RuuviLab
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Vehicle Locator

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How to find out where you parked your bike or car

security

Comments

- Where did I park my bike? Is it on this street? So many bikes here!

Bicycles

Never lose where you parked ever again!

This tutorial transforms your vehicle into a radio transmitter so it can be found more easily.

Let's begin

First, set-up your RuuviTag to run our Eddystone firmware. Follow these DFU instructions to do so.

Step 1

Configure the beacon as follows:

  • Slot 0: Eddystone-URL (a dummy address is ok, for example: https://my-scooter)
  • Transmission power: -4 dBm (or stronger, if you prefer)
  • Transmission interval: 300 ms

Step 2

Install the device, for example, under your bicycle's seat. Position it so that it'll radiate as omnidirectionally as possible.

It's waterproof and really durable so feel free to use your imagination.

Ready!

Use a beacon scanner (Beacon Toy for example) to check if you're close to the vehicle.

If your phone cannot hear anything, it's out of range. It could be behind a corner or maybe more than 50 meters (150 feet) too far.

Vehicle Nearby

The distance shown is an approximation done by using a signal strength of the transmitter. 

Note that this method is not super accurate and the results will vary depending environment and phone used.

Let us know how it works with your RuuviTag and phone combination so that we'll be able to enhance the calibration values in the firmware.

Other uses

Don't feel limited to only locating vehicles! Get creative:

  • Luggage
  • Sports gear
  • Pets
  • Children
  • Shipments
  • Etc.

Tell us what you've located!

Comments

Share your project

#ruuvitag / @ruuvicom

Ruuvi Innovations Ltd (Oy) / Finland

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