Starting from October 2022, we conducted testing of our trackers with the help of two friendly rental companies from Valencia. In total, around 70 devices participated in the testing, of which about 40 are currently in production and continue to work, returning stolen scooters.
The good thing is that the first 6 months of testing fell on the winter period with the least amount of tourists in the year. This allowed us to study different options for installing antennas and trackers inside the scooters without haste, find the best ways to connect power, and identify typical problems. In addition, the firmware of the trackers was adjusted several times, which increased its stability.
The results of the 6-month testing period can be called successful: we know in which direction to develop both the hardware and firmware for it. Moreover, we have also managed to create a new Lockator application with on web sockets , which receives real-time data on tracker movement with minimal delay and locks the device in just a few seconds.
In the near future, we plan to implement about 20 more trackers in operation and see how they perform in the tourist season, when the activity of robbers will increase several times.
Over 6 months, we were able to recover 3 out of 4 stolen scooters. One we could not recover due to a technical problem with the tracker - its location was only being tracked by cell towers. Meanwhile, the stolen scooter was immediately taken out of the city, where it remained stationary for several weeks until its battery ran out. After that, communication with it was lost forever. The other 3 scooters successfully returned to their owners.
At this stage, we should actively develop our hardware, changing the main platform and making the device more reliable, flexible, and able to connect to different types of electric transport, not just Xiaomi scooters. We are currently working in this direction and plan to release the second model of the Lockator tracker by the end of the year.
If you have any questions, proposals for cooperation, interesting ideas, or want to install our trackers in your scooters, please write to us. We are open to cooperation and look forward to your messages!