In Switzerland the summer holidays have ended in most cantons and many are back to work. We had some holiday absences ourselves but all in all we have been working intensively on the petTracer GPS Cat collar. What have we done exactly?
Testing, Testing, Testing
We have tested, tested and tested even more. And by testing we have learned a tremendous amount, which allowed us to implement even further improvements. This ended in a highly reliable, robust and excellent firmware. We can now claim, with a clear conscience, that we have designed and successfully implemented our new communication protocols. Furthermore, we have updated our prototype web portal, tested it and gained sufficient experience. Due to this not too much further effort is needed to program a software suitable for the market. 
We are now able to deliver different metrical data and carry out evaluations so cat owners know exactly where their cat is and what it is doing. We can now easily display the following information:
- GPS quality
- Wireless signal strength
- Battery charge level
- Various filters
- Search Mode
- a variety of display options including a Heatmap and much more
Accuracy of petTracer
We would like to describe how precise our petTracer GPS cat collar is/can be. As we have already explained in a previous newsletter, there are many factors influencing a GPS signal, thus having (potentially) considerable impact on its accuracy. Despite all these factors, we often receive an astonishingly precise position; especially when we set the collar in search mode. This allows the collar to locate itself and send a GPS position every 15 seconds. To illustrate this we have made some pictures and print screens. This position was measured and documented on 11.08.2016. Tester was our cat Topolino.
Image 1: Topolino in the garden and almost invisible. He is hiding behind the tree.
Image 2: Here is a closer shot, which shows Topolino better.
Image 3: In the middle of the picture, the two houses of image 1 can be seen. On the map, the garden is on the right hand side (where the red dots / circles are).
Image 4: And finally, if you look closely, you can see that the position was pinpointed accurately to a few inches! That is incredible!
A big thank you goes to our testers
We have a number of test cats and people and we would like to thank them very much! You and your darlings are doing a great job. Here are some impressions of our dedicated testers. 🙂
This week we will increase the number of testers again in order to create an even greater diversity.
What next?
We have now all the hardware components in operation, with one exception: the motion detector. In the 4 hour mode our battery lasts about one month. But interval modes are not necessarily what we want to prioritize or deem as “optimum”. We want a system which is smart enough to know what the cat is up to and only obtain a GPS position when it makes sense. Therefore, we will implement this final piece of firmware in the coming week and test it together with the motion sensor. Should the entire interaction of hardware and firmware prove effective, we will finally have made it and we can give the “GO” for production.
We would like to thank all our supporters for their incredible patience. Thank you very, very much!
Greetings and see you soon
Alan & Claudio