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Educating Global Engineers with EPS@ISEP

The “Pet Tracker” Project Experience

Aleksandra Borzęcka1, Anton Fagerström1, Artur Costa1, Martí Domènech Gasull1, Benedita Malheiro1,2, Cristina
Ribeiro1,3, Manuel F. Silva1,2, Nídia Caetano1,4, Paulo Ferreira1 and Pedro Guedes1
1
ISEP/IPP – School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, Porto, Portugal
2
INESC TEC, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, Portugal
3
INEB, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823, Porto, Portugal
4
CIETI & LEPABE, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, Porto, Portugal
{1121546,1121548,1090365,1121555,mbm,mcr,mss,nsc,pdf,pbg}@isep.ipp.pt

Abstract—The European Project Semester (EPS) is a one-
semester capstone project/internship programme offered to
engineering, product design and business undergraduates by 18
European engineering schools. EPS aims to prepare future
engineers to think and act globally, by adopting project-based
learning and teamwork methodologies, fostering the development
of complementary skills and addressing sustainability and
multiculturalism. Since 2011, the EPS@ISEP programme offers
a set of multidisciplinary projects to multicultural teams of
students, so that each team element can bring to the project its
previous knowledge and background experience. In the spring of
2013, a team choose to develop a pet tracker to provide pet
owners with information regarding the whereabouts of their pets
and, above all, to reduce the number of pets lost. After analysing
related products, the team decided to add extra features for
product differentiation. Combining a triple-axis accelerometer, a
low cost GPS receiver and the GSM/GPRS communication
technology, the team designed a system providing pet location,
tracking, map display and activity monitoring services. This
paper describes the development process of the Pet Tracker
system, comprising a wearable device for pets and a website for
pet owners.
Keywords— Activity, monitoring, pet, tracking
I. INTRODUCTION
The European Project Semester (EPS) framework is a one
semester student-centred international capstone programme
offered by a group of European high education institutions
called the EPS Providers, as part of their student exchange
programme portfolio. EPS provides an integrated framework
for undertaking engineering capstone projects, which adopts a
project-based learning methodology, focuses on teamwork and
exposes students to cultural, scientific and technical diversity.
The EPS package is organised around one central module – the
EPS project – and a set of complementary supportive modules.
The project proposals refer to multidisciplinary real world
problems, i.e., draw on knowledge from diverse fields, and are
open, i.e., specify exclusively top level requirements such as
the compliance with the applicable directives/norms and the
budget. The students are organised in teams of four to six
students from multiple engineering, business and industrial
design backgrounds and nationalities and each team is fully
responsible for conducting its project [1].
During the spring 2013, a team composed of four students
from Finland, Poland, Portugal and Spain, with background
education in Industrial Engineering and Management,
Biotechnology, Electrical and Computer Engineering and
Computer Engineering, respectively, choose to develop a pet
tracker. A pet tracker is a device used to monitor and track a
pet, which can be used for different purposes, e.g., to follow
hunting dogs or to verify the whereabouts of a domestic pet.
While in terms of the determination of the location of the
animal, these devices can use Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS) or the Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM), in terms of range of operation, i.e.,
communication with the owner, they rely either on the
GSM/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network or on
Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver pairs. The positioning
accuracy corresponds typically, in the case of the usage of the
GSM, to the cell size, i.e., from hundreds to thousands of
meters, while, in the case of the GNSS, to less than five meters.
Although their main objective was to design and develop a
pet tracking system, after analysing the state of the art, they
wanted to stand out among other “competitors” and decided to
add an activity monitoring feature. This feature allows the
owner to keep track of the pet’s activity and schedule the
exercise it needs. According to the team, the product should
“create a unique environment for the pet owner, where
functionalities meet the client needs” [2]. Therefore, the final
goal was to design, develop and build a system allowing the pet
owner, not only, to check the location of the pet, but, also,
monitor and share on social media its daily level of activity.
However, the objective of this programme is more
ambitious than just expecting the students to implement
prototypes (in this case the “Pet Tracker”) – it is also to make
them contribute with their distinct visions of the problem to a
common consensual solution. This process is not always easy,
since at this educational level the students are not used to
collaborate with peers from different nationalities (implying
distinct cultural backgrounds) and from different study
backgrounds (engineering students tend to think differently
from business and product design students).
Following this brief introduction, Section 2 presents the
EPS@ISEP Programme in which context this work was

