{"id":7978,"date":"2021-06-26T11:04:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T15:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/?p=7978"},"modified":"2023-04-12T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T11:30:00","slug":"using-gps-modules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/using-gps-modules\/","title":{"rendered":"Using GPS Modules with Arduino &#038; Raspberry Pi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9571 size-full alignnone\" title=\"Download PDF\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/dbws-pdfdown.png?resize=64%2C64&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Download PDF\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/> <a href=\"#Parts_List\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9563 size-full\" title=\"Parts List\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/dbws-parts.png?resize=64%2C64&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Parts List\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/kwk3qzaIcCU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9565 size-full\" title=\"View on YouTube\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/dbws-youtube.png?resize=64%2C64&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"View on YouTube\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/download.dronebotworkshop.com\/GPS-Modules+-+DroneBot+Workshop.zip\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9569 size-full\" title=\"Download Code\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/dbws-codedown.png?resize=64%2C64&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Download Code\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today we are learning how to use GPS modules with both the Arduino and Raspberry Pi. We&#8217;ll also build a GPS position logger so we can plot our adventures on Google Maps.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-player\" data-id=\"kwk3qzaIcCU\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS is not the only system we\u2019ll be tapping into, as there are other satellite positioning systems that we can use to determine our coordinates. So the proper term would be GNSS, or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global Navigation Satellite System<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as there are <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Satellite_navigation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">several satellite positioning systems<\/a> that we can take advantage of for increased accuracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduction<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS and similar systems) really need no introduction, as they have been part of our lives for decades now. Commercial usage started in the mid-90s, and the availability of low-cost circuitry has placed GPS devices into a variety of products, including tablets and phones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7998\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Positioning-System-Modules.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Positioning Systems\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Positioning-System-Modules.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Positioning-System-Modules.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS modules provide an accurate measurement of several parameters, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Longitude<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Latitude<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exact Time<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Altitude<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These capabilities open the window to some interesting applications and product ideas and some great experiments for us to perform!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The modules we will be using today are quite inexpensive, but you can also get more expensive GPS modules with advanced features. We will be looking at one of them a bit later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How Satellite Positioning Systems Work<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The principles of triangulation have been known for millennia, and early surveyors used it to map out the world and navigate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8011\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Triangulation-1.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Triangulation\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Triangulation-1.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Triangulation-1.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The basics of triangulation are that you have a triangle, and the position you want to measure is at one point on this triangle.\u00a0 In our example that would be person \u201cA\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now if both positions \u201cB\u201d and \u201cC\u201d are at known coordinates, and we can measure the length of all our triangle sides, we can determine the exact location of person \u201cA\u201d based upon those measurements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8012\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Triangulation-2.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Triangulation\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Triangulation-2.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Triangulation-2.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If person \u201cA\u201d moves into another position we can recalculate, and because the lines are of different lengths now we will be able to calculate the new position.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So part of satellite position has to do with knowing where at least two satellites are and measuring the lines between everything. The \u201cline measurements\u201d are the time delay it takes the radio waves to travel back to earth and our GPS receiver.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Satellite position systems are based upon, what else, satellites! Lots of satellites, whose position is very precisely maintained and updated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These satellites all contain precision atomic time references, and they transmit timestamps and coordinate information continuously.