's journey, but as a junior computer engineer starting to do exactly what you do in these videos, I would absolutely be a patreon donor if you considered including parts of your schematics or BOM's. I'm sure others would subscribe for other aspects of your projects like the 3D models or parts of the code as well.

[@ytfp]

Very nice, I like that you also provide the power profile of projects in your videos.

[@makermoekoe]

It is indeed a very important point for these devices 👍🏻

[@dmitry-che-ru]

So cool! You can do from it a compass that shows other person location (direction + distance). Will be useful in forest.

[@makermoekoe]

Great idea!

[@walndyn]

I would love to see a even more miniaturized version, that can easily fit into a backpack etc. So you would be able to find it if you forgot where you left it or even if it was stolen.

[@makermoekoe]

Great idea! Would you give up the OLED display in this case?

[@walndyn]

@@makermoekoe Yeah sure, as you don't really need it in this usecase. But with the use of LoRa you would need a mobile LoRa receiver as well I guess 🤔

[@chickeandtech]

@@walndyn TX e RX monitor with ability to activate the alert mode and increase the information parameters, then exit the energy saving mode held most of the time.

[@johanandersson2165]

@@makermoekoe No need for display. would it be smaller to have interface to a smartphone app ? maybe tracker for electric bike?

[@MrX-gc5fs]

@@makermoekoe Please try and make the board as small / slim as possible. Could even use 2 x 18650 side-by-side horizontally for longer use with an additional power input for powerbanks/ebike/car/motorbike batteries. This project would have so much support from hikers; travellers; cyclists; bikers; commuters; euc riders and basically everyone who wants to protect something valuable at low cost without a monthly subscription. I'm sure there's plenty of people willing to contribute. You'd get plenty of people supporting via patreon. I'm willing to support you. Please do this. The possibilities are endless. It could be placed in a handbag disguised as an item of makeup, or a bike part, or even stitched into a voltaic solar bags shoulder straps permanently. Love this project. Keep innovating. Thank you for sharing with us.

[@sachinfilinto]

super impressive project. A headless (display-less) would be great for my use case of mounting a GPS Tracker with LoRa under a cycle seat.

[@makermoekoe]

The size can be reduced heavily in general, without display the device would get even smaller 👍🏻

[@wilfriedklaebe]

Look for LILYGO TTGO T-Beam!

[@sachinfilinto]

@@wilfriedklaebe interesting. thanks for sharing

[@hippie-io7225]

Very good proto!! What I would like to see the following GPS data on your display: Altitude (Elevation), Heading, Speed, Distance (from a start point) , and a calculated pitch angle. If this data could be sent over bluetooth, all the better! (then Android users could grab the data for App Inventor 2 custom apps) The problem with the units sold on Amazon is their packaging. Your module would allow for much needed customization.

[@jovaraszigmantas]

This is basically a T beam from TTGO, it has all of the specifications yours has but also simply supports the meshtastic ecosystem.

[@wilfriedklaebe]

T-Beam doesn't have the display, nor?

[@jovaraszigmantas]

@@wilfriedklaebe well actually by default it does not, but the pins are already aligned for the classic oled display and the manufacturer ttgo already sells an add-on witch not only has the oled but also a couple of buttons. So technically it does not but anyone who needs it can easily add it

[@jamesotisjr2322]

@@wilfriedklaebea display comes with it. the display slows the T-beam dramatically. it draws at etch-a-sketch speeds.

[@joegroom3195]

I'd like to see this shrunk even more and used as a dog or pet tracker. No need for LCD on the pet side. Needs low power mode over BLE and/or wifi within a virtual fence and LoRa when not within the short range fence.

[@onecircuit-as]

Same!

[@Jindraxx20]

Just an other well edited video with great content !

[@makermoekoe]

Thank you! Glad to hear 🎉

[@codenic_ir]

What a beautiful stencil🤩

[@bb27899]

Very nice! I am already firm with ESP32 and LoRa but not in combination. Furthermore I like the integration in Home Assistant while running it myself for at least 2 years without probs.

[@reedreamer9518]

Wow - your video production quality is really excellent. Subscribed!

[@PCBWay]

You are the best! :)

[@makermoekoe]

😍

[@JaMeM-zf8hc]

Wie immer sehr cooles Video. Finde deine Projekte immer sehr Detailverliebt und das macht einfach nur spaß zuzusehen. Nur zur Info, man kann am Ende die GPS-Koordinaten sehen...