978-1-5090-3912-8/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE

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developed, and Section 3 introduces existing systems devoted
to pet tracking, analysed by the team, and describes in detail
the project/product specification. In the sequel, Section 4
describes the project development, followed by Section 5,
which presents the tests performed and the results obtained as
well as improvement suggestions regarding the prototype.
Finally, Section 6 concludes the paper by presenting the team’s
reflections regarding the EPS@ISEP process and their ideas for
future developments of the programme.
II. CONTEXT – THE EPS@ISEP PROGRAMME
The EPS@ISEP programme – the EPS programme
provided by the School of Engineering – Instituto Superior de
Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) – of the Polytechnic Institute of
Porto – welcomes engineering, business and product design
students. This 30 European Credit Transfer System Units
(ECTU) programme is composed of six modules: Project
(20 ECTU), Project Management and Team Work (2 ECTU),
Marketing and Communication (2 ECTU), Foreign Language
(2 ECTU), Energy and Sustainable Development (2 ECTU)
and Ethics and Deontology (2 ECTU). These 2 ECTU modules
are project supportive seminars oriented towards the
specificities of each team project [1]. Figure 1depicts the
EPS@ISEP schedule.
Fig. 1. EPS@ISEP schedule
According to the EPS 10 Golden Rules [1], the EPS teams
should be composed of students with different nationalities and
backgrounds, since product development and innovation
benefit from interdisciplinary educational backgrounds, and
also as a way to foster the development of communication
skills among individuals with distinct educational and cultural
backgrounds and catalyse collaborative learning among the
team elements. Every spring, since 2011, the EPS@ISEP
programme offers a set of diverse projects with a strong focus
in multidisciplinary, so that each team element can bring to the
project its previous knowledge and background experience.
As far as project supervision is concerned, EPS@ISEP
adopts a unique model where a panel of multidisciplinary
experts acts as a consulting committee (Fig. 2). As far as
communication is concerned, the panel is aware that it is
interacting with students from diverse scientific and cultural
backgrounds. Furthermore, in the weekly supervision meeting
only the topics previously specified by the team in the wiki
agenda are discussed. Another very important aspect of the
coaching methodology is the prompt feedback given to the