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now receiving a signal from just one GPS satellite won&#8217;t tell you much. You do know the satellite&#8217;s position, and you have its time reference. But that&#8217;s not enough to determine your own position, although it is enough to narrow it down to a circle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to determine your position, including your altitude, you actually need a minimum of four satellites<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three satellites determine the X, Y, and Z coordinates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fourth one serves as a time reference.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an open area, you&#8217;ll be getting signals from dozens of positioning satellites, although your receiver may not be capable of using all of them. Some GPS units are limited in the number of concurrent locks they can make on a group of satellites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most GPS modules have some built-in memory to store GPS coordinates and satellite information, so that they can reestablish a lock should the signal become temporarily interrupted, or if the GPS device is powered down for a short while. When they start up they can establish a connection quickly using a \u201cWarm Start\u201d, as opposed to a \u201cCold Start \u201c like they do when they first boot up, or after a long period of inactivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Satellite-Based Navigation Systems\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As I mentioned at the beginning of the article there are many different satellite positioning systems that we can use with our GPS modules.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, the term \u201cGPS module\u201d is in itself inaccurate, as these modules are capable of working with other satellite positioning systems as well. However, I&#8217;ll continue to use the term \u201cGPS module\u201d throughout this article, as that is what they are commonly referred to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a look at these satellite positioning systems, starting with the one we are all most familiar with.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS (USA)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8008\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-GPS.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-GPS.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-GPS.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ll start with the most well-known satellite positioning system, the American <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global Positioning System<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, GPS as we all refer to it as.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This system was an evolution of years of military satellite positioning systems, and it was opened up for non-military applications by president Ronald Regan. These were restricted to marine and aviation use initially, but by 1994 the GPS system was available for the general public at no cost, with a 3-meter accuracy limitation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GPS system consists of up to 32 satellites and is constantly changing and upgrading, as of this writing there are 31 satellites in use, orbiting the earth twice a day at an altitude of 20,180 Km (12,550 miles).<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GLONASS (Russia)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8007\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-GLONASS.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GLONASS\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-GLONASS.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-GLONASS.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Russian <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global Navigation Satellite System<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or GLONASS also began life in 1982 as a military navigation satellite program in the USSR. It was made available for commercial use in 1995, the year after GPS became available commercially.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GLONASS consists of 24 satellites orbiting 19,130 Km (11,890 miles) above us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These satellites can be used in tandem with other positioning systems like GPS to increase accuracy. Usd with GPS, GLONASS can bring the resolution up to about 2.5 meters, as opposed to 3 meters by itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BeiDou (China)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8005\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-BieDou.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BieDou\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-BieDou.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-BieDou.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Chinese BeiDou Navigational Satellite system has undergone several iterations. The newest, BeiDou 2, just finished deployment in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a system that employs both medium-orbit and geostationary-orbit satellites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 30 medium-orbit satellites reside 21,150 Km (13,140 miles) above the earth.\u00a0 There are also 5 geostationary satellites in the BieDou system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Galileo (Europe)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8006\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Galileo.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Galileo\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Galileo.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-Galileo.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The European Space Agencies Galileo system achieved global operation in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Galileo consists of 30 satellites orbiting at a distance of 23,222 Km (14,429 miles).