I just cried

and this is why




here are the other two movements by the way

Continue

Daemons Car duino Tracker

Daemon by Daniel Suarez is an excellent book for most people who are interested in microcontrollers (MCUs), and Im currently in the middle of re-reading it. The MCU project in todays post, OpenTracker v2, is something that would have been right at home in Daemon.

OpenTracker (well drop the v2 suffix for the rest of this post) is an Arduino-based GPS / GLONASS vehicle tracker. The August 21 article in Electronics Weekly gives an overview of OpenTracker and mentions a couple use cases.

"This one could of interest to a Gadget Master looking to track moving objects, such as a vehicle. Want to monitor your elderly parent, perhaps, or keep an eye on your son or daughter’s first driving adventures...The people behind it, Tigal, are raising funds on the Indiegogo crowd-funding website...it’s actually the second version of the firm’s open source GPS/GLONASS vehicle tracking system...As well as tracking single or multiple vehicles, it also monitors the speed and altitude of the objects...The Arduino Due compatible module has an Atmel SAM3A8C ARM controller, a Quectel M95 GSM/GPRS modem and a Quectel L76 GPS/GLONASS module..."

OpenTracker v1

TIGAL just completed their Indiegogo effort to fund the development and launch of the second version of this moving object tracking device. Their Indiegogo campaign raised only €3,319 toward their funding goal of €50,000, so the new version of OpenTracker didnt get quick or strong uptake in the maker community or the general public. Because the Indiegogo effort was a flexible funding project, TIGAL, the developer of OpenTracker, keeps the money pledged. Also, TIGAL is an established Austrian company that sells the first version of OpenTracker online, as well as other products. The first version can be found online for €118.80 including 20% VAT.

Based on the online description of their company, TIGAL will likely continue development of the trackers second version in spite of not reaching their crowdfunding goal. It will likely take longer for the second version to become available, so if youre interested in this open source  moving object tracker, you should probably just buy the first version to learn on while waiting for the second one to appear. If you do interesting hacks with v1, TIGAL might want to have you be a beta tester for v2. Their website describes the company this way:

"TIGAL is a...international distributor and manufacturer of...innovative technological products.  TIGAL’s product line includes embedded Linux/Windows CE devices, M2M solutions, wireless devices, CAE/CAD, development systems and compilers, professional programmers, measurement tools, LCD and OLED displays and display modules with and without touch screen functionality, and speech recognition development tools and systems. TIGAL is also leading several OEM projects with its international partners...in the fields of SMS and MMS messaging, Voice Recognition and Linux-based development tools and embedded hardware."

If youre considering buying or building a GPS tracker, you might also want to look at a few of the

other open source trackers. I didnt do in-depth research to find out which have the best reputation, but here are a few links to get you started:

GeogramONE board

1. GeogramONE (originally released as DSS Open Source Tracking Device on Kickstarter) -- $120.00 -- "The Geogram ONE is an open source tracking device based off the Arduino platform.  After a successful Kickstarter campaign, several hiccups in the manufacturing and assembly process, were proud to announce the Geogram ONE is finally available for sale. Were selling the bare bones board here for development, however to take full advantage of its capabilites youll still need...accessories...The board also comes preloaded with firmware to use as a tracking device.  Communication is handled simply by send an SMS from your smart phone."
2. RuuviTracker -- "...an open-source, electronic global positioning device as well as free

   

   RuuviTracker Rev C PCBs

   software. Our GSM- and GPS/GLONASS/Galileo-enabled tracking system can be used for various different tasks...it can be used to track your hunting dog, it can become your vehicles alarm system, a portable weather station, a security system for your children...The device itself will be an affordable, water-proof, robust, high-quality and state-of-the-art product...We have, for example: 168MHz ARM Cortex-M4, GSM, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, accelerometer, microSD, microphone, speaker etc. The device draws only few microamps during sleep, so even a small battery might last for several years. Additionally, our accelerometer is able to wake-up the device when its touched." Heres a link to the project status page on their wiki. They appear to have completed a Rev C PCB (printed circuit board) for their tracker in June 2014. 
3. GPS Cookie (funded with a Kickstarter project in 2013) -- $89.00 -- Overview from

   

   GPS Cookie

   CNET: "The GPS Cookie runs on two AAA batteries and records data onto a microSD card you supply. It records data, time, and location to track your routes, letting you build up a history of your movements. That data can then be imported into Google Earth so you can visualize your travels. The idea behind the gadget is that you just carry it around and not worry about it until you upload the data to Google Earth and see your information. This could come in handy for travel abroad so youll be able to locate that out-of-the-way Parisian cafe later. It can also be used to track bike routes, commutes, or just about any travel adventure."
4. Adafruit Ultimate GPS on the Raspberry Pi -- From Martin OHanlons blog post about this Adafruit GPS tracker: "I got myself one of adafruits ultimate GPS breakout boards as I want to experiment with capturing GPS data in my car projects.  Its a seriously good bit of

   

   Adafruit Ultimate GPS on Raspberry Pi

   kit and if you looking for a GPS module you could do a lot worse than this.  They also have an excellent tutorial on setting it up with the raspberry pi...I used the raspberry pis on board UART to connect to the GPS module, Adafruit advocate using a USB to serial device but that didnt suit my needs (I need the USB for other things). I also create a GPSController class in python to allow me to communicate with the module easily."