students. Students meet with supervisors once a week to
discuss the topics the team has previously posted in the wiki
agenda.
Fig. 2. EPS@ISEP model os student supervision
The teams have to produce several deliverables, including
the project wiki, report, video, paper, manual, brochure and a
proof of concept prototype. The report structure (provided
beforehand) includes as mandatory sections the introduction,
state of the art, project development, marketing, sustainability,
ethical concerns and conclusions. The marketing, ethical and
deontological concerns as well as eco-efficiency and
sustainability measures chapters are produced and refined
within the corresponding complementary modules. The
structure and presentation of the deliverables are addressed in
the communication seminar. The wiki is a key tool to the EPS
process since it acts both as the collaborative work platform for
team members and supervisors as well as the project show
case.
III. PROJECT/PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
The students enrolled in this project started their work by
adopting standard project management approaches, e.g.,
identifying and allocating tasks, defining the deadlines and
creating a Gantt chart. This provided the team with a project
plan, allowing them to monitor and manage teamwork. The
work plan must comply with the tasks, deadlines and
milestones defined by the EPS@ISEP Team of Supervisors.
Furthermore, the tasks were allocated among the team
members depending on their preferences and previous
knowledge [2]. Next, the team conducted a state of the art
analysis regarding existing solutions for the problem. This step
involved a holistic approach, contemplating technical,
marketing, sustainability and ethical analyses, related to the
project requirements, development and manufacturing process,
i.e., from the design, throughout the development and until it
reaches the market. The students selected a marketing niche
and developed a marketing strategy for the prototype – the
objective is that the prototype can be easily transformed into a
product – considering competitors and stakeholders. This set of
actions demands some effort from the students, which are not
used to this type of decision process, where decisions must
always be justified and consensual. However, this contributes
to the development of technical, negotiation, conflict resolution
and collaboration abilities, which usually lack in traditional
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learning methodologies. Finally, with the information gathered, products to identify competitors, find a niche and define a
the team specified the requirements and developed its own target group and, thus, increase their probability of success.
solution – the Pet Tracker prototype.
The conclusion of market research was that the Pet Tracker
A. Related products would be the first product of its kind to be produced in Europe.
The GSM/GPRS network ranged pet tracking devices allow There were other GPS trackers in Europe, but none offering
the owners more freedom since they can just use the activity tracking. This is the distinctive feature that will make
manufacturer’s interface to monitor and track the pet, by using Pet Tracker unique in the European market. There is only one
a smartphone or a computer and, thus, excluding the need to company located in the United States which offers identical
purchase dedicated handheld devices. The range of these functionalities.
devices depends on the telecommunications network coverage Since gadgets tend to have a short life cycle, i.e., they
in the area. Typically, the price of the device is fairly low, but mature very quickly, the team decided to continuously refine
it implies the payment of a monthly fee to cover the the system with additional features after the release of the first
communication costs. Similar to cell phones, these products version of the product in the market.
use GSM/GPRS-based communication and are typically
powered by a Lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. Regarding the particular market to address, the team
decided first to aim to the Finnish market. The Finnish monthly
When it comes to positioning accuracy, there are solutions median gross income is set at 2776 € [5]. This means that Finns
with and without the inclusion of a GNSS receiver module. might have some extra money to spend on pets. There are
When a GNSS module is used, the device becomes more approximately 600 000 registered dogs in Finland at the
accurate but at the cost of power autonomy. moment, including approximately 450 000 purebred [6].
Table I presents a comparison of the contemplated Purebred dogs are more expensive and an owner of a purebred
GSM/GPRS pet tracking systems. dog might be willing to spend a little extra to ensure that
his/her dog is not lost. For many Finns, their dog is not only a
TABLE I. GSM/ GPRS NETWORK RANGED TRACKERS member of their family, but a whole lifestyle which includes
shows, training, sports trials and being involved in canine
Battery Monthly Activation
Product Pet Size autonomy
Price
Cost Cost
clubs. Agility, hunting and obedience training are among the
(d)
(€)
(€) (€) most popular activities besides attending dog shows. There are
Tagg [3] ≥ 4.5 kg 14-20 77 6 0 about 300 dog shows in Finland with a total amount of dogs
Loc8tor Pet
Medium attending of 195 000 every year [5].
and large 4-10 290 12-40 0
GPS During this process the students identified their main
breeds
Lovemypets
Medium
14
competitors as being Garmin and Snaptracs and, in particular,
and large 175 12 15 their Astro and Tagg products, respectively.
GPS (standby)
breeds
SpotLite
≥ 4.5 kg 5 115 15 23
Garmin is a Swiss navigation company which provides
GPS navigation systems for different kinds of vehicles and activities
Retrieva ≥ 4.5 kg 5-10 300 8 0 as well as specialized equipment for hunters. In their animal
department, Garmin offers Astro, a high standard and price dog
From these products, only Tagg, based on the United tracking product. The cheapest dog tracking system is set at
States, offers activity monitoring. 500 € and it includes a handheld device worth 300 € and a
collar with a built-in module and antenna worth 200 € (Fig. 3,
While the GSM based products are good for the pet owners, left).
hunters may take some advantages from the use of RF locators.
These devices, which allow tracking up to 15 dogs
simultaneously, are more robust, responsive and are prepared
for rough environments. This technology implies a higher
investment, but does not involve the payment of monthly fees.
The battery autonomy and overage range are reduced – as
presented on Table II.