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The system was designed to complement the US GPS system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NavIC (India) &amp; QZSS (Japan) &#8211; Regional<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8009\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-NavIC-QZSS.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NavIC &amp; QZSS\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-NavIC-QZSS.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Positioning-Systems-NavIC-QZSS.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both India and Japan have established regional satellite positioning systems, between them they cover the majority of Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s Navigation with Indian Constellation or NavIC system currently consists of 7 satellites, with plans to increase this to 11. India has signaled its intentions to expand NavIC in the future to become another global satellite positioning service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japan\u2019s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, or QZSS, currently has only one operational satellite. When finished it will have seven.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interpreting GPS Module Data<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Satellites send time and position information, and the data from multiple satellites are used to determine the location in three dimensions, as well as exact time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS modules do most of the \u201cheavy lifting\u201d for you, extracting strings of data from multiple satellites, decoding it, and formatting the results into text strings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The format of these messages can vary, but most modules use the NMEA 0183 standard.\u00a0 This is a comma-delimited text format that consists of rows of data referred to as \u201csentences\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sentences are provided with an identifier, which itself consists of character patterns, allowing for several dozen string formats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of the most popular ones:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPBOD<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Bearing, origin to destination<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPBWC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Bearing and distance to waypoint, great circle<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>\u00a0$GPGGA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Global Positioning System Fix Data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPGLL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Geographic position, latitude \/ longitude<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPGSA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; GPS DOP and active satellites\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPGSV<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; GPS Satellites in view<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPHDT<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Heading, True<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>\u00a0$GPR00<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; List of waypoints in currently active route<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPRMA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Recommended minimum specific Loran-C data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPRMB<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Recommended minimum navigation info<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPRMC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Recommended minimum specific GPS\/Transit data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>\u00a0$GPRTE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Routes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPTRF<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Transit Fix Data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPSTN<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Multiple Data ID<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPVBW<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Dual Ground \/ Water Speed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPVTG<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Track made good and ground speed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>\u00a0$GPWPL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Waypoint location<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPXTE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Cross-track error, Measured<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>$GPZDA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Date &amp; Time<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can decode <a href=\"http:\/\/aprs.gids.nl\/nmea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NMEA 0183 data manually<\/a> if you have a lot of time on your hands, but you can also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/actisense.com\/acti_software\/nmea-reader\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">download software<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to do this tedious task for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some examples of data decoded from NMEA strings:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8004\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Time.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NMEA-Time\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Time.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Time.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Time <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; A very accurate time reference, a GPS is a good consideration for your project even if all you need is an accurate clock.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8002\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Longitude.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NMEA-Longitude\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Longitude.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Longitude.