How we make a GPS tracker

After closely monitoring the movements of the stolen vehicle, the thief was identified and their place of residence was discovered. However, in an unexpected twist, the thief and their friend brought the stolen scooter to the National Police Station. The GPS tracker allowed for the successful return of the scooter to its rightful owner after the police were contacted.

In October 2022, a six-month testing period began for around 70 trackers installed in rental scooters in Valencia. About 40 of them are currently in production and returning stolen scooters successfully.

The rental company suffered a theft of two electric scooters, which is common in the area as police do not investigate thefts under €500. Lockator, a tracker and web service provider, was able to locate the stolen scooters despite the thieves changing serial numbers and handles.

We describe the process of choosing components for our tracker prototype.

We compared 18mm and 25mm antennas and tested their signal receiving capabilities under different conditions.