What is Vehicle Tracking?

Vehicle Security is a primary concern for all vehicle owners. Owners as well as

researchers are always on the look out for new and improved security systems for their
vehicles
It enables the owner to closely monitor and track his vehicle in real-time and also check the
history of vehicle's movements. 

The security system uses GPS, to find the location of the monitored or tracked vehicle and then
uses satellite or radio systems to send the coordinates and the location data to the monitoring
center.

At monitoring center various GIS softwares are used to plot the Vehicle on a map.

Due to real-time tracking facility, vehicle tracking systems are becoming increasingly popular
among owners of expensive vehicles.

How does VTS Works?

GPS is used in VTS
As we all know that GPS has 3 segments (user,control,satellite)
There is some hardware to be placed in Vehicle Unit in order to track to it.
And that hardware receives signals from some gps satellite and it calculate
the position of Vehicle then transmit it to control center via GSM (we all gonna see
what is GSM in upcoming Slides)

GPS:
Stands for "Global Positioning System." GPS is a satellite navigation system used
to determine the ground position of an object
How does GPS work?

Each GPS satellite transmits radio signals that enable the GPS receivers to calculate where its (or
your vehicles) location on the Earth and convert the calculations into latitude, longitude and
velocity. A receiver needs signals from at least 3 GPS satellites to pinpoint your vehicle’s position.

GPS Receivers commonly used in most Vehicle tracking systems can only receive data from GPS
Satellites. They cannot communicate back with GPS or any other satellite.

A system based on GPS can only calculate its location but cannot send it to central control room. In
order to do this they normally use GSM[ Global System for Mobile Communications]-GPRS[General
Packet Radio Services] Cellular networks connectivity using additional GSM modem/module.
----A GSM module or a GPRS module is a chip or circuit that will be used to
establish communication between a mobile device or a computing machine and
a GSM or GPRS system.

GPS Receiver in vehicle unit has a capability of deducting the location where it is
,using the signals received from GPS Satellites (at least 3 satellite) using trilateration
principle, which is just a simple maths… we all could find X,Y,Z using 3 equations
that relates X,Y,Z (and here X,Y,Z are co-ordinates that’s it)

=====(2 Slides Skipped)===========

Now Consider that GPS receiver has calculated values for X,Y,Z now it must send
that values to control center where it is mapped using some GIS s/w. And as I
already said GPS Receiver couldn’t sent signals since it a receiver (as its name
says GPS Recevier) we need other technology to send that (GSM comes here)

And now after mapping (x,y,z) using GIS s/w that information is sent to User.

What is the use of GIS here?

We know that Gis is a s/w consist detailed maps with latitude and longitude
informations.
Gis converts the latitude and longitude information from GPS receiver through GSM
into a proper user readable address format.

This is ScreenShot from GIS s/w

This is a Screenshot from Modified GIS s/w for Vehicle Tracking System
These kinda s/w will be used by OLA, UBER and even in SWIGGY and ZOMOTA

Various applications of GIS based tracking are:

Vehicle Tracking System
Vehicle tracking systems are used to manage the fleet of vehicles. The vehicles are fitted with
GPS receiver and radio based transmitter device(or GSM ) to transfer the vehicle location data
on the server for further analysis. On the server GIS maps are used to plot the location.
Vehicle navigation systems
Vehicle navigation systems are used to help the vehicle in navigating to its destination. The
GPS based navigation system uses GIS based maps to guide the vehicle.
As far as vehicle tracking in India is concerned, its uses and market are expected to increase
within a couple of years.
In India it is mostly used in Indian transport and logistics industry and not much personal vehicle
tracking.

Vehicle tracking system in India is mainly used in transport industry that keeps a real-time
track of all vehicles in the fleet.

Logistic service providers are now increasingly adopting vehicle-tracking system for better fleet
management and timely service.

In commercial vehicle segments the taxi operators of various call centers are now using vehicle-
tracking system for better information access.

As far as Indian vehicle tracking and navigation market is concerned the recent association of
India with Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) will act as a catalyst in the
improvement of vehicle tracking system in India.

Pros:
Core benefit of tracking vehicle is that Security

It can provide a safety network to the person in condition of emergency and it can cut short the time by
providing the information regarding location, speed, distance from the destination leading to best route
planning.

Best feature of the technology is that it is easy to use. just an automated unit is needed to be installed in the
vehicle and connected to the centre which may be provided by some company. This instrument is
monitored by the GPS tracking company which keeps all the records or its customer’s locations. All details
of location etc are communicated to the user by cell phone or internet connection.

Cons:
I think No technology is free from dark areas. This technology helps monitoring vehicles and children as
well and ensures increased productivity at commercial level and safety at personal level.
But at the same time it encroaches the privacy of the individual.
The liberty of the person gets restricted. This may lead to business owner to measure the performance of
the employee by these stats only and there leaves no room for human analysis.