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Longitude<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Note the results are in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">degrees.decimal minute<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> format and will probably need to be converted in order to use it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8001\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Latitude.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NMEA-Latitude\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Latitude.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Latitude.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Latitude<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Same thing as longitude, this will probably need to be converted before using it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8003\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Satellites.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NMEA-Satellites\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Satellites.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Satellites.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Satellites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The number of visible satellites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8000\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Altitude.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NMEA-Altitude\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Altitude.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NMEA-Altitude.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Altitude <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Measures in meters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS Libraries<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A much easier way to work with NMEA 0183 data is to just use a library or program built to use it. And there are many choices of libraries for the Arduino that can parse the GPS data and deliver it to you in a human-readable format.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A popular library is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/mikalhart\/TinyGPS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS Library<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can easily install it, along with a code sample, using the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arduino IDE Library Manager<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open your Arduino IDE<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tools<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> menu (from the top menu bar)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manage Libraries<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tools<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> menu, and click on it<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Library Manager<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will open<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the filter (search) box to look for \u201cTiny GPS\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS by Mikal Hart<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will display, along with an <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Install<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button to the height<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Install <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">button to install the TinyGPS Library<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can now close the<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Library Manager<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8014\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tinyGPS-library-arduino.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"tinyGPS Library for Arduino\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tinyGPS-library-arduino.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tinyGPS-library-arduino.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a very popular library, so if you\u2019re running GPS code samples you picked up on the Internet you&#8217;ll probably need it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS++<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS++ is an improved version of TinyGPS, and it comes with several code examples. Unlike TinyGPS, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/mikalhart\/TinyGPSPlus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you need to download this library from GitHub as a ZIP file<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and then install it into your Arduino IDE manually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s pretty simple:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/mikalhart\/TinyGPSPlus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPSPlus page on GitHub<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the green <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Code<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button\u2019s drop-down arrow. A sub-menu will appear.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download Zip<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> link and save the file somewhere that makes sense to you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now open your Arduino IDE.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click on the Sketch menu at the top of the IDE<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose Include Library<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the resulting menu select Add ZIP Library<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the ZIP file you downloaded from GitHub<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Library will be installed<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8015\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tinyGPSplus-install-zip-library.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Install the tinyGPS++ ZIP library\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tinyGPSplus-install-zip-library.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tinyGPSplus-install-zip-library.