GPS tracking device

Question

I'm looking for a GPS tracking device without screen or apps. I just need it to look for the current position of a bus and send it to a server through TCP/IP protocol. This process must be constant so I can have a real-time tracking. The bus already has a wireless access point.

What device can be useful? Do I need another piece of hardware to send the coordinates to the server? I have no experience but... can something like an arduino connected to the gps send the data?

This question would me more suitable for Electrical Engineering stack exchange, but in it's current form it is likely to be closed as a shopping question there, so I am reluctant to migrate it. Please think about how you can rework your question to make it more suitable for stack exchange. — Mark Booth, Feb 12 '13 at 21:48
I'd reword this as "how can I send a GPS position over TCP/IP". @puma91, is that accurate? — Ian, Feb 13 '13 at 16:23

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 12 '13 at 03:06

I'm assuming you mean a passenger bus instead of a data bus. I'm also assuming you have access to a 12V output from the bus as well. If not you'll also need a battery.

Grab a Garmin GPS unit and an Arduino with Ethernet and USB. The Garmin outputs strings with the latitude and longitude over USB, which the Arduino can read in. Copy those strings to Ethernet packets and send it off via the TCP/IP connection. Easy as pie and one of the first projects I ever did with a microcontroller.

GPS tracking device

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