TABLE II. RF RANGED TRACKERS

Fig. 3. Garmin Astro [4] (left) and Tagg [3]
Battery Price Max. Range
Product Pet Size
(h) Range (€) (km)
Garmin Astro [4] Medium to 440 - 500 14.5 Their products can handle up to twenty dogs
Sportdog TEK GPS large sized 20 350 - 540 14.5 simultaneously, depending on the model of the handheld
RoamEO dogs 150 - 215 11.3 device. While Garmin’s dog tracking products are mainly for
hunters, the objective of the team is to develop a product for
GPS pet tracking at a lower price, provided that pet owners
B. Marketing analysis
have a smartphone and/or computer.
Based on the information gathered from the state of the art
analysis, the team of students researched the market for similar Snaptracs, which is a Qualcomm company located in the
United States, is specialized in wireless communications. They
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produce Tagg (Fig. 3, right), a device for tracking domestic
pets. The product is small, has a sleek design and a price
around 100 €. This price includes a three month GSM service.
After this initial period, there is a monthly cost of 7 € (+1 € per
additional pet). The team identified Tagg as their main
competitor, since they target the same market segment (regular
pet owners) with a competitive price.
In the sequel, the students performed a Political, Economic,
Social and Technological (PEST) analysis to identify macro-
environmental factors that might have an impact on their
company, followed by a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats (SWOT) product analysis focussed on the Finnish
market. These factors have to be taken into consideration when
launching a new product in a market [2]. The team performed
market segmentation and targeting, considering the geographic,
demographic and psychographic segmentation, a market
positioning strategy and defined the marketing mix, often
crucial when determining a product or brand’s unique selling
point, through the analysis of the product/consumer, price/cost,
promotion/communication and place/convenience (the four P).
Finally, the students determined the final price for the Pet
Tracker. The resulting price was 230 €, including fixed costs
and the three month service. The team proposes three different
monthly service fee packages: (i) 3 months package (19.99 €);
(ii) half year package (34.99 €); and (iii) full year package
(64.99 €).
C. Eco-efficiency measures for sustainability
The eco-efficiency as well as sustainability concerns were
taken into consideration by the team [7]. As future engineers,
they need to keep these factors in mind when creating different
technical solutions. While developing the project, the team had
to specify the best product possible, according to assumptions
such as increasing the value of the product, optimizing the use
of resources or reducing the environmental impact. The team
considered the three main cores of sustainability, namely the
Environmental, Social and Economic components.
Concerning the Environmental aspects, the students
focussed on the control and reduction of the materials and
resources used as well as on the waste produced. The goal was
to select materials as durable and recyclable as possible, since
using durable and recyclable materials reduces the ecological
footprint and creates a better image for the company. They also
planned to adhere to electronic device disposal services,
promoting the reuse of components and the dispatch of
leftovers to the appropriate disposal centres.
Regarding the Economic aspects of sustainability, among
others, the team declared the need to have a continuous
improvement/development process, including performance
measurement, target setting, action taking and result review.
This continuous process requires the development and adoption
of quality, environmental and risk management systems.
Finally, the Social sustainability perspective, i.e., the health
and security of the customer and of the pet, is one of the most
important concerns of the team. The product must be harmless
and comfortable both to humans and animals – the used
materials must be safe, i.e., free of dangerous chemicals, and
the device round-shaped to avoid hurting both the pet and the

owner. For the future, the team defined, as a priority, the
continuous technological update of the Pet Tracker and
proposed the creation of a maintenance service.
To conclude, the team performed a life-cycle analysis
considering power consumption, durability and the source of
the raw materials used to build the different parts of the device.
Consequently, the team decided to choose the components
taking into account these criteria. In the case of the electronic
components, they were configured to remain in low power
mode when not in use, e.g., the accelerometer was configured
to generate a wake-up interrupt signal to start monitoring the
pet’s activity and to remain in a low power mode while the pet
is inactive [8]. Considering the selected Li-ion battery, it has
high energy density and a relatively low self-discharge rate,
works with a wide range of temperatures and does not contain
toxic metals, nor requires specific maintenance [9]. Regarding
the Web application, it is platform independent, supported by
existing browsers and was developed using open source
solutions. By not developing different mobile applications for
different operating systems, the development costs as well as
the final costs of the product, were reduced and the clients are
provided with a highly flexible working product. The team also
produced the user manual, to be shipped together with the
device, to provide the customer with detailed instructions
regarding the appropriate usage.
D. Ethical and deontological concerns
During this study, the team analysed the adoption of codes
of ethics and their application to the professional practice. In
the context of corporate ethics, businesses adopt a code of
ethics – self-imposed set of rules – to ensure the satisfaction of
employees and customers as well as develop a good brand
image. With this purpose, they studied the Fundamental
Canons from National Society of Professional Engineers
(NSPE) Code of Ethics for Engineers [10]. These were taken
into consideration and applied in the different stages of the
project, i.e., the team detailed the main concerns regarding the
Pet Tracker project from the marketing, environmental, safety
and health, manufacturing, intellectual property and liability
viewpoints.
E. Project requirements
Following the state of the art analysis and the different
project dimensions considered, the team decided to create a
product with the following requirements: (i) provide a Web
interface for pet owners; (ii) display tracks using Google Maps;
(iii) adopt open source technologies and (vi) a light, small,
wearable device for pets with on board data storage, data
download interface and power autonomy of, at least, 48 h.
Furthermore, all projects developed under the EPS@ISEP
programme must comply with the following EU Directives: (i)
Machine Directive (2006/42/CE 2006-05-17) (ii) Electrical
Safety: Low Level Voltage Directive (2006/95/CE 2006-12-
12); (iii) Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) in
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/95/EC
2003-01-27). Finally, it is mandatory the adoption and use of
the International System of Units (The NIST International
Guide for the use of the International System of Units).
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F. Support technologies implies a great investment in the antennas, and its range is
Given these project requirements, the team identified the limited when compared with the implementation cost.
main components of the Pet Tracker device: control, location, Regarding GSM, even though it is not a location system, it
communication and power supply. This subsection presents provides the approximate location of the end-user equipment
and compares the most relevant technologies to justify the team based on the coverage range of the system antennas, using
choices. multilateration. This technology does not present considerable
1) Microcontroller limitations when it comes to indoors use, but suffers from poor
A microcontroller is a programmable integrated circuit, accuracy.
capable of executing commands stored in its memory. It is used A summarized comparison of the accuracy, limitations and
to control and automate electronic and electro-mechanic cost of these location systems is presented in Table III.
systems. A single-board microcontroller is a microcontroller
built onto a single printed circuit board (PCB) [11]. There are TABLE III. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES
multiple single-board microcontrollers available in the market,
Accuracy
but they all have the same common aspects: microcontroller, Technology
(m)
Limitations Cost
input/output circuits, clock generator, Random Access Memory
GNSS 1–10 Outdoors Low
(RAM) and stored program memory. These devices are
Radar 3–5 Infrastructures High
typically low-cost and very effective, offering an easy way to
evaluate microcontroller chips. GSM ≤ 1000 Antennas Medium