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look over a few of the code samples included with this Library to get a feel for how easy it is to use.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Basic GPS Module Operation &#8211; Beitian 180 &amp; 220 with Arduino<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enough theory and libraries, it&#8217;s time to actually hook up a GPS module and start getting positioning data!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We will begin with a very basic GPS module. You can use just about any GPS module that outputs serial data, in other words, any module with the following connections:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transmit or TX<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Receive or RX<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VCC or 5-volt power supply<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ground<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ll be using both the Beitian 180 and 220, which are nearly identical.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beitian 180 &amp; 220<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These units have similar specifications, the 220 is slightly larger and also has internal flash memory, which we aren\u2019t using in our experiments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The BN-220 has the following specifications (the BN-180 is nearly identical):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chipset: 8030-KT<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Receiving Format: GPS,GLONASS,Galileo,BeiDou,QZSS and SBAS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frequency: GPS L1,GLONASS L1,BeiDou B1,SBAS L1,Galileo E1<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Channels: 72 Searching Channel<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Position Horizontal: 2.0 m CEP 2D RMS SBAS Enable (Typical Open Sky)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Velocity: 0.1m\/sec 95% (SA off)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timing: 1us synchronized to GPS time<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clearly a precision module at a very low price.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t have to use one of these modules if you can&#8217;t find one, or if you already have other modules. Any GPS module with a serial data connection that is 5-volt tolerant should work.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hookup<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is how we will hook up our GPS module. The connections are very simple.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7983\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arduino-GPS-Hookup.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Arduino GPS Hookup\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arduino-GPS-Hookup.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Arduino-GPS-Hookup.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once we have it hooked up you\u2019re ready to go satellite hunting! But before you take everything outside it might be a good idea to see if it all works<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Second Serial Port<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GPS module has a serial interface, with Receive (RX) and Transmit (TX) connections. This allows the module to be interfaced with just about anything that also has a serial connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to the Arduino Uno we have a bit of a problem. The Uno has only one serial connection, on pins 0 and 1. And while this connection would work perfectly with a GPS module, we can\u2019t use it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This serial connection is already in use, it\u2019s used by the USB port. So as long as we need the Serial monitor or terminal, we have to leave these pins alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We need a second serial connection. Fortunately, it\u2019s pretty easy to emulate one in software.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SoftwareSerial<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> library is included with your Arduino IDE, so you don\u2019t need to install anything. Simply provide it the baud rate of the serial port you want to emulate and pick two unused digital I\/O pins to assign RX and TX to and you&#8217;re in business.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SoftwareSerial Test<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We will be using SoftwareSerial to emulate a serial port on pins 3 and 4. Since it\u2019s the heart of every sketch we will be using today, it\u2019s nice to have a way to see if it is working (and to assist if it isn\u2019t).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The following sketch is very simple, it just does one thing &#8211; it takes data from the software serial port and sends it to the hardware serial port.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The net effect is that if you run the sketch and open your Serial Monitor (be sure to set the baud rate correctly) you\u2019ll be able to read every message delivered to the software serial port.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So if a GPS module is connected to the software serial ports, as we have on pins 3 and 4 here, we should be able to see a bunch of NMEA sentences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is the SoftwareSerial test sketch:<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true\" title=\"SoftwareSerial Echo\">\/*\r\n  SoftwareSerial Echo\r\n  software-serial-echo.ino\r\n  Echos data from SoftwareSerial\r\n  Use to display GPS raw data\r\n  Results on serial monitor\r\n\r\n  DroneBot Workshop 2021\r\n  <blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"94OCaN1p24\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/\">Welcome to the Workshop!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Welcome to the Workshop!