Tracking / Personal Safety Alarm Devices

[DuncanCT]

Why is phone ('GSM') independence a determining factor?  (Ito personal tracking) 

 

It would be nice to have some redundancy from a phone. If you get mugged and your phone is taken off you at least you will still have the ability to raise an alarm. Also if the device has a dual purpose of asset tracking having to be linked to a phone would make it useless.

 

If someone want to track themselves with a phone there are already a lot of options available.

[mazambaan]

Obviously depending on where you ride, coverage is a key issue.  It is very easy and frustrating to be out of cell phone (GSM?) coverage (I know this from being on site at a serious Sani2c accident where you were in sight of a main road but no cell phone reception unless you hauled up a local hill).  Not lekker if not moving easily (ill or crashed). Cost goes up as coverage and options improve.

[Grey Hubs]

Isn't that what Namola does on some level? Panic, messaging, tracking, locate, assistance, medical and armed response, communication all on a stand alone device-pod-keyring thing. 

 

https://www.namola.com/namola-plus

 

Obviously it's more angled to the personal use rather than a item to drop down a seat post or hide under a saddle. Issue I see in having the personal alarm / personal tracking and a device that is so small as to be able to be hidden and not found on a bike is that they're 2 different purposes. Really one would be as small and tiny as possible and not be found and just track the other is a personal device. If as a joint unit it's so small it can't be found on a bike then I am going to lose it for sure before walking out the door when looking to use it in it's personal alarm guise and any buttons would need a needle to operate. 

 

Also I'm not sure that I'd be pulling up my dropper to pop a tracker down my seat post before every ride and then trying to get it out after. Rather I'd love 2 options bundled in one system. 1 like the Namola type device to have with me and can be passed about around the family and nanny etc and then a track tag that can stay in / on my bikes 24/7 and be activated via an app or is constantly running (though my wife might realise how much time I spend at the cafe post ride) and they all work off the same service. 

I thought this was a great idea and purchased 2 panic buttons with a years subscription to Namola Plus.

So far, VERY disappointed. The active tracking response on the app is VERY slow. I'm home, having a coffee and washing my bike by the time my Mrs gets a notification that I've arrived safe...

The last notification messages sent are 2 to 3 hrs after home arrival.

 

Really no good enough for a "safety device".

[aquaratza]

If anyone's interested, probably more a geek topic, but I took my RAK Wireless 7200 out yesterday for a little ride around the Durbanville trails. It's a very basic device with an embedded GPS and LoraWAN 868MHz radio transmitter.

 

The graphed output from the tracker is first and below it is the same ride from Strava:

 

The RAK7200 is a $39.50 device (around R 900) and the radio service itself is free (relies on community maintained nodes that are part of "The Things Network"). For radio-people TTN is like APRS, but new.

Coverage on the trails could be expanded with two extra gateways (maybe at Bloemendal and Contermanskloof) - but the coverage already seems to be fairly good. It looks like there's a gateway on the Tygerberg hills. Each gateway is around R 2k.

 

I haven't tested battery life on the tracker yet. The device is small enough to fit in my bike's frame or under the saddle.

^on the left is the RAK unit and on the right a Garmin inReach Mini (very cool, cheapest reasonable plan for the Garmin is around R 250 p/m (ex setup) and has unlimited 10-minute tracking points)

Edited July 29, 2020 by aquaratza

[Shebeen]

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/07/18/magnetometers-based-on-diamonds-will-make-navigation-easier

 

and justr when we think gps has got it covered, something better comes along

[ThePayne]

Hi all, jumping onto this topic quite late, but this is something that excites me.

 

I've also been doing a lot of research, and busy working on 2 different prototype devices specifically for tracking my bicycles. Looked at 1 year battery life minimum, and also anti-jamming functionality.

 

We are busy building an Android application as well. I will eventually share more details, but for now its more of a personal project ????

 

I moved to CPT this year, and have been scared shitless that I might get hijacked. And so the journey started!

 

GSM devices can get jammed, and LoRaWAN devices lose coverage when moving away from the base stations. We also have the issue of bikes getting across the border to neighboring countries. Then both options above are useless.

[Gisella]

Trying to find out if this is worth pursuing. Who would be interested in a tracking and personal alarm device that could work independent of cell phone and have about a years worth of battery life. Small enough to stick under your saddle or drop into your seat tube. Resolutions of about 1 location point every 10min and alarm message sent in real time.

 

Obviously to have while riding but other application would be possible. I would be like to be able to give my nanny such a device to carry when out of the house, etc.

 

Any feedback would be interesting?