The team evaluated the STM32F4 Discovery board [12],

the MSP430 LaunchPad [13, 14], the Raspberry Pi (Model A) 3) Wireless communication
[15] and the Arduino Pro Mini [16]. After performing a Wireless communication systems are omnipresent in our
comparison of the main characteristics of these boards, the society. They allow the transfer of information between two or
team decided to adopt the Arduino Pro Mini as the controller more points that are not connected by an electrical conductor
board for this project, mainly due to its reduced dimensions [18]. There are several wireless communication systems
when compared to the other boards analysed [2]. The Arduino available, namely, Radio Frequency (RF), GSM/GPRS, Wi-Fi
Pro Mini is based on the ATmega168, and has 14 digital and Bluetooth. Bluetooth relies on 2.4 GHz radio waves,
input/output pins, 6 analogue inputs, an on-board resonator, a provides a bandwidth of 800 Kib/s, requires low power and is
reset button and holes for mounting pin headers [16]. This used for proximity communication from fixed and mobile
board is intended for semi-permanent installation in objects or devices up to a distance of 30 m, using standard antennas.
exhibitions, and it is suitable for small projects that do not Wi-Fi communication, which is typically supported by
require large processing capabilities. 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz radio waves, provides high bandwidth
(11 Mib/s), requires more power than Bluetooth and covers,
2) Location using standard equipment, distances up to 100 m. GSM/GPRS
In this project, location refers to the determination of modules are used in the mobile phone industry as the main
geodesic coordinates (latitude, longitude and altitude) of the communication device [19]. The usage of these devices is
pet. There are numerous ways to determine location using restricted by the coverage of the network of GSM antennas,
navigation tools, including GNSS. It is also possible to which does not exceed 30 km. The GSM standard was
determine one’s position using RAdio Detection And Ranging developed as a replacement for the first generation analogue
(RADAR), GSM, Wi-Fi and other radio based systems. cellular networks and was originally described as a digital
GNSS rely on artificial constellations of satellites to circuit switched network optimized for full duplex voice
broadcast radio signals for electronic receivers to determine telephony. The system was expanded over time to include data
their current geodetic coordinates (latitude, longitude and communications, first, by circuit switched transportation and,
altitude), velocity and time [17], i.e., they are typically used for then, using packet data transportation via GPRS [20]. Table IV
timing, tracking and navigation purposes. The position of the presents a comparison of the main characteristics of these
receiver is determined based on the location of the satellites in wireless communication systems.
view, using trilateration. In terms of fully operational GNSS,
there are the United States Global Positioning System (GPS) TABLE IV. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES
and Russia Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema Technology Max. Range (km) Limitations Module Cost
(GLONASS). Other systems are being developed in China Need for a transmitter
(Compass) and Europe (Galileo). The twenty four hours, seven Bluetooth 0.03 Medium
and a receiver
day a week availability of these systems is taken for granted Range of the access
Wi-Fi 0.10 Low
nowadays. Their main limitation is that the receiver requires points
line of sight with the satellites, making it inadequate for Need for a transmitter
RF 20.0 Low
indoors. and a receiver
GSM/GPRS Network coverage Operation cost Medium
RADAR detects objects and particles by means of radio
waves and it is typically used in aerial, maritime and terrestrial
navigation. It is more commonly used for military, astronomic
and meteorological purposes. Although it is a reliable system, it
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4) Power supply
A battery is a device consisting of one or more
electrochemical cells which convert stored chemical energy
into electrical energy [21] and vice versa. Since this project
takes into account the ecological footprint, the mid/long term
economic and maintenance concerns, as well as the consumer
comfort, the team chose a rechargeable battery. Table V draws
a comparison between several different types of batteries.
TABLE V. COMPARISON OF BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES

