GPS Pet Tracking devicesAnd what about our best friends?GPS pet tracking is for cats and dogs that do get lost too. Thanks to the miniaturization of GPS receivers and mobile phone modems even they can carry devices that allow them to be tracked by the owner. There is not yet a great choice of devices, but this probably will change rather fast. We present you the GPS pet tracking devices that we already found and will add to this page as soon as we find new ones.
The Pet Detective
The Pet Detective from Telepet is a smart concept to save power from the batteries in the collar unit. The GPS pet tracking unit has an extra antenna that receives a signal from a small base station in the home. The signal is modifiable from 100 feet in diameter to 300 feet. If the unit stops receiving the signal because the dog breached the Virtual Fence, the unit goes to work getting a locate from the GPS satellites and transmits through a GSM modem its location. It has a strobe light that can be seen from over 100 yards away when in Lost Pet Mode and lets the owner know by SMS, fax and email when the battery is low. The base station is also a battery charger and it comes with 2 rechargeable batteries so there is always a battery ready. When the unit is receiving the base signal, all components but the antenna and a small part of the firmware turn off to conserve energy in our Power Management System.
RoamEO
The GPS pet tracking device RoamEO does not use a cell phone modem to send your dog's location, but the MURS band at 154.60 MHz. This means that its radius of functioning is limited to about 1 mile in all directions, but it also means that you can use this GPS pet tracking device anywhere on earth, even when there is no cell phone coverage at all. It also means that there are no additional communication costs or monthly fees to be paid.
RoamEO:
* Locates your pet within one mile in all directions and displays this information on a color LCD screen.
RoamEO has been designed so that you can set up a GPS Fence. RoamEO uses GPS coordinates that you establish by walking the perimeter of your desired fence, and commits them to memory. RoamEO was designed with three distinct screen shots. The following information is available: your location, your pet's location, distance in feet, velocity in MPH, direction your pet is heading, general compass, Electronic Fence (if activated), battery life of collars, battery life of handheld unit, GPS signal strength, radio signal strength, and zoom scale.
Garmin Astro
The Garmin Astro GPS pet tracking device does not use a cell phone modem neither. Instead the information from dog to owner is transmitted via VHF radio signals. The Astro GPS pet tracking system includes a bright color-screen handheld GPS device and a wireless transmitter, called the DC 20. To get started, just take Astro outdoors and turn on the handheld and transmitter to acquire GPS satellite signals. Then attach the DC 20 to your dog, either with the included neoprene harness or by threading it onto an existing 1-inch e-collar. As often as every five seconds, your dog’s DC 20 transmits his position to your handheld, and you can see his current location and a trail of where he’s been on the Map page of your handheld. Switch over to the Dog Tracker page to view a compass pointing to your dog’s location as well as his current status: whether he’s running, sitting, on point or treeing quarry. Astro can also sound an alarm to let you know instantly when your dog goes on point. Astro boasts a high-sensitivity GPS receiver that can track your dog’s position even in the densest cover. You can track up to ten dogs at one time with Astro, at a distance of up to five miles away (depending on terrain). The system transmits information by line-of-sight, so it reaches farthest in flat, open territory. The Astro handheld has all the features of Garmin’s top-line handheld outdoor devices, including a barometric altimeter, microSD card slot, celestial information, area calculator, rugged, IPX7 waterproof exterior and a revolutionary 3-axis compass, which works no matter how the handheld is oriented. With optional detailed city street maps, you can search for over 6 million points of interest and create a route on roads with exact turn-by-turn directions.
