I want to put trackers in the vans at work, but I only need to track where they've been, not worried about instant info etc..

so I was thinking an arduino with a gps shield or an android phone would be perfect... when the power is on record gps location and the time every few min.... then once the van gets back to the factory at the end of the day upload it over wifi to office computer (or whatever, was thinking dropbox for phone, don't know about arduino)

means I can have cheap easy trackers - all the professional ones I've found will end up costing £50 per vehicle per month, so £400/month is more than I want to spend - anti-theft trackers are cheaper, but won't give enough info, I just need ot know where the drivers have been and for how long


anyone got any ideas ?

I figured I could get some android apps to suit but can't find anything at all :-(

don't mind paying for stuff, just don't want to be stuck paying hundreds/month for years

I can write you a program to do that if you want, but it won't be for a week or so. You'll need a decent battery to keep the phone on all day.

there's no hurry, and I'll wire it in under the dash to charge from the van battery

is it possible to turn the gps recording on/off when it's on/off charge ?  then I could wire it in to only charge when the ignition is on, so it doesen;t record loads of useless info overnight etc. :-)

driver went out today on a delivery run, should have been back by 2pm... it's 8.30 and he's still not back :-s

I've not used the android API in 4 years so I'm not sure what it can and can't do anything (re: gps on while its charging. I'm sure you'll be able to though).

Why don't you just use a raspberry pi and a sub gps adapter?

Try and find a new driver. 

Quote from: XEntity on November 20, 2015, 21:44:53 PMWhy don't you just use a raspberry pi and a sub gps adapter?

is that easy to do?

I can't concentrate properly since I fell on my head

Quote from: Bacon on November 22, 2015, 01:08:20 AM
Try and find a new driver. 

thing is, he's honest, customers like him, he does all the deliveries/doesn't miss any out, and he works hard in the factory... just takes forever doing deliveries - and he's  not that he's a slow driver so that's not it

He's probably seeing a bird on the side.

the company I work for has trackers on all the vans and apparently the money it knocks off the company insurance policy more than covers the cost of the subscription. worth a look.

What about GPS enabled dash cams? Two birds one stone then, covers you for seeing if the drivers are driving like knobs, or are in an accident not their fault, and I guess on some models you'll be able to see the GPS log of where they have been? Or do they tend to just record the location if the accelerometers trigger in an accident?

Quote from: knighty on November 22, 2015, 14:32:41 PM

Quote from: XEntity on November 20, 2015, 21:44:53 PMWhy don't you just use a raspberry pi and a sub gps adapter?

is that easy to do?

I can't concentrate properly since I fell on my head

Quote from: Bacon on November 22, 2015, 01:08:20 AM
Try and find a new driver. 

thing is, he's honest, customers like him, he does all the deliveries/doesn't miss any out, and he works hard in the factory... just takes forever doing deliveries - and he's  not that he's a slow driver so that's not it

Maybe cut the subterfuge bollocks and just be honest with him, explain you're really happy with his work but he's a bit slow on the deliveries compared to the others and is there anything you can do to help?

no subterfuge here... he gets back late and there's me +5 guys saying where the f*** have you been
(if he gets back late guys working in the factory have to wait for him to get back to get the stock off his van)

but he insists he's doing his best, not mucking around etc...

there's plenty of times traffic etc. makes people late, it's no biggie, it's just been happening too often with him.   If he's skiving I can tell him to cut it out, if he's not skiving I can tell the other guys he's doing his best and to back off

most of the time it doesn't make much difference if he's late back... but skiving is infectious, if the other guys think he's skiving they'll start too.   plus, it's not fair on them if he is skiving and gets away with it


the trackers which give you cheaper insurance flag you up for speeding etc... I don't really care if the drivers speed as long as they're not being daft / thrashing it etc.


dash cam would be great if I could find one whcih would auto-upload over wifi, I've got too much other stuff to do to run around downloading info from gps/cams manually, at least if it's automatic I can check if while I'm eating lunch etc.

Yeah fair play, tough one, does he know he's being watched? Does he know that GPS/dashcam etc is imminent? I would have thought this would, if he is, taking the piss jolt him into not.

Edit- for reference I used to work with an old guy called George, and one called Dave, when you get past 50 I think your pace of life just halves

Quote from: knighty on November 22, 2015, 21:53:51 PM

the trackers which give you cheaper insurance flag you up for speeding etc... I don't really care if the drivers speed as long as they're not being daft / thrashing it etc.

not too sure about that,  our email the office if we go over 80 but that's it,  there are no consequences to speeding, I do it all the time with our trackers. no one except our office monitor them.

it's with a company called track you.

what your after does exist all ready tho, I spoke to a electrician a while ago and he said his movement in the van was tracked using an app on his phone but he just used to switch it to airplane mode.

anything here
http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20151125114528&SearchText=car+tracking