IV. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Based on the specified system requirements, the team first
defined the architecture of the system and, then, detailed,
implemented and tested the composing modules.
A. Architecture
The Pet Tracker system, illustrated in Fig. 5, is a distributed
system with two main components: the Pet Tracker website
and device.

Cell Specific a Maintenance

Battery Life
Voltage Energy SD /month Requirement
type (%) Cycle
(V) (MJ/kg) (month)
NiCd 1.2 0.14 20 1-2 1500
NiMH 1.2 0.36 30 2-3 300-500
Fig. 5. Pet Tracker system architecture
NiZn 1.6 0.36 8 Not required 400-1000
Lead-acid 2 0.14 5 3-6 200-300
1) Website
Li-ion 3.6 0.46 10 Not required 500-1000 The website is composed of the Web interface (accessible
Li-Po 3.6 0.48 10 Not required 300-500 through a browser), the Web application (deployed in an
a.
Self-discharge Apache Tomcat application server), the persistent database
Emerged in the early nineties, Li-ion batteries have a high (stored in a MySQL database server) and a complementary
energy density, a relatively low self-discharge rate, do not need GPRS interface module (communication with the Pet Tracker
maintenance and provide high current. This type of battery has devices). The GPRS interface is a server module developed in
some limitations, mainly its maturity and the need to add a C programming language, which receives the information sent
protection circuit to maintain the voltage and current within the over the GSM/GPRS core network and stores it in a text file.
safe limits [9]. The Li-ion chemistry is lightweight, does not The Web application processes and stores these data into the
contain toxic metals (like lead acid batteries) and lasts long MySQL database, using the J connector, a Java Application
enough to span the typical life of the product. Programming Interface (API) to interact with MySQL
databases.
G. Design options
The team, based on the selected device components, The Web interface (depicted in Fig. 6 – Fig. 9) displays
decided to design a quality product which is simultaneously persistent information regarding users and pets as well as live
reliable, accurate, economical, practical and attractive. Fig. 4 tracking data sent from the Pet Tracker devices.
(left) displays the proposed product design and Fig. 4 (right)
the envisaged product evolution.

Fig. 4. Conceptual design (left) and envisaged product evolution (right).

In terms of the tracking system, the team selected an
Arduino Pro Mini single-board microcontroller, a GPS module,
a GSM/GPRS module and a Li-ion battery. The Arduino Pro
Mini, which operates at 8 MHz, was chosen because it has
sufficient computing capabilities, small dimensions (to fit into
a pet collar) and reduced power consumption (due to its low
working frequency). The GPS receiver was selected according
to the provided accuracy and cost. The GSM module was
added to overcome the indoor location and to provide an
independent communication link. The team chose a Li-ion
battery due to its specific energy, cell voltage and cycle life
characteristics.
Fig. 6. Website (Home)
The Web application relies on JavaServer Pages (JSP)
technology and was written in Java, one of the most common
programming languages today. The website uses HypertText
Markup Language (HTML), Cascade Style Sheets (CSS) and
JavaScript. The website was designed using a Responsive Web
Design (RWD) to offer an optimal viewing experience for the
end user by reducing resizing, panning and scrolling the
website. This enables the customer to read and navigate the
website regardless of client device. This feature was developed
using the CSS programming language.
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several conditions such as price, weight, dimensions,

assembling process and compatibility. Since there was no
support to perform surface mounting, the team decided to use
breakout boards to simplify the process. This factor increased
the price, weight and dimensions, but simplified the assembling
and the compatibility, eliminating the need to use extra
hardware. After comparing several options, the total price of
the prototype, VAT included, was 279.55 €.

