Arduino GPS in IPhone Case - Build Your Own ! :)

Hi All,
It's us back on track again. This time we were thinking of something cool that can be used as a simple gadget that can impress others. What we have here is a beauty set of shields connected to my favourite arduino micro pro.

Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout - 66 channel w/10 Hz updates - Version 3
Monochrome 0.96" 128x64 OLED graphic display
Sparkfun Pro Micro - 5V/16MHz DEV-11098
Lithium Polymer USB Charger and Battery - Retail RTL-09876

And what is even more important - we put it into old iphone case in order to have some recycling items put into the project.

Good luck :) + comment please :)

Step 1: What's Inside ?

So what you will find here is:
1. Sparkfun - masterpiece arduino pro 5v/16MHz. love it!
2. Adafruit Ultimate GPS breakout - 66channel w/10 Hz updates - version3. Magnificient sheld for all who wants best-of-the-best GPS with killer-type features.
3. Adafruit Monochrome 0.96'' 128x24 OLED graphics display. You will be knocked out whe see how bright and clear it is. A must have.
4. Sparkfun Lithium Polymer USB Charger and Battery. 13hours of GPS work on that!!! + charges from usb and what is even more interesting....can run gps while charging (not all of chargers can do that!).

Step 2: Looking Into Details

Well,
The bigest challenge was to connect all of these shields to arduino mini pro. Since it is smaller than arduino uno, we had to think twice before soldering cables. In fact most of the default connections were overlaping or using hte same pins so we did small changes and made it work ;) See the instructions below:

1. GPS :
- tx goes to rx on ardu
- rx goes to tx on ardu
- vin goes to vcc on ardu
- gnd goes to gnd on ardu

Simple ? Sure! Let's move forward :)

2. OLED :
- data goes to pin6 on ardu
- clk goes to pin10 on ardu
- dc goes to pin9 on ardu
- cs goes to pin14 on ardu
- vin goes to vcc on ardu (shared with gps)
- gnd goes to gnd on gps (that is connected to gnd on ardu)

Come on-let's move ahead :)

3. Li-Po USB charger :
- sys out(negative) goes to gnd on ardu (next to pin2
- sys out(positive+) goes to raw on ardu

And ?

Let's call it a day - soldering done :)

Step 3: Code, Software, Libraries Etc - All That You Love ;)

Ok,

the next step is quite simple as well.

Big thanks for PS for coding this. Excellent job connecting gps to oled and to arduino. - tracker.ino - attached to this page :)

1. download driver for arduino micro from sparkfun website. Ensure that you select proper model (proper voltage !)
2. download all necessary libraries from official websites for gps, oled
3. once everything is in place - load the code (Tracker.ino)
4. Bam bam bam ;) - when connected you should see "NO FIX" message - It means that gps do not have enough satelite info. Look into gps specification - it needs few seconds to be up and running - so easy ;). Be outside of course and you can add external antenna if need fast response etc. Do not stand in one place. The idea of gps is that it gathers information about your position based on sattelites and your move so have it in your pocket or on the dashboard in your car.
5. After a while you should see all GPS-type info - see pictures ;)
6. See movies too.

Comments / Questions ? - post below - we will answer.
Look for our other projects that are coming soon ;)