[@makermoekoe]

Vielen lieben Dank! Freut mich zu hören 🤩 Ach shit, ich hab den Balken nicht zum Ende gehen lassen... Naja, war ja schon in meinem alten GPS-Tracker Projekt ersichtlich... Damit hab ich es anscheinend nicht so

[@Leif_YT]

Cool Project. I'm currently also experimenting with LoRa and had something similar in mind, but more like a mobile tracker / alarm for a trailer. I want to give the Quectel L80 a try, which is a pretty small GPS Module that includes the Antenna and plan to add an accelerometer to power the rest up by an interrupt when it starts moving. I'm curious to see how it's performance will be compared to the Neo modules I've used in the past. For the power management I recently stumbled across the AXP192 (from X-Powers) that TTGO uses on it's new revision of the T-Beam board. It includes in a very small package the battery management / charging, support for a backup battery and has 3 integrated LDOs that can be controlled separately. It's super interesting, but so hard to find a reliable source for it :/ Maybe someone knows a good alternative that's easier to source? Which LoRaWAN Netzwork do you use? At least here in NRW Helium seems to have a much better coverage than TTN from my first tests.

[@chickeandtech]

I'm looking for something like it. I also thought of a great way to hide everything, using the chassis of a smartphone, using its original battery, removing the screen, leaving only a black film. The lora module will send scheduled updates, but less and less frequent since the last movement of the accelerometer. As soon as the accelerometer senses a higher average value it will start to activate GPS and communicate even before the device has moved.

[@learn2share81]

I am impressed by your Skill, you have learn a skill which is by it self is a great wealth.

[@makermoekoe]

Thank you so much 🤩

[@learn2share81]

@@makermoekoe Brother.. How to get this skill. do i need to go through any specific degree. please guide me . thanks.

[@chatman1263]

Man every song on this Channel. is such a banger

[@dythe7858]

Pretty sure if you put component on both side, get rid of the battery and put the screen over the esp32, you could make it really small and add it to an electric bike or scooter. Since they are expensive and something prone to theft.

[@aquahood]

Disiplined temperature controlled clocks for near atomic clock precision. Use a proper QHT helix antenna in a cone or cylinder for protection. I snagged on off an old radiosonde. The angles and spacing is very precise and hard to get right by hand.

[@sindotj]

This looks perfect.... I just love it.....

[@makermoekoe]

Glad to hear! Thank you!

[@QuakeDragon]

I would also like to see this running meshtastic!

[@jeremypennington]

what are the clamps you're using to hold the pcb called? do you have an amazon link to them?

[@qqpp6017]

I enjoyed the good video. Did you make the device that holds the metal mask in the front of the video? If I can buy it, can you give me a purchase link?

[@jatigre1]

You could deploy these as an array around the moon and create a permanent Moon based GPS Nano satellite system. Great work!

[@spokehedz]

I would really love to put this to use in an ebike, so that I might be able to track where it goes if stolen. The LoRA would allow me to track it directly, without third party apps required.

[@masonmnelson]

Dude this is so sick

[@makermoekoe]

Holy macaroni! Thank you!

[@Munvo]

Why is the music so much louder than you?

[@makermoekoe]

I‘m new in voice overlays - have to optimize it in the future 🙈 Sorry for that! Will keep it in mind

[@MaxSMoke777]

Forget the GPS. Take the LORA and attach a mini-keyboard. Then hook up an E-Paper display. Maybe a solar cell on back? Program it to burst transmit a compressed/encrypted message for 1 second every 1 to 5 minutes based on a timed calculation of PI via a RTC module. Likewise use the receiver to look for replies using the same timing. Add a button to sync the calculation of Pi to the same second for 2 or more devices. Volva, Spy-Worthy Doomsday Communicator. Burst transmitters are difficult to triangulate. You could even set them up to Mesh Network.

[@Delali]

Beautifully done. Maybe for the next version you can use a a chip that has GSM and GPS combo (like SIM7000A) to directly log sensor data and location to the cloud. As a fellow youtuber I can really appreciate the effort you put into what looks like simple videos like this. Keep up the great work

[@SnoopyDoofie]

Want to track my cat in the house. Instead of attaching one of these to the cat, attach it to the door frame of every door in the house. It needs to support RFID. The cat would carry an RFID tag on its collar and when it enters a room, the LORA tracker on the door frame picks up the RFID tag info and transmits it over WiFi to a computer, web server or mobile device. While it won't tell you where in the room the cat is located, you can at least known which room the cat is located in.