TABLE VI. LIST OF MATERIALS

Item Description Price (€)
Arduino Arduino Pro Mini 328 - 3.3 V/8 MHz 8.60
Fig. 7. Website (Registration) Battery ENIX 3.75 V 1840 mAh 54.60
GPS EM-408 with Antenna/MMCX 60.10
GPRS/GSM ADH8066 54.40
In terms of use cases, the website includes user registration, Antenna (GSM) GSMMQB – Mini Quad Band Antenna 8.50
user data management and display pet information as well as GPRS/GSM
ADH8066 Breakout 17.90
pet tracking, activity monitoring and product info services. In Breakout board
tracking mode, owners may accurately monitor their pet’s Accelerometer Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout 7.40
position on Google Maps through the Pet Tracker website. The Charger LiPo Charger Basic – Mini USB 6.20
Memory I2C EEPROM -1 Mib 4.70
feature that distinguishes this product from others on the Total price 279.55
European market is the activity monitoring. This allows the
user to see the pet’s activity in the form of velocity and
distance covered. Additionally, visitors and users can get Fig. 10 presents the architecture of the Pet Tracker device.
information about the Pet Tracker product on the website, i.e., The Arduino is the central unit, controlling the ADH8066
contact the team by sending an email directly or through social GSM/GPRS, the EM-408 GPS, the EEPROM and the
networks. The webpage can direct visitors to different social MMA5482Q modules.
networks, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, where it is
possible to get more info about social events and related
information. MMA8452Q

Accelerometer

GSMMQB - Mini
Quad Band
Antenna

EEPROM - 1Mbit
ADH8066

GSM/GPRS Arduino Pro Mini Memory

Fig. 8. Website (User’s personal page)

GPS

EM-408

Fig. 10. Device architecture

The ADH8066 GSM/GPRS module is responsible for

Fig. 9. Mobile website – Login (left) and Mobile website – Contact (right)
2) Pet Tracker
The prototype was build using the components listed in
Table VI. These materials were chosen taken into consideration
establishing the communication between the device and the
Web application complementary GPRS interface module, the
EM-408 GPS receiver provides the Position, Velocity and
Time (PVT) of the device every second, the MMA5482Q triple
axis accelerometer provides real time orientation, acceleration
and activity analysis and, finally, the EEPROM stores locally
the PVT information. PVT data is only valid when the pet is
outdoors.
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The Arduino controls the GSM/GPRS module trough serial

AT commands. To provide the Web application with access to GND
VBAT

live tracking and activity data, the Arduino instructs the

GSM/GPRS module to establish a TCP/IP Internet connection
3.75 V Li-ion Battery
GSM/GPRS Module + -
3.75 V
(using a GSM/GPRS Access Point Name) with the Web
application complementary GPRS interface module (specifying
the IP address and port of the application) and send live data. GND
Fig. 11 displays the electrical (and control) schematic, GPS Module
including the microcontroller (Arduino), the location (GPS) VCC

and activity (Accelerometer) sensors and the communications GND

(GSM) and memory modules. The ADH8066 GSM/GPRS is a

GND

GND
quad band GSM/GPRS communication module. It supports Triple Axis
standard AT commands and enhanced AT commands, which Arduino Pro Mini 3.3 V/
8 MHz
Accelerometer

provide voice and data communication functions. It is an ideal

solution for various communication applications [22]. With its 11

dimensions of 33 mm × 36 mm × 5.4 mm and the weight of 10

GND

8 g, it is a small and light device to incorporate in the Pet EEPROM I2C 1

Mbit

Tracker.
The low cost EM-408 engine board provides high reliability
and sufficient accuracy for the Pet Tracker, making it an ideal
choice for integration with Original Equipment Manufacturer /
Original Design Manufacturer (OEM/ODM) systems. The EM-
408 features an integrated patch antenna for complete
implementation [23].
The MMA8452Q is a small, low-power triple-axis breakout
board with 12 bits of resolution, programmable output data
rates and user selectable full scales of ± 2 g / ± 4 g / ± 8 g [8]. It
communicates using the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus and
is responsible for monitoring the pet’s activity.
Fig. 12. Power schematic
B. Functionalities
The prototype provides two operating modes – activity
monitoring and tracking – and, currently, cannot be configured
by the user.
1) Activity monitoring mode
While the pet is within the pre-defined safe zone, i.e., in
doors, the device acquires activity data and, every hour, checks
and communicates whether the pet remains within the safe
zone. This mode is designed as a power saving mode.
2) Tracking mode
The tracking mode is automatically activated when the pet
leaves its safe zone. It deactivates all the activity monitoring
related modules and focuses on obtaining and sending, through
the GPRS, the current location network to the website
database.
The flowchart depicted in Error! Reference source not
found. describes the system main loop.