&#8221; &#8212; DroneBot Workshop\" src=\"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/embed\/#?secret=ggCFwrMCo0#?secret=94OCaN1p24\" data-secret=\"94OCaN1p24\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\r\n*\/\r\n \r\n \/\/ Define SoftwareSerial Connection   \r\n#define swsTX 3 \/\/ Transmit FROM GPS\r\n#define swsRX 4 \/\/ Receive TO GPS\r\n\r\n\/\/GPS Baud rate\r\n#define GPSBaud 9600 \r\n\r\n\/\/Serial Monitor Baud Rate\r\n#define Serial_Monitor_Baud 115200   \r\n\r\n\/\/ Include and set up the SoftwareSerial Library\r\n#include &lt;SoftwareSerial.h&gt; \r\nSoftwareSerial GPSserial(swsRX, swsTX);  \r\n\r\nvoid setup()\r\n{\r\n \/\/Start Serial Monitor\r\n Serial.begin(Serial_Monitor_Baud); \r\n \r\n \/\/ Start SoftwareSerial  \r\n GPSserial.begin(GPSBaud);\r\n}\r\n    \r\nvoid loop()\r\n{\r\n  \/\/ Write SoftwareSerial data to Serial Monitor\r\n  while (GPSserial.available() &gt; 0)\r\n  Serial.write(GPSserial.read());\r\n}\r\n    \r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a very simple sketch, but it does serve to illustrate how to set up and work with a software serial port.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We start by defining the pins we are using for our software serial port, there is nothing particularly special about the ones I chose so you can change them if you want to.\u00a0 I used pins 3 &amp; 4.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then we set up the baud rate for the port, which will be the baud rate for the GPS unit. In this example, I used 9600, but you should check with your GPS module documentation for the correct rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also set up the serial monitor baud rate at a quick 115,200, so be sure to adjust your Serial Monitor accordingly when you run the sketch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, we initialize a software serial object named <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPSserial<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with the pins we defined earlier. We can now use this object as another serial port.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Setup, we start both the hardware and software serial ports. And in the Loop we pass any data from the software serial port to the hardware serial port, so we can display it on the serial monitor.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Testing the GPS Module<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can use the sketch to test our GPS module, even if we are indoors where we can\u2019t get a good signal we can still get an output from the GPS module.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Load the sketch and run it, open the serial monitor (check that baud rate!). And observe. You should start seeing NMEA sentences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you are indoors (as I was)\u00a0 you will still see data, albeit garbage data. If you see nothing, check your wiring. A common problem is reversing the TX and RX pins from the GPS module.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Run the experiment in an area where you have a clear view of the sky. When you first start it may take a minute or two to lock into a satellite, this is a \u201ccold start\u201d. After that your subsequent \u201cwarm starts\u201d should be a lot quicker.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll see lines of NMEA data. If you wish you could copy some of it and decode it with a software tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7997\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Module-Test-NMEA.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"NMEA String Test\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Module-Test-NMEA.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Module-Test-NMEA.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But a much easier way of working with NMEA satellite data is to just use a library.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS++ Demo<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you installed the TinyGPS++ Library as I suggested earlier then you may have already seen some of the example sketches that come packaged with it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We will be running the Full Example sketch to demonstrate the TonyGPS++ libraries&#8217; capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is one of the sketches included with the TinyGPS++ Library. It gives a wealth of information when fed GPS data.\u00a0 You can get it by going to the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">File<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> menu , then into <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and scrolling down until you see the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TinyGPS++<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> entry.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"TinyGPS++ Full Example\">#include &lt;TinyGPS++.h&gt;\r\n#include &lt;SoftwareSerial.h&gt;\r\n\/*\r\n   This sample code demonstrates the normal use of a TinyGPS++ (TinyGPSPlus) object.\r\n   It requires the use of SoftwareSerial, and assumes that you have a\r\n   4800-baud serial GPS device hooked up on pins 4(rx) and 3(tx).\r\n*\/\r\nstatic const int RXPin = 4, TXPin = 3;\r\nstatic const uint32_t GPSBaud = 4800;\r\n\r\n\/\/ The TinyGPS++ object\r\nTinyGPSPlus gps;\r\n\r\n\/\/ The serial connection to the GPS device\r\nSoftwareSerial ss(RXPin, TXPin);\r\n\r\nvoid setup()\r\n{\r\n  Serial.begin(115200);\r\n  ss.begin(GPSBaud);\r\n\r\n  Serial.println(F(\"FullExample.ino\"));\r\n  Serial.println(F(\"An extensive example of many interesting TinyGPS++ features\"));\r\n  Serial.print(F(\"Testing TinyGPS++ library v. \")); Serial.println(TinyGPSPlus::libraryVersion());\r\n  Serial.println(F(\"by Mikal Hart\"));\r\n  Serial.println();\r\n  Serial.println(F(\"Sats HDOP  Latitude   Longitude   Fix  Date       Time     Date Alt    Course Speed Card  Distance Course Card  Chars Sentences Checksum\"));\r\n  Serial.println(F(\"           (deg)      (deg)       Age                      Age  (m)    --- from GPS ----  ---- to London  ----  RX    RX        Fail\"));\r\n  Serial.println(F(\"----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\"));\r\n}\r\n\r\nvoid loop()\r\n{\r\n  static const double LONDON_LAT = 51.508131, LONDON_LON = -0.128002;\r\n\r\n  printInt(gps.satellites.value(), gps.satellites.isValid(), 