Pet Tracker
This cellular and GPS enabled device keeps pets safe by warning owners when their pet escapes the safe zone.
The Client
Dave Waymouth is an entrepreneur who began Petsimpl after winning multiple competitions for his pet tracker idea and then running a successful KickStarter campaign. He partnered with Seth Berggren of Inspira to assemble a team for the development of his new product idea.
The Challenge
There were several “must-haves” that were discussed with Dave about this product:
- It must be miniature to fit as many pets as possible
- It must have long battery life
- It must have reliable cellular service
- It must have reliable GPS coordinates
- It must track pet activity and exercise
- It must be rugged and waterproof
The Outcome
We were able to satisfy almost all of the requirements but unfortunately we were butting up against a trade-off between device miniaturization and cellular / GPS performance. We increased the size of the device a bit so that it was still comfortable for most pets but it did end up being a little bulky for the smaller animals.
Technologies
Cellular
Sending location via the Verizon CDMA network allows turn-by-turn navigation of pet on maps.
GPS
Real-time updates from on-board GPS module ensures accurate location of pet at all times.
Bluetooth
Using a Long-Range Bluetooth LE Module gave this device up to 100 yards of low energy range.
Activity
Monitoring accelerometer activity allows managing low-power states and tracking pet exercise.
How it works
The pet tracker works by relying primarily on a Bluetooth connection to a beacon in the house called the Base Station. As long as the pet stays in the safe perimeter then device will stay in its low energy state.
When the pet escapes the safe perimeter and the connection with the Base Station is lost, the tracker activates the GPS module and the cellular module and begins sending location updates to the server.
The owner gets a notification on their phone which takes them to a Google Maps view of their pet’s location where they can easily navigate to find their pet.