Start

Fig. 11. Electrical and control schematic

In terms of power supply, it was necessary to regulate the Setup

power supplied by the battery from 3.75 V to 3.3 V due to the
operation voltage of the GPS, Accelerometer and EEPROM
modules. The power regulation is done by the internal Arduino
MIC5205 power regulator. Send_data Get_location
Tracking_mod
e
The I2C interface of the Arduino, which is available
through the analogue pins 4 (Serial Data Line) and 5 (Serial
Clock), is shared between the Accelerometer and the
EEPROM. To minimise the power consumption, the Arduino Activity_moni
toring
controls the power supply of these modules, using the digital
pins 10 and 11. Fig. 12 illustrates the power schematic. No
Yes
GSM_OFF Secure area Setup_GSM

Fig. 13. Main loop flowchart

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V. TESTS, RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS
The team subjected the system to a set of functional tests in
order to check its compliance with the original requirements as
well as the proper operation of the additional activity
monitoring service. Based on the results obtained, the team
made recommendations regarding complementary tests and
future system developments.
A. Website tests
The team tested successfully the following website
features: (i) display the current pet location on Google Maps;
(ii) show the pet trail of the last day on Google Maps; (iii)
report the pet’s activity, allowing to check if it gets enough
exercise to stay healthy; and (iv) share the pet’s activity on
social media.
In terms of database operations, the team also tested with
success the: (i) registration of new user and pet; (ii) the edition
of user and pet data; and (iii) the removal of user and pet using
a standard user and administrator accounts.
B. Device tests
Regarding the device, there are, however, several tests that
still need to be done, including checking the Safe Area
functionality, the product resilience to different weather
conditions, the power autonomy of the device and determining
the device accuracy in meters.
C. Future developments
According to the team, “[…] with additional time and
resources, it would be possible to further develop this product.
The next version should be smaller and lighter as well as more
accurate, elegantly designed and power efficient. The website
should become more stylish, responsive and include more
options and functionalities.” [2].
Concerning the device, the current version is only suitable
for large pets, and the purpose of such product is to be adequate
also for a small dog or a cat. In the students’ opinion, this could
be achieved by using surface mount devices and, therefore,
excluding the evaluation and breakout boards used in the
prototype. The Pet Tracker 2.0 should use, as an example, the
following components: (i) a single chip microcontroller, e.g.,
ATxmega128A4-AU [24]; (ii) a surface mount GPS module,
e.g., PA6H by GlobalTop Technology Inc. [25]; (iii) a surface
mount accelerometer, e.g., LIS331DL [26]; and (iv) a surface
mount GSM module with embedded SIM card, e.g., SL6088
[27]. This way, the device would become smaller, lighter and
with lower power consumption. A water proof ABS polymer or
a polycarbonate shell should be designed to enclose and protect
the equipment. These types of polymers are very resistant and
durable and easily moulded using plastic moulding
technologies.
The team posted on the website that they would like to: (i)
support more than one pet per user; and (ii) perform activity
statistics. This would allow monitoring and tracking multiple
pets per account and provide owners with statistics and graphs
of the activity level of their pets.

VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper described the work developed by an
international team of students, from distinct nationalities and
studies backgrounds, during their EPS@ISEP project
development. The main project objectives were achieved and
the work conducted in the EPS supportive modules contributed
to the enrichment of the students training as well as to the final
outcome.
According to the team [2], “From the very beginning, we
tried to organize our work and divide the different tasks among
the members of our team. Considering the schedule and
deadlines, we did our best to fulfil all the objectives and create
a real life working system. In order to fulfil the expectations of
our client, we complied with the requirements and added a
unique feature – an activity monitoring service. Although we
encountered some problems during the project development,
we managed to build a working system. The main problem was
to get all the materials necessary to build the device. When we
finally got the materials, the Pet Tracker’s prototype assembly
became real. We then executed the planned tasks: test the
modules individually, assemble everything together and test the
device as a unit. We did not have enough time to thoroughly
test the product and obtain enough results for deeper analysis.
During the whole semester we tried to make the best
decisions and choices, taking into consideration both
requirements from our client and supervisors. We were
proactive, adapted to new circumstances and were able to
understand the true meaning of teamwork. We are sure that
this experience – working in an international team – gave us a
huge opportunity to expand our knowledge and improve our
soft skills, which will be very useful for our life as engineers.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank Instituto Superior de Engenharia do
Porto for supporting EPS@ISEP and the team of students for
choosing the programme and, specifically, this project.
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