Discussion: Purobu: The Smart GPS Tracker

Purobu: The Smart GPS Tracker

Purobu is a tiny device featuring GPS, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer, Barometer, WiFi and Cellular.

Made of anodized aluminum and measuring 2in x 2in (5cm x 5cm), 0.4in (1cm) thin, and weighing only 1.8oz (50g), the device is small and light enough to be placed just about anywhere. It has a built-in lithium polymer battery, which will run up to a week (approx. 24 hours of continuous, real-time tracking).

Some users may decide to use the probe to track their property or family in real-time (with no technical skills required) from anywhere in the world, via the website. On the other hand, developers may wish to create their own applications using the powerful API.

Purobu uses the very latest ultra sensitive wireless technologies to ensure that a connection is possible in almost any environment.

The advanced integrated antenna design allows Purobu to continue working in a pocket, a bag, inside a glove compartment, or even inside a multi-story building.

You can pre-order today on Indiegogo.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/purobu-the-smar...

Thank you

Ben

Interesting looking device. It could be great for live tracking, but lots of questions still.

Is there any actual hardware developed yet?
How do you expect the radios to all work inside an aluminum enclosure?
US FCC approval? (that alone would kill your entire indigogo budget for a bluetooth, wifi, and cell testing and cert if you are not using pre approved modules)
CE approval? EN60950?
Waterproof? Water resistant?
What kind of user feedback is there on the device. This is important when using it at an event for athlete tracking, i.e. cell connection status, gps lock status.
Are you using the inertial sensors to improve your position solution? Whats the update rate? How much can you correct when in an urban environment?
What GPS chipset is it using?
What is battery life in real world tracking applications like? 1 sec gps updates, 15 sec or better cell updates. I'm skeptical of your power budget to be able to get 24 hours under those conditions with a device of that size.
Can you set up the device to do SMS updates instead of using cellular data? unlimited text plans can be cheaper for m2m devices than having a data plan for each one.

Hi Edwarddes,

Those are really good questions and I will try to answer them for you.

Is there any actual hardware developed yet?

At the moment our test platform is Arduino based (too big for final version). We are currently in the process of developing a prototype with a custom controller connected to separate modules, which will be presented in Jan 2015.

How do you expect the radios to all work inside an aluminum enclosure?

There is a non aluminum band around the edge of the enclosure.

US FCC approval?

We are using pre-approved modules which have all required certifications.

Waterproof? Water resistant?

Splash proof, Yes. Waterproof?, No. we are looking at the possibility of creating a waterproof enclosure, but this is unlikely to feature in the initial launch version.

What kind of user feedback is there on the device?

The multi-color LED will be used to provide basic feedback.

What is battery life in real world tracking applications like?

We are still in the process of testing a wide range of batteries from various manufacturers. Our goal remains to provide 24 hours of active use.

Can you set up the device to do SMS updates?
This is a very interesting idea. We will certainly look in to offering both options.

In regards to your questions regarding update rates, correction techniques and chipsets etc - I am unable to answer those at present as the project is still in the early stages and things are likely to change as the project progresses.

Once again, thank you for the questions and if you have any further ideas for our project, please do share them. You can also email us at hello@purobu.com.

Regards,

Ben

I second the concern about battery life vs. size. My experience has been that there is no major difference among manufacturers of LiPo batteries as far as energy density, and for 24 hours of continuous GPS chipset use, you are looking at approx. 400 mAh, which will be approx. 1.2 in³. That leaves 0.4 in³ for everything else in your box, including the wall thickness, i.e. nothing. If you get at least a factor of 2 better than either of the estimates above, I'll gladly buy your box and cut it up, I want to know how to get these kinds of energy densities too.

1.6 in^3 is the size of a device with ~30 hrs of 60 second gps tracking (750 mAh) (yes, no transmit capabilities and various other shortcomings).

Whatever you do, make it so the thing can't accidentally be shut off by random squeezing.

Hi Tundra/Desert,

It's important to remember that Purobu is a project, it's not a final product.

24 hours is the goal. We haven't yet achieved this, but we are certainly going to try to do so. The project will of course change, including features and capabilities, as time goes on, which is typical of any crowdfunded hardware project.

We may not hit the battery life target, but we are certainly going to try to.

At this point we are looking for ideas from potential users in terms of features on both the hardware and cloud software side of the project.

We do welcome your feedback though and hope you will consider backing the project.

Thanks

Ben

This thread is a blatant advertisement for a non-existant product by a user that is simply the owner of a "company." It is my understanding that this is a social networking website, not a free, ready-market for advertisers to promote products under the guise that this is possibly some orienteering-related product (maybe it is, but that doesn't matter).

Would it be acceptable for say Bermans or A&E or Scarborough or Garmin or anyone else to create user accounts and start threads to advertise seasonal sales or new products simply because they are "orienteering-related?" If this guy wants to promote his product he should pony up some money to Ken and buy ad space. This thread should be marked as spam.