First prototype done !
After two months the project has been launched here are some fresh news.
The first hand-made prototype has been done and is successfully working. The hardware is based on a Sirf-III chipset connected to a Microchip microcontroller. The overall system is connected to iPhone / iPod touch through the serial port. The client application on the iPhone / iPod touch can activate / deactivate the GPS to reduce power consumption when it is not needed. The actual power consumption in use is about 82mA. When the GPS is not activated the power consumption is 7mA. Some work is in progress to reduce the latter.
Here is a photo of the current draft prootype:
The client application update the user position each second and display on the Map application. Unfortunatly it means that user should be connected to the Internet because at each update a request will be sent to the Map servers.
The next parts of the project are:
- Produce the PCB of the current prototype (work in progress…)
- Create an application with local maps (like the PSP Maps application) to be able to use the GPS without Internet connection. The map would be downloaded from Google maps and then stored on the iPod / iPhone for further use.
Any help about the last part is really appreciated. If you feel capable to develop a part of it, fell free to try and send results using the Contact page of the Xwaves main website (http://www.xwaves.net/).
Here is a little presentation video of the current project state:
May 29th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Hey guy, Congratulations !
the video is really amazing and i’m gonna write an article on my blog.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
would that be possible to release the software first, so that i can test it with my gps cable ?
May 30th, 2008 at 8:20 am
The *very very* alpha sources can be found there:
https://svn.xwaves.net/xGPS/software/trunk/xGPS/
Mathieu
May 30th, 2008 at 9:58 am
IT’S WONDERFUL!!!!!
May 30th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Mathieu ,
Thanks , I will try that tonight
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
[...] (natürlich inklusive passender Software) aufmerksam gemacht. Nun gibt es bereits die ersten berichtenswerten Neuigkeiten sowie einen kurzen Video-Clip zum [...]
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:13 am
Just great!
But how about the battery lifE?
June 5th, 2008 at 12:40 am
[...] 5, 2008 Thanks for xGPS team provide the hint on how to integrate the control panel to the Maps.app , so that we can bindle [...]
June 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Mathieu,
seems to be when click start and stop it , the serial port cannot release correctly and then when another start pressed , will show the error of failed to open the serial port.
I have modified this ,so instead of call the serial port from the mapview , I call a gps console program that written by myself. and it can sucessfully open and close the serial port , and my console program also support the cell tower based location lookup, so that even user don’t have the real GPS can use this application. The console program is free to use in your program , and the source code that I modified will release after tidy up. Finally , really really thanks for your help.
June 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
sorry that forget to include the url that link to the program
http://igpsd.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/igpsd-application-beta-released/
June 5th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
igpsd,
It is a known bug and it will be fixed in the later release. My wish is to completely not use the Map application because it requires an Internet connection which is not very handy.
Looking forward for your program sources !
Mathieu
June 6th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
most of the update is remove the serial code, and call the serial port program.
I also notify that navizon can capture the event of home press, while the home button being pressed , the bar will turn to small , and if the update is doing, it will stop immediately.
http://www.weihk.com/source/mapview.h
http://www.weihk.com/source/mapview.m
June 9th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
the new 3G iPhone is only 199USD, may be we can focus more on the software than the hardware…
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:03 am
Yep - I would agree with that.. Thanks for the line.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I saw the download for this on installer and figured I’d look at the site. While I was here, I saw the video “Get Kate for free”… I watched it, but it didn’t tell me how to get Kate for free… Any info would be appreciated…
Great work on the software!!!