At Invoxia, we develop compact GPS trackers to locate and protect what you hold dear (objects, pets…). To offer a product that is both discreet and effective, we face a constant challenge: extending battery life while achieving the best possible location accuracy. This article explains how these miniature trackers work and why it is so difficult to reconcile small size, battery life, and location performance.
1. The Role of a Mini GPS Tracker 🔎 #
The main objective of a tracker is to find an object or an animal in case of loss or escape. To be effective, a tracker must:
- Stay in place and operational
- Be small to remain discreet (on a collar, in a bag, etc.).
- Have extended battery life: the more you need to recharge it, the more likely it is to be unavailable at a critical moment.
- Estimate its location
- This is the positioning function, achieved through several geolocation methods.
- Transmit this location
- Without communication to the user (via a smartphone or an online platform), the position remains unknown. Therefore, a means of sending the coordinates is necessary.
2. How to Estimate Location While Consuming the Least Energy Possible? ⚡ #
A miniature tracker can use three complementary methods to locate itself:
A. GPS 🌐 #
The GPS system captures satellite signals and calculates a position with an accuracy of up to about 30 feet.
Advantages:
- High accuracy outdoors, if the sky is clear.
Disadvantages:
- High energy consumption: searching for and receiving satellite signals requires a lot of battery.
- Degraded accuracy in unfavorable environments (indoors, dense urban areas, forests, bad weather).
B. Wi-Fi 📶 #
The tracker detects surrounding Wi-Fi access points and then compares their identifiers with a massive database (provided notably by Google via Android). Each referenced access point is associated with an approximate position, allowing the tracker’s location to be deduced.
Advantages:
- Less energy-hungry than GPS.
Disadvantages:
- Lower accuracy than GPS, heavily dependent on the density and reliability of the Wi-Fi database.
- Some areas are poorly covered by access points.
C. Bluetooth 📲 #
Bluetooth is a short-range network: the tracker “sees” surrounding devices (smartphones, etc.) and, if the position of one of them is known, it can deduce that it is in close proximity.
Advantages:
- Very low energy consumption. 🔋💡
Disadvantages:
- Short range and dependence on the presence of compatible devices nearby.
- Variable accuracy and availability depending on the quality of location of surrounding devices.
Point Locations, Not Continuous #
Even the least energy-consuming method (Bluetooth) cannot remain active continuously in a very compact tracker. In practice, location points are recorded at variable intervals, rarely below two minutes.
Why?
- Each new location requires energy (analysis of GPS, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth signals).
- Tracker batteries are very small (e.g., 250 mAh). A GPS reading every 2 minutes continuously would drain such a battery in just a few hours.
3. The Algorithm for Selecting the Location Source 🤖 #
Given that GPS = high accuracy but high consumption and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth = lower consumption but sometimes less accurate, a high-performing tracker will alternate between these three methods depending on the context.
At Invoxia, we prioritize:
- Bluetooth, if a compatible smartphone is nearby.
- Wi-Fi, if there are referenced access points.
- GPS, when neither Bluetooth nor Wi-Fi are available or reliable.
We also take into account:
- The estimated measurement error of each method.
- The usage context: for example, in the city (dense areas), prioritize Wi-Fi/Bluetooth; in the countryside, GPS is sometimes essential.
- The use of the tracker: a dog collar must be accurate outdoors.
- Embedded sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) which, combined with embedded AI, allow for evaluating modes of transport (walking, cycling, driving…) or animal activities (walking, trotting, running) and adapting the location strategy.
Thus, our trackers use an intelligent algorithm — sometimes combined with AI — to select the best location method while maximizing battery preservation.
4. Transmitting the Position: The Importance of Connectivity 📡 #
Once the position is estimated, it must be transmitted to the user via an appropriate network:
Key Connectivity Criteria #
- As wide coverage as possible: an object likely to move must be able to communicate in various environments (city, countryside, abroad…).
- Low energy consumption: remaining in standby or transmitting data should not drain the battery too quickly.
Traditional mobile networks (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G) are often too energy-hungry for long-lasting trackers. That’s why there are LPWAN networks (Low Power Wide Area Network) such as Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT, and LTE-M.
Learn more:
Technologies Preferred by Invoxia #
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LoRa and Sigfox
- Lowest consumption: ideal for objects with very small batteries.
- Low subscription costs (or sometimes included).
- Variable coverage: there are white zones.
- No real-time communication: data cannot always be transmitted or received instantly.
These are the networks used by our trackers GPS Tracker Classic, Mini Tracker, and Bike Tracker 🚲. These products are not available in the US, because of the lack of coverage of these networks in the US.
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LTE-M
- New compromise: consumes a bit more,
- but offers better global coverage and almost instantaneous communications.
- Allows for real-time actions: for example, changing the tracker’s configuration remotely (theft mode).
- Higher data rate, allowing for the transmission of more data (health data, etc.).
Our trackers using the LTE-M network are the GPS Tracker Pro and the Minitailz Dog Tracker 🐶
In Conclusion #
Creating a high-performing mini GPS tracker is about solving a complex equation: offering the best possible battery life while ensuring the greatest location accuracy. To achieve this, it is necessary to:
- Minimize energy consumption through an intelligent algorithm that alternates between GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth depending on the context.
- Optimize connectivity by prioritizing LPWAN networks (LoRa, Sigfox, LTE-M) designed for low-consumption connected objects.
This is precisely the challenge we tackle at Invoxia: finding the perfect balance between miniaturization, battery life, and performance. Our ambition is to enable you to locate and protect what truly matters, without ever worrying about battery status.
Want to learn more?
Check out our website to discover how we innovate daily to support your objects and four-legged companions, everywhere and with complete peace of mind.
Questions #
When using a running watch (like a Garmin) or a sports app on a smartphone (such as Strava), the GPS operates continuously to record every meter traveled. This allows for an extremely detailed track, with performance statistics (elevation, instantaneous speed, etc.). However, this “permanent GPS” mode consumes a lot of energy: a Garmin watch can see its battery life reduced to about 8 hours when recording continuously. This compromise is acceptable for occasional sports use (running, cycling, hiking), where the accuracy of the route and the richness of the data take precedence. It should also be noted that these devices are almost exclusively used outdoors, where GPS signal reception is optimal. Mini GPS trackers, on the other hand, take a completely different approach. Their goal is to find an object or an animal that may be lost, over a duration ranging from several days to several weeks, without requiring frequent recharging. It is therefore impossible to stay connected to satellites continuously, or the battery would be drained in just a few hours. These trackers therefore only perform periodic position readings, leading to a necessarily sparser and less detailed track. Moreover, they can be used indoors, where GPS signal reception is more difficult, further limiting their accuracy. That said, these tracks are sufficient to locate a suitcase, a bicycle, or a pet, fully meeting their purpose. This is already a considerable advantage over devices like AirTag or SmartTag, which, using only Bluetooth, sometimes struggle to locate and provide no movement history, thus not allowing for retracing the object’s path.Why do the tracks of GPS watches ⌚️ and sports apps seem more accurate?
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Why is my car GPS 🚗 more accurate?
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