TRACE:DOG (www.tracedog.fr) has developed, in close collaboration with veterinarians, two GPS pet tracking devices for dogs. The TRACE:GPS is an assisted-GPS pet tracking device for GSM networks. The TRACE:GSM does not use GPS signals, but determines its position by mobile phone network triangulation. Both devices have a quad-band GSM modem incorporated. Via Internet you can see where your dog is on a variable-scale map. With your mobile phone, you can send an alarm signal to your dog's device and if your phone supports MMS technology, you will instantly receive a mapped location. You can also obtain the dog's location via a SMS text message or even via a voice server. TRACE:DOG is sold by veterinarians, pet shops and garden centers. Locatis from Switzerland used the Sarantel GeoHelix GPS antenna in its PB100 GPS pet tracking device. The PB100 is a lightweight, water-resistant GPS/GSM device that is attached to a dog's collar to help owners keep track of their pet. If a pet owner loses sight of their dog and wants to know its location, they send an SMS text asking 'Where is my dog?' to the Locatis command centre, which connects to the PB100 and initializes a search. The PB100 estimates the pooch's position and sends the address immediately as SMS text over the GSM network to the command centre and then on to the pet owner. Pet owners can also request information on the pooch's position via the Internet or by calling the Locatis command centre directly. Environmental Studies has released the GPS PRO Dog GPS pet tracking system for medium to large sized dogs. A GPS receiver and a GSM modem with special software are incorporated into the dog collar. You simply call the telephone number of the GPS-GSM dog collar with your mobile phone. The GPS receiver in the collar calculates the position of the dog and sends the co-ordinates immediately in a SMS text to your mobile phone. A VHF beacon allows hunters to track and train their dogs. Individual frequency adjustment is possible. An activity sensor tells via the mobile phone if the animal is in motion or on point. The system will work on the following GSM networks: Europe 900/1800MHz, North America 900/1900MHz and Asia 900/1800MHz. Swedish companies Petlink Development and M-Tech have developed the same idea for the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish market. Their GPS pet tracking device has a SIM card which is registered with Petlink for operation on the TeliaSonera network. If you send a SMS message to your dog's device, it replies by sending an SMS or MMS message with text or a map image indicating where your dog is located. The Global Pet Finder GPS pet tracking device from GPSTracks can be placed in a collar, halter, blanket, knapsack or other wearable accessory and will cause no harm to the wearer. The unit operates on AA batteries. Should the pet wander away from a pre-determined boundary, the owner’s receiver of choice is automatically alerted. If desired, the Global Pet Finder can be set to constantly monitor the location of the pet. The GPS pet tracking system allows to display the pets location displayed on several electronic devices like PDAs, Web site, cell phones or even a monitoring company that can respond on your behalf, in the event you are unable to. The Pointer Dog GPS GPS pet tracking solution, developed by Benefon and Pointer Solutions is a combination of a GPS device, worn by the dog in a harness, and the hunter’s GPS/GSM navigation instrument, the Benefon Esc!, slightly modified to meet the exact needs of hunters. The system helps hunters keep track of their dogs in the woods, as the dog’s movements can be seen in real-time on the hunter’s map screen. The hunter can also listen in to the dog and its surroundings by calling the dog’s unit. The dog can be tracked at any distance, even thousands of kilometers away, in another country. And, of course, you do not need to be a hunter in order to use this GPS pet tracking device for your dog.
The GPS Pet Tracker from Micro Tech is a wireless, electronic pager device that easily and remotely monitors the location of pets via the Internet anywhere in North America. The unit uses standard batteries, with an option on rechargeable batteries and operates on Reflex Paging Networks. It can report on demand or at specific intervals. The locations can be reported to email, pager, cell phone (as text message) and website. At the website the location can easily be tracked. Geo-fencing can be programmed to restrict the pet’s movement to a defined radius. As soon as the pet wanders outside this area, the unit sends the pet’s location.
The PetsCell from PetsMobility is a waterproof, 2-way, voice-enabled, GPS pet tracking device that affixes to the pet's collar. The pet's location can be tracked and delivered in real time via a wired or wireless delivery format and can be delivered to a desktop PC, hand-held device, telephone text or traditional voice message service. In addition, the device allows for pet owners to set geofence boundaries that will alert the owner when their companion steps outside the set boundary. The device measures 5 x 2.5 x 9.4 cm.