[@seaspacelab]

Would be sick to use it as a Meshtastic module.

[@skyredbel]

everything you made looks so cute

[@jnsp6081]

Awesome!

[@OMNI_INFINITY]

By the way, use Altium mainly? I have been using Kicad and really don't like Kicad so far.

[@RicosProjects]

this is awesome, i would love to see a video of you designing these esp32 boards!

[@xil7665]

Nice project!! It seems nice to be used on vehicle as gps tracker, maybe just a little modification and finding protocol used for data, even can add switching on/off venicle or just a sensor if wanted

[@xwd3914]

Would be very cool to hook it up not to a solar panel but to a bike dynamo and use this as a bike tracking device. Having your bike show up in HA would be so cool

[@thedevilstears1]

Be interesitng to see if you could use this as a vehicle tracker/monitor, as most of the current ones on the market either have poor accuracy/coverage or require a subscription service. A great small device that can be easily hidden and just extend any antenna/aerial lines to reach near a window. Really interesting video!

[@LisithasMakerPlace]

No hate. Love the project. Maybe can you level out your voice with the music a bit. Because the music is too loud in some parts and the voice is too low.

[@akhurash]

Awesome project.

[@makermoekoe]

Thank you!

[@chiliphil64]

Could use The GPS module to track cattle position and if you could use the esp32 you may be able to gel fence a cow.

[@MariusHeier1]

Great everything :)

[@makermoekoe]

Thank you my friend!

[@electronash]

1:57- Phwoah, check out those castellations.

[@PaulGrayUK]

Could you link a sensor that would detect movement and only trigger the main board GPS location when there is a change and reduce power usage even further? That way it only polls location tracking if the location has changed. That is if there are motion sensors that are lower power to pull up the ESP out of deep sleep and into action that is lower than periodic polling alone!

[@makermoekoe]

That is a great idea! Maybe I can try to implement a movement sensor (accelerometer or gyroscope) to be able to activate my Picoclicks latching circuit, which would reduce the power consumption heavily. Do you know an ultra low power movement sensor with an interrupt output?

[@PaulGrayUK]

@@makermoekoe of hand I can't think of any, though very much amateur learning level (though we always learn), but mindful that something akin to a mercury type switch may well do the job as could run the needed voltage thru that to trigger with that only passing if triggered and can get some sensitive ones, also believe there are spring switch's that would also do the same. So in effect maybe one or two of those to cover the axis would be zero power when inactive and movement would then make the contact momentarily to achieve a voltage trigger.

[@mobidick6064]

That's amazing and a half

[@makermoekoe]

Great 🤩😄

[@AG34273]

Hello - in the PCB design, is there a reason why there are so many vias (ground) not connected to anything? Is it needed for lora or gps signals?

[@Tobele91]

How long does it need to first GPS fix position?

[@vmened]

Up to 40 seconds, but in reality around 5-10 seconds

[@makermoekoe]

Yes for me it was usually under 15 seconds. If the backup battery is installed and the device hasn't moved a lot the position is updated in around 3-5 seconds

[@paulfreed6394]

Agriculture - farmers need to track where and how much effluent they pump onto their fields. Could be a use.

[@sloggypanda]

i think it's good to be implemented on the public transportation, since it's also has solar panel on top of it.

[@DgtalBreakz]

Let me tell you right away, even before I finish watching the video (and trust me, I'll watch it till the very end), the bare PCB looks beautiful in the shots from the begining.

[@makermoekoe]

Thanks man 🤩

[@PandoraBox1943]

I love your project😁

[@EmbraceMaking]

What is the typical time to lock a GPS position when you first turn it on? Datasheets for some GPS modules show ~30s cold start and some people report up to 10 mins to get a lock sometimes. What do you typically experience?

[@rwatson2609]

This is a pretty late reply but anyways. These modules, like all GPS modules have a faster GPS lock in a wide open sky scenario. Some claim under 2 seconds but typically the ones i've used, from cold (not powered up for an hour or so) will get a co-ordinate lock in about 30 seconds with about 50% sky viewable. 20 feet into my condo unit with a floor above me will take longer, but still doable. Higher sensitivity is one of many of the key features that will speed that up. Even those $14 GPS modules like a GU-7 can do a 30 second lock from cold.

