Cost Effective GPS - GPRS Based Object Tracking System

This paper proposes and implements a low cost object tracking system using GPS and GPRS. The system allows a user to view the present and the past positions recorded of a target object on Google Map through the internet. The system reads the current position of the object using GPS, the data is sent via GPRS service from the GSM network towards a web server using the POST method of the HTTP protocol. The object’s position data is then stored in the database for live and past tracking. A web application is developed using PHP, JavaScript, Ajax and MySQL with the Google Map embedded. The existing live tracking systems that are available now a days use SMS for the communication to the server which turned out to be expensive. (SMS are used for communication to device). We have used the GPRS service which made our system a low cost tracking solution for localizing an object position and status. This system is very useful for car theft situations (alarm alert, engine starting, localizing), for adolescent drivers being watched and monitored by parents (speed limit exceeding, leaving a specific area), as well as for human and pet tracking.