Custom GPS trackers for assets and vehicles, designed for your fleet.
Off-the-shelf trackers rarely fit an odd asset, a tight enclosure or a specific data need, and a custom one needs a modem, a GNSS receiver, power management and antennas on one board. The closest build we have is a cellular GPS tag of our own, its schematic finished and its board in layout.
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The problem
A tracker has to know where it is, report it over a cellular link and keep running from a battery or a vehicle supply, and each of those pulls the design in a different direction. A second GNSS receiver alongside the modem's own, and a choice between a development SIM and a soldered eSIM, have to be settled early. Companies that move assets or run vehicles but have no embedded engineers often cannot specify that board, let alone build it.
For a project we would start from how the asset moves and where it is kept, how often a position is needed, what powers the device and how it is to be fitted, because those answers decide the modem, the receiver and the power design. Antenna placement is part of that, since a receiver inside a metal vehicle or a sealed housing sees the sky differently from one in the open. We would design the electronics and firmware together, and agree with you how the position data is to reach your own systems. We would also agree how the device is provisioned: how its SIM or eSIM is activated, how it is identified on your platform and how it is updated once it is fitted.
What we've built
Cellular GPS tag, schematic and layout stage
A cellular tag with two GNSS paths, power management and a small set of sensors, drawn across five schematic sheets that pass ERC. The board is now in layout. No hardware has been built or tested, and there are no trials or customers behind it. Fitting a tracker to a vehicle or an asset would change the power and enclosure choices, and we would scope those with you.
Five-sheet schematic complete, layout under way; nothing built or tested yet.
| Layer | What we did | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Cellular | An nRF9151 SiP provides the cellular link, with two SIM options on shared nets: a nano-SIM socket while developing and a soldered eSIM intended for production. | Dual SIM paths |
| Positioning | Position comes from two sources: the modem’s built-in GNSS, which keeps an external LNA, and a separate u-blox MAX-M10S receiver. | Two position sources |
| Power | An nPM1300 power management chip handles USB-C charging from a JST-connected battery. | |
| Motion and storage | An ADXL367 accelerometer, an optional LIS2MDL magnetometer and MX25R6435F flash. | |
| Open decisions | Still to decide on our tag: battery chemistry, how the GNSS receiver is supplied, and reverse-polarity protection. | Each would be settled against how your tracker is powered and fitted |
How working with us goes
- 01 Scope We agree what has to be built, where it lives and where the data goes.
- 02 Prototype Working hardware and firmware on your bench, tested against real conditions.
- 03 Pilot A small batch on real sites, with fixes folded back into the design.
- 04 Production Design for manufacture, a production run, and support once it is in the field.
Related
Wildlife tracking ·Low-power IoT design ·PCB design ·IoT dashboards and data pipelines · All sectors →
Need a tracker that fits your asset?
Custom hardware, firmware and software, from first sketch to production.
Talk to us about your project alessio.grespi@gmail.comWant it deployed, ready to run?
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