[@nailtronic5330]

nice project, but why you connect a 24AA32AF (i think i s an eeprom) on the i2c of the GPS ?? thanks

[@eoadev2602]

Great video and work!! Can you explain why you added two LDOs? I didn't understand that part

[@OMNI_INFINITY]

Recommend the copper braid for some things.

[@morganyodts1375]

Maybe adding OBD2 connector to get car telemetry combined with GPS data that you can upload once home over lora

[@de-bodgery]

99.9% of the world can't make devices like this. What you call simple, most of use call incredibly complex! How does one get it made by you or elsewhere? How does it work with a GPS tracking app on my phone? Is there some paid service you use with it?

[@ecsyntric]

nice. do you have any videos with RTK GNSS?

[@nicoladellino8124]

Very nice project, 👏👏👏

[@risingmermo]

Where can I buy the power profiler kit?

[@makermoekoe]

Got mine from Mouser: www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/Nordic-Semiconductor/nRF-PPK2?qs=hd1VzrDQEGilgnS3iQ3EVw%3D%3D But it seems to be unavailable in general at the moment 😒

[@wirmachenandersschule7413]

@@makermoekoeIs it possible to get that somehow??

[@MrJK193]

@@wirmachenandersschule7413 RS components has it in stock. I can't post a link since my comments seems to be deleted every time.

[@flymetothemoon5138]

100% want one of these as a low cost car tracker and battery monitor, wonder if I could setup the battery charger on the car to trigger using this

[@OMNI_INFINITY]

Is that pcb hotplate using an induction coil under an aluminum plate to generate eddy currents?

[@Dyfcom21]

Nice Project! Which LDOs and which Batterymanagment ICs are you using for this?

[@makermoekoe]

Thank you! Here I am using two of the RT9193 3V3 LDOs and the WS4518D LiPo battery charger. For LiPo protection I'm using the XB5353A

[@4sp3ro]

I really like your channel a lot, it's all that I like, and I'm very impressed with the dedication and effort you put in, when I saw the gps ones I felt quite inspired since I really like mtb, I think I could modify your design and just by lengthening the pigtal a bit you could put it inside the bicycle frame and have an anti-lost gps(gps tracker video), or with the project in this video you could mount it on the steering wheel and with an electronic ink screen (for the sun), could you monitor your performance in real time as if it were a garmin gps, that would be so cool, do i have your permission?

[@scienceoftheuniverse9155]

I wish this LoRa gps tracker can be use for all kind of tracking by creating it's gateway which connect several of them and forward their data to a self hosted mqtt broker for further processing.

[@11Tiago11robot]

Which cad program did you use to make this project? Thanks and great project!

[@BasonTech]

Nice project! The macro shots are so sharp, what camera / lens are you using?

[@makermoekoe]

Thanks! I'm using the Sony Alpha 6500 and the Andonstar AD409 digital microscope to record these shots

[@BasonTech]

@@makermoekoe Thanks for answering! The shot at 1:16 is this with the standard 16-50 Sony lens?

[@3dmodelinghamid238]

Super maxallah

[@lucasprates1]

is possible to use the 3.3v from de LDO to replace the tiny memory battery from the gps module?

[@QuangNguyen-ly7tj]

Do you have one for sale? That's the exact setup I would like to use.

[@tirthvora5061]

Thanks for a such a nice video. Now make your own iPhone.

[@makermoekoe]

Haha shouldn’t be a problem 😅

[@Xxda64xX]

Very impressive ! Where can we find the code and the PCB/schematic ?

[@smartassist9700]

Awesome! How much are they? $$. I need a dozen!

[@fahadkhan463]

Hi, great video! Where can I get something like the smd stencil and paste applying stand like yours?

[@kampi89]

I don´t like the RFM95. Instead, I´m using the RAK3172 (based on STM32) which gives you a lot more options for LoRa. It supports LoRaWAN 1.0.3, LoRa P2P, very low power with 1 µA (I have checked it on my own), an easy interface with AT commands, and other useful stuff. Also, you can put the ESP32 to sleep mode during each join and transmission cycle which optimizes the power consumption. With this module, I got my ESP-based projects to the power consumption of less than 50 µA (depending on the idle current of the 3.3 V regulator). The LoRa module stays powered on all the time.

[@makermoekoe]

Sounds great, I definitely should have a look on this LoRa module! Thanks!

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

I just don't like LORA or any of these "open source" projects which require an "association" membership.