FAQ We get many questions about GPS pet tracking, especially for cats. We will answer the most important ones here. Q1 Which device could I use to track my cat? A1 Probably all actual (March 2007) existing GPS pet tracking devices are too heavy for domestic cats. Still no GPS pet tracking device for cats on the horizon. Proves that it is very difficult to make these devices smaller and lighter. The demand is huge, but we will have to be patient.
Solutions for cats (no GPS)
We cannot stand it any longer (End of September 2005) that there still are no GPS tracking devices for cats. So, we sought for other solutions and we found a very good one that uses radio frequencies instead of GPS. This means that you can not see on a map where exactly your cat is, but you can always find her back. We were so happy that we had found a good solution for cats, but the Finnish firm let us know that they no longer manufacture the Radio Frequency devices, so we have withdrawn the information about this product. <Q2 Are there GPS pet tracking devices that can be inserted under the skin?
A2 This solution is not yet available and will not be available for many years to come. The reasons: GPS pet tracking devices use two different technologies. First GPS for calculating the position and second a GSM modem to send this information to a server or directly to you through the wireless network. Both the GPS as the GSM need a minimum antenna surface for a correct working (dictated by the frequencies of operation). What is even more difficult is the need for relatively lots of power. A GPS chip needs 0,25 to 0,5W and the GSM modem must send out its information at about 1W in order to reach a cell tower at great distance. This requires heavy, bulky batteries. So the volume as well as the weight will remain a problem for many more years.
There is hope for cat lovers who want to track their animal
If this design would be commercialized, hundreds of thousands of cats could wear it too. See Press release below:
H.A.B.I.T. Research Ltd. releases 35 gram GPS wildlife tracking module Wednesday, 19 July 2006
A technology partnership between H.A.B.I.T. Research Limited, a Victoria based company that designs, develops and manufactures technology for wildlife research, and Swiss positioning technology provider u-blox, will soon make it possible for scientists to study the behaviour of endangered species once thought too tiny to be tracked by GPS, raising the hope that many smaller species may be saved from extinction.
H.A.B.I.T. Research Limited is launching a third generation of their revolutionary animal tracking product which is just 1/10th the size of its predecessor, weighing 35 grams or more. This breakthrough has been made possible by a new GPS module from u-blox. The LEA-4H GPS module manages to cram ultra-high sensitivity technology and low power needs into one of the smallest GPS devices on the market today.
The LEA-4H is powered by u-blox' ANTARIS 4 positioning engine, which offers incredible tracking accuracy because it uses twice as many satellites as its predecessor to pinpoint locations while W.A.A.S. support improves tracking accuracy from 20 meters to just five. The module's SuperSense(R) weak signal tracking technology allows researchers to track animals in the most difficult terrain such as canyons and dense brush.
"This new technology, a partnership between Swiss precision engineering and Canadian innovation, should allow researchers to develop a better understanding of a range of small and endangered animals and the role they play in the wider eco-system," said Dr. Jeffrey Goodyear, President & Founder of H.A.B.I.T. Research Limited. "That could provide critical insights into the future conservation of natural habitats and species of all sizes."
"H.A.B.I.T.'s new generation of wildlife tracking products makes the best out of our LEA-4H GPS module: Its small size means the scope of animals that can now be tracked has been significantly widened, while its combination of low power needs and high sensitivity means animals can be tracked for longer without interruption, even in difficult signal environments," said Nikolaos Papadopoulos, President of u-blox America.
The new H.A.B.I.T. GPS technology is also available in combinations with real-time VHF data telemetry and satellite PTT technology. Power supply options include battery or solar cell with packaging in collar and backpack configurations. This product is designed to weigh a little as 35g and can be used on mammals, both terrestrial and marine, reptiles, birds and amphibians.
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