Ive never done a maker project with GPS tracking, but it appears there are a number of options for doing that with open source designs. If you want to track your child, your parent or a potentially wayward or nefarious client (I have no idea as to the legalities of any of those activities and IANAL) or if you want to clearly understand how someone might be tracking you, this post should at least point you in the right direction...

**********

Continue

Some Very Interesting Sites and Blogs

There have been a couple of Blogs and Sites that have got me more interested that usual, so here we go:

Hard to find outside of Australia, it’s described as the perfect beginners fish....

GrowBed Depth....

But what is toxic for fish is nourishing for plants -- they love nothing more than to....

Middle school and high school students care for the systems and assume daily maintenance. Once we harvest all of these crops, the systems.....

Discussing: Aerator, Channel Catfish, Seedlings, Pea Trellis, Fish mortality & drain loop vent....

well the tank is 300gallon and the grow bed is 4x8x 14deep, i am sure i will be....

Last week a Hawaiian aquaponics company that specializes in DIY, raft-based systems sent out a newsletter that had a link to.....

While doing some research on Aquaponics and solar powered water pumping I stumbled across plans for a small scale Aquaponic system made from 55 gallon water drums......

“ I think this is going to be the most informative aquaponics group in the Austin area! ”.....


Right, If that doesnt keep you amused for a couple of days, then youre not reading slow enough..... Or youre just looking at the pictures....lol

See You Soon
Ozzie

Continue

very nasty blog

thats not about poop.


Anyway so people are effing retarded.

It alls tarted on my way to history.


Well these people werent retarded but as I was going upstairs there were like twenty people going downstairs and it just really bugged the crap out of me.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr


anyway so I actually got in history and this effing retarded chick walks in with these noisy bracelets on and she felt it was a must to keep moving her arm. And then this dudes phone goes off and he just acts like nothings happening...like duh dude were all steering at you we know.

douche bag

So I saw this girl who is like anti abortion from a class in spring. She had her kid...rape baby and yeah long story short I was like "no wonder she got raped." Dude shes wearing super short shorts...as in I could see her butt cheeks. If she would have bent over Id probably see her youhoo. I mean she is just handing it out to the world like "HEY COME AND GET IT!" Pretty sure any hungry dog would go for it...

If I saw my daughter dress like that Id kick her out...
I mean I wouldnt buy clothes like that for her but if she managed to get them or make them...yeah she wouldnt be comin back home.

And you guys know me...Im a lenient person.

enough being mean now

Continue

Im Late Im Late for a Very Important Date

I am trying to settle this blog on to a steady Monday, Wednesday, Friday event however it seems the best I can achieve is any three days a week.

I love gardening of any type growing a vegetable garden has always been a passion for me. It’s a simple enough thing to say, but I really, really love home vegetables! The simple act of planting a seed, nurturing it and eventually harvesting its fruits is to me, a massively satisfying series of events. It’s a way of declaring my independence and providing healthful, fresh food for my family my friends and our local charities. Since the introduction of Aquaponics into my life, there has been a change because when we started this our plan or dream was to cut costs, cut water and cut space.

Well its a long way from an idea to a completed project on the scale that we are attempting, because we expect about 3 acres to be under A/P by the time we will be able to put our feet up. So to those people who are maybe working on or still just thinking about starting a small Aquaponics unit, we wish you well and please be patient with me if I get a bit slack from time to time, or if I digress at times or repeat things. The reason that may happen is, I dont go over the archives to see if I have covered a particular item.

Now on with the Blog....:

Here is a DIY water pump - could be handy in an emergency.

Usually in Aquaponics setups not much happens until Week 4,

 How To Build A Greenhouse | Greenhouse Plans

Culinary students create symbiotic gardening systems 

Single Barrel Aquaponics - Part 4 of 5

Pacu vs. Lizard – Phiippines Aquaponics...

Diabetics Need To Garden – 5 Aquaponics, Aeroponics

Our summer crop has well finished and pulled up the last tomatoe plant

There we go, That should be enough till next time

All the best for now

Ozzie

Continue