[@kampi89]

@@whatilearnttoday5295 there is a GitHub link with all the stuff...

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

@@kampi89 You're not allowed to develop a product with it unless you pay the association fees, and be approved/permitted by their central control. It's a business plan common to all these "Open Source" wireless protocols. They vendorlock young developers who invest time before reading the terms.

[@wilfriedklaebe]

@@whatilearnttoday5295 I didn't need to pay anything to use The Things Network...

[@daredevilbr1]

I know there ara a buch of effort and experiencie to be at this level of electronics knoledge, but where can i start to be at this level one day?

[@johnnycernato4068]

I'd like to combine LoRa and GPS to build a non-UMTS dependent dog-tracker :)

[@w9ran]

Can you tell me more about the soldering machine shown at 1:34? It appears to be a heated plate but what is the Z-axis motion for? NIce project, thanks.

[@makermoekoe]

The z-axis is to let the plate cool down faster. Once it is lifted, the fans are pointing directly onto the bottom side of the plate so that it can stay onto the hotplate once the job is done.

[@snowboarderdj86]

I see you can cut power to lora and GPS via LDO2, do happen to know if you can put the ATGM336H module to sleep mode via UART?

[@azazeldeath]

Id love to use one of these for my 4x4. If possible I'd set it up mostly for a gps system for navigation, with a fall back for finding the vehicle if stolen or lost. With perhaps another used as a walking gos navigation for camping/hunting and fishing If software allows could even point you in the right direction to return to base, or another device, eg the vehicle mounted one.

[@mohammadrezamim272]

I always woundered that can we track many objects at same time using a lora tracker ? For example shopping carts around a store parking. Or cars parked in a parking? Is it even possible due to lora limitations?

[@MagivaIT]

how did you line up the esp32 on the board for soldering, its not visible

[@lovekittencat9780]

What is the link of antennas on pcb

[@thomaswinding6663]

Where do you normally by your components, right from resistors to esp modules?

[@makermoekoe]

mostly from lcsc.com and mouser 👍🏻

[@OMNI_INFINITY]

It's like watching a bakery in some ways.

[@batner]

2:44 what do you use to swab the board clean after soldering?

[@idiotspieltminecraft1032]

Also ausversehen ist schon etwas merkwürdig… Naja, wie wäre es mit einem Video namens I‘ve accedentully built a Bluetooth Receiver to listen to my loved music.

[@smartassist9700]

I do not have a printer. Can u recommend low cost but still good enough quality? I’m disabled/ low income BIG IDEAS! 🤣

[@rakeshranjan8118]

Can you make your lab tour video with all equipments

[@graealex]

It's a nice project, but why the weird title?

[@makermoekoe]

As I wrote in the description, it wasn’t planned that this could be used as a tracking system as well, it was just designed as a test board

[@graealex]

@@makermoekoe I still think it is a silly title. It's a GPS tracker by hardware, even if your software or the overall concept was different in the beginning.

[@makermoekoe]

@@graealex I changed it to avoid other misunderstandings

[@togetdairocs8168]

I loved your clean way to show how to do .. Please, I want to know how can I get a solder base like this? Or how can I do it myself? Does anyone have a project?

[@sarathkumar-fk6jb]

How to get it preassembled? as i do not have soldering infrastructure.

[@rshnthms]

Nice video Could you make a cm4 display and battery connect board Same dimensions as cm4

[@rustyutb]

Nice job! I don't see the USB IC in yout circuit (like CP2102 for example)... how do you upload the firmware to your esp32 without it?

[@rustyutb]

You might have mentioned it in during the video but i watched it with no sound

[@makermoekoe]

The ESP32-S2 has a built in USB-CDC port which can be used to flash the mcu directly without the need of a usb2serial bridge 👍🏻

[@tactizityeibar8922]

Is it possible to use Meshtastic firmware with it?

[@oyewumivictor103]

nicee !!

[@patrik9982]

Nice project, but could you either turn down the music or turn up your comment?

[@genecatcher1]

Your house has many photovoltaic panels. I saw your location.

[@111elf1]

where would i use it for? in my Vespa. In my trailer. If it was a really good price, i would give one to my Scouts to guarantee for their wellbeeing during camps abroad. (they are old enough for doing stuff on their own for longer periods, but currently we get updates by sms from them and that sucks, social media must not be used because of regulations and law)

[@user-bt1hu3sh9j]

use it as pet tracker, build a E- collar would be great.