5);\r\n  printFloat(gps.hdop.hdop(), gps.hdop.isValid(), 6, 1);\r\n  printFloat(gps.location.lat(), gps.location.isValid(), 11, 6);\r\n  printFloat(gps.location.lng(), gps.location.isValid(), 12, 6);\r\n  printInt(gps.location.age(), gps.location.isValid(), 5);\r\n  printDateTime(gps.date, gps.time);\r\n  printFloat(gps.altitude.meters(), gps.altitude.isValid(), 7, 2);\r\n  printFloat(gps.course.deg(), gps.course.isValid(), 7, 2);\r\n  printFloat(gps.speed.kmph(), gps.speed.isValid(), 6, 2);\r\n  printStr(gps.course.isValid() ? TinyGPSPlus::cardinal(gps.course.deg()) : \"*** \", 6);\r\n\r\n  unsigned long distanceKmToLondon =\r\n    (unsigned long)TinyGPSPlus::distanceBetween(\r\n      gps.location.lat(),\r\n      gps.location.lng(),\r\n      LONDON_LAT, \r\n      LONDON_LON) \/ 1000;\r\n  printInt(distanceKmToLondon, gps.location.isValid(), 9);\r\n\r\n  double courseToLondon =\r\n    TinyGPSPlus::courseTo(\r\n      gps.location.lat(),\r\n      gps.location.lng(),\r\n      LONDON_LAT, \r\n      LONDON_LON);\r\n\r\n  printFloat(courseToLondon, gps.location.isValid(), 7, 2);\r\n\r\n  const char *cardinalToLondon = TinyGPSPlus::cardinal(courseToLondon);\r\n\r\n  printStr(gps.location.isValid() ? cardinalToLondon : \"*** \", 6);\r\n\r\n  printInt(gps.charsProcessed(), true, 6);\r\n  printInt(gps.sentencesWithFix(), true, 10);\r\n  printInt(gps.failedChecksum(), true, 9);\r\n  Serial.println();\r\n  \r\n  smartDelay(1000);\r\n\r\n  if (millis() &gt; 5000 &amp;&amp; gps.charsProcessed() &lt; 10)\r\n    Serial.println(F(\"No GPS data received: check wiring\"));\r\n}\r\n\r\n\/\/ This custom version of delay() ensures that the gps object\r\n\/\/ is being \"fed\".\r\nstatic void smartDelay(unsigned long ms)\r\n{\r\n  unsigned long start = millis();\r\n  do \r\n  {\r\n    while (ss.available())\r\n      gps.encode(ss.read());\r\n  } while (millis() - start &lt; ms);\r\n}\r\n\r\nstatic void printFloat(float val, bool valid, int len, int prec)\r\n{\r\n  if (!valid)\r\n  {\r\n    while (len-- &gt; 1)\r\n      Serial.print('*');\r\n    Serial.print(' ');\r\n  }\r\n  else\r\n  {\r\n    Serial.print(val, prec);\r\n    int vi = abs((int)val);\r\n    int flen = prec + (val &lt; 0.0 ? 2 : 1); \/\/ . and -\r\n    flen += vi &gt;= 1000 ? 4 : vi &gt;= 100 ? 3 : vi &gt;= 10 ? 2 : 1;\r\n    for (int i=flen; i&lt;len; ++i)\r\n      Serial.print(' ');\r\n  }\r\n  smartDelay(0);\r\n}\r\n\r\nstatic void printInt(unsigned long val, bool valid, int len)\r\n{\r\n  char sz[32] = \"*****************\";\r\n  if (valid)\r\n    sprintf(sz, \"%ld\", val);\r\n  sz[len] = 0;\r\n  for (int i=strlen(sz); i&lt;len; ++i)\r\n    sz[i] = ' ';\r\n  if (len &gt; 0) \r\n    sz[len-1] = ' ';\r\n  Serial.print(sz);\r\n  smartDelay(0);\r\n}\r\n\r\nstatic void printDateTime(TinyGPSDate &amp;d, TinyGPSTime &amp;t)\r\n{\r\n  if (!d.isValid())\r\n  {\r\n    Serial.print(F(\"********** \"));\r\n  }\r\n  else\r\n  {\r\n    char sz[32];\r\n    sprintf(sz, \"%02d\/%02d\/%02d \", d.month(), d.day(), d.year());\r\n    Serial.print(sz);\r\n  }\r\n  \r\n  if (!t.isValid())\r\n  {\r\n    Serial.print(F(\"******** \"));\r\n  }\r\n  else\r\n  {\r\n    char sz[32];\r\n    sprintf(sz, \"%02d:%02d:%02d \", t.hour(), t.minute(), t.second());\r\n    Serial.print(sz);\r\n  }\r\n\r\n  printInt(d.age(), d.isValid(), 5);\r\n  smartDelay(0);\r\n}\r\n\r\nstatic void printStr(const char *str, int len)\r\n{\r\n  int slen = strlen(str);\r\n  for (int i=0; i&lt;len; ++i)\r\n    Serial.print(i&lt;slen ? str[i] : ' ');\r\n  smartDelay(0);\r\n}<\/pre>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sketch makes use of a number of TinyGPS++ functions to gather data and display it. The data is formatted to make it pretty to print using a number of custom \u201cprint\u201d\u00a0 functions. It\u2019s really as simple as that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Load up the code and take your GPS somewhere that you can receive satellites &#8211; you can always test with the previous sketch to be sure you have data coming in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now look at the readings as they update, they are pretty accurate. And now you know how far you are from London!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS &amp; Compass &#8211; Beitian BN-880 with Arduino<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Beitian BN-880 is a very sensitive GPS that also has a built-in magnetometer, meaning that it has a compass inside it. This is very useful in model aeronautics and\u00a0 boating, but it also has possibilities for our robotics projects as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beitian BN-880<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Beitian BN-880 has the following specifications:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Receiving Format: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Receiving Channel: 72 Searching Channel<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Output Frequency: 1Hz-10Hz,Default 1Hz<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Support Rate:4800bps to 115200bps,Default 38400dps<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UART Interface: UART Port: TXDA and RXDA<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see it\u2019s a pretty powerful unit, and it isn\u2019t all that expensive either.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnetometer<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The built-in magnetometer is an older model that still sports some impressive specifications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The magnetometer is based upon a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/media.digikey.com\/pdf\/Data%20Sheets\/Honeywell%20PDFs\/HMC5883L.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HMC5883L chip<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is billed as a \u201c3-axis Compass\u201d.\u00a0 It is supposed to have a heading accuracy of 1 to 2 degrees, and can be used in conjunction with the GPS readings to tell yo9i not only where you are, but what direction you are heading in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The HMC5883L is an I2C device, so the BN-880 has two extra connections for the SDA and SCL lines.