 

Product Summary: (I'll move this to a Google sheet eventually)

 

Garmin inReach (www.garmin.com/en-ZA/inreach/personal/)

Hardware cost: R7900

Subscription: R250/month | R3 000/year

R1.65/tracking point

Function: Tracking + Alarm Button

Location: GNSS

Communication: Iridium

Resolution: 10min

Battery Life: 90hrs

 

Seon (www.seon.co.za/)

Hardware cost: R600

Subscription: R200/month | R2 400/year

Function: Alarm Button (Tracking only after activation)

Location: Phone/App

Communication: Bluetooth to phone

Resolution: Real Time**

Battery Life: 1 year (Tracking battery life dependent on phone battery)

 

Namola Panic Tracker (support.namola.com/the-namola-panic-tracker)

Hardware cost: R1400

Subscription: R80/month | R960/year

Location: GNSS

Communication: Cellular 

Resolution: Real Time**

Battery Life: 24 Hours

 

Spot Gen3 (findmespot.com/en-za/products-services/spot-gen3)

Hardware cost: R2 500

Subscription: R280/month R3 770/year (17 + USD/month + 25 USD/year)

Additional Cost: Activation 20 USD | Annual 25 USD | 2.5min tracking 7.25 USD

Function: Tracking + Alarm Button

Location: GNSS

Resolution: 2.5min

Battery Life: 5 days @ 5min resolution 

 

 

* Correct as of July 2020 / Please let me know if there is an error.

** Assumed

 

GNSS = Global Navigation Satellite System

check out www.buddyguard.co.za , https://www.buddyguard.co.za/buddyguard-panic-device/

Device works independent from phone

battery lasts more than year, don't need to charge, no sim required

medical and armed response

works with gps and wifi, transmission sent with RF (sigfox),national coverage

can add to circle, will also get push notifications if panic triggered

R89 monthly, R1399 device, no contract sign up

[DuncanCT]

check out www.buddyguard.co.za , https://www.buddyguard.co.za/buddyguard-panic-device/

Device works independent from phone

battery lasts more than year, don't need to charge, no sim required

medical and armed response

works with gps and wifi, transmission sent with RF (sigfox),national coverage

can add to circle, will also get push notifications if panic triggered

R89 monthly, R1399 device, no contract sign up

 

It cool to finally see the some of the alternative networks products coming to market. This device is using the Sigfox network. Great as a panic button but don't think it would last long as a tracking device. The GPS chip tend to use a lot more battery power. "2, 50, 100 or 140 frames per day" Would be interesting to see that the manufacturer would say about the 100 frames / day battery life.

Edited February 15, 2021 by DuncanCT

[Barry]

Has anyone tired the Apple Air Tag for bike tracking? Does this work and is it worth investing in.

https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-gear/how-to-track-stolen-bike-apple-air-tag/

[DuncanCT]

Probably more useful than a Tile Tracker due to the increased number of iPhone but potential to discover it with anti tracking notification Apple has enabled on it.

Think this is going to be the gold standard at some point when LoRa network coverage matures...

https://www.digitalmatter.com/devices/yabby-edge-cellular/

10 year battery life and much larger broadcast range.

Edited August 5, 2021 by DuncanCT

[Rocket-Boy]

4 minutes ago, DuncanCT said:

Probably more useful than a Tile Tracker due to the increased number of iPhone but potential to discover it with anti tracking notification Apple has enabled on it.

Think this is going to be the gold standard at some point when LoRa network coverage matures...

https://www.digitalmatter.com/devices/yabby-edge-cellular/

10 year battery life and much larger broadcast range.

I have never seen AA batteries go 10 years without leaking their contents, so I would be a bit dubious of that claim.

Still a couple of years on a set of batteries is a pretty good run.

[DuncanCT]

6 minutes ago, Rocket-Boy said:

I have never seen AA batteries go 10 years without leaking their contents, so I would be a bit dubious of that claim.

Still a couple of years on a set of batteries is a pretty good run.

Granted, a 18650 would probably be a better option but the tech is proven in other application. The LR1110 chip used in this tracker is really interesting. It can reference WiFi and GNSS. It then offloads that meta data to servers to do the positioning as not to use battery doing the location compute on the actual device.

[ChrisF]

6 hours ago, DuncanCT said:

Probably more useful than a Tile Tracker due to the increased number of iPhone but potential to discover it with anti tracking notification Apple has enabled on it.

Think this is going to be the gold standard at some point when LoRa network coverage matures...

https://www.digitalmatter.com/devices/yabby-edge-cellular/

10 year battery life and much larger broadcast range.

 

Roughly the size of a packet f sigarettes, according to their specc sheet .... hardly practical for hiding on a bike ....

 

May well be technically good for other applications.

[ChrisF]

10 hours ago, Barry said:

Has anyone tired the Apple Air Tag for bike tracking? Does this work and is it worth investing in.

https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-gear/how-to-track-stolen-bike-apple-air-tag/

Couple of YouTube videos of people testing it .... mixed feedback.

 

 

Seems like the typical electronics evolution ..... 3rd or 4th release normally works better ... by which time it becomes obsolete as something "better" is launched, with all new niggles ....

[Shaunus]

Hey all. Whilst on the topic of Tracking, check on my post here on BikeHub detailing my app to share your progress with whoever you want to track you, there are lots of riders and aviators here in SA using it:

https://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/193510-free-safety-tracking-app/

 

App details: www.safelytrack.me

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.wis.safelytrackme

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/safely-track-me/id6444079423

 

Cheers

Shaun

[Blahblah]

more or less how many users,and which portion would be considered active?