appelflap / assetblock

Arduino GPS tracker with RockBLOCK Iridium modem

AssetBLOCK

Low power consumption Arduino asset tracker with OTA configuration capabilities. Idea is to get a board without FTDI chip and other energy sucking components.

Uses libraries:

• https://github.com/appelflap/IridiumSBD
• http://arduiniana.org/libraries/tinygpsplus/
• http://arduiniana.org/libraries/pstring/
• https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_Time.html

Built using hints/code from:

• https://makezine.com/projects/make-37/iridiumsatellite/
• http://www.kevindarrah.com/download/arduino_code/LowPowerVideo.ino

Hardware components:

• Arduino Nano Pro 3.3v
• RockBLOCK Iridium modem
• Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout
• 2x or 4x Long Life 3.7v batteries parallel for 12Ah life

Steps:

• Enable GPS
• Try to get FIX for n seconds
• Disable GPS
• If no fix -> sleep
• Else enable RockBLOCK
• Try to get Iridium network
• Receive message (if available in network)
• Send GPS Location in less than 50 bytes (1 credit)
• Apply configuration to EEPROM if found in received message
• Disable as much hardware
• Sleep for b seconds (1 hour by default at the moment, will be changed to 24 hours)