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beitian BN-880 Hookup<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is the hookup for the Beitian BN-880 and an Arduino Uno.\u00a0 Please don\u2019t follow the colors of the wires, as different vendors supply different connection cables. Instead, look at the order of the connections on the BN-880 connector.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7984\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BN-880-Hookup-Arduino.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BN-880 to Arduino Hookup\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BN-880-Hookup-Arduino.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BN-880-Hookup-Arduino.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll note that the GPS connections for the BN-880 are identical to what they were for the other GPS modules we have already used. You can use the same code to access the GPS section of the BN-80 and it will function perfectly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other connections are the I2C connections. In my test, I didn&#8217;t need to use pull-up resistors, if you experience erratic readings from the magnetometer you could try using a couple of 4.7k pullups on the SDA and SCL connections.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnetometer Code<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to work with the magnetometer, or compass, feature of the BN-880 we will need to add a library to work with the HMC5883L. There are several, Adafruit has a nice one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can install the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/adafruit\/Adafruit_HMC5883_Unified\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adafruit HMC5883L Library<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the Library Manager in our Arduino IDE, in the same fashion that we installed the TinyGPS library. Just search the Library Manager for \u201cHMC5883L\u201d, the Adafruit library will likely be the first result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you install the Adafruit library for the HMC5883L you may get prompted to install some dependent libraries. Choose to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Install All<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of them, as this library depends upon these other libraries to function (that is actually why it\u2019s named a \u201cunified driver\u201d). You can close the library manager once aloof the unified libraries install.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have the HMC5883L library installed we can run some example software to demonstrate the use of the magnetometer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open the list of Examples and scroll down until you see Adafruit HMC5883L Unified. Select it, and select the only sketch in the resulting list &#8211; <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">magsensor<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"Magsensor Example\">\/***************************************************************************\r\n  This is a library example for the HMC5883 magnentometer\/compass\r\n\r\n  Designed specifically to work with the Adafruit HMC5883 Breakout\r\n  http:\/\/www.adafruit.com\/products\/1746\r\n \r\n  *** You will also need to install the Adafruit_Sensor library! ***\r\n\r\n  These displays use I2C to communicate, 2 pins are required to interface.\r\n\r\n  Adafruit invests time and resources providing this open source code,\r\n  please support Adafruit andopen-source hardware by purchasing products\r\n  from Adafruit!\r\n\r\n  Written by Kevin Townsend for Adafruit Industries with some heading example from\r\n  Love Electronics (loveelectronics.co.uk)\r\n \r\n This program is free software: you can redistribute it and\/or modify\r\n it under the terms of the version 3 GNU General Public License as\r\n published by the Free Software Foundation.\r\n \r\n This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,\r\n but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of\r\n MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the\r\n GNU General Public License for more details.\r\n\r\n You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License\r\n along with this program.  If not, see &lt;http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/licenses\/&gt;.\r\n\r\n ***************************************************************************\/\r\n\r\n#include &lt;Wire.h&gt;\r\n#include &lt;Adafruit_Sensor.h&gt;\r\n#include &lt;Adafruit_HMC5883_U.h&gt;\r\n\r\n\/* Assign a unique ID to this sensor at the same time *\/\r\nAdafruit_HMC5883_Unified mag = Adafruit_HMC5883_Unified(12345);\r\n\r\nvoid displaySensorDetails(void)\r\n{\r\n  sensor_t sensor;\r\n  mag.getSensor(&amp;sensor);\r\n  Serial.println(\"------------------------------------\");\r\n  Serial.print  (\"Sensor:       \"); Serial.println(sensor.name);\r\n  Serial.print  (\"Driver Ver:   \"); Serial.println(sensor.version);\r\n  Serial.print  (\"Unique ID:    \"); Serial.println(sensor.sensor_id);\r\n  Serial.print  (\"Max Value:    \"); Serial.print(sensor.max_value); Serial.println(\" uT\");\r\n  Serial.print  (\"Min Value:    \"); Serial.print(sensor.min_value); Serial.println(\" uT\");\r\n  Serial.print  (\"Resolution:   \"); Serial.print(sensor.resolution); Serial.println(\" uT\");  \r\n  Serial.println(\"------------------------------------\");\r\n  Serial.println(\"\");\r\n  delay(500);\r\n}\r\n\r\nvoid setup(void) \r\n{\r\n  Serial.begin(9600);\r\n  Serial.println(\"HMC5883 Magnetometer Test\"); Serial.println(\"\");\r\n  \r\n  \/* Initialise the sensor *\/\r\n  if(!mag.begin())\r\n  {\r\n    \/* There was a problem detecting the HMC5883 ... check your connections *\/\r\n    Serial.println(\"Ooops, no HMC5883 detected ... Check your wiring!\");\r\n    while(1);\r\n  }\r\n  \r\n  \/* Display some basic information on this sensor *\/\r\n  displaySensorDetails();\r\n}\r\n\r\nvoid loop(void) \r\n{\r\n  \/* Get a new sensor event *\/ \r\n  sensors_event_t event; \r\n  mag.getEvent(&amp;event);\r\n \r\n  \/* Display the results (magnetic vector values are in micro-Tesla (uT)) *\/\r\n  Serial.print(\"X: \"); Serial.print(event.magnetic.x); Serial.print(\"  \");\r\n  Serial.print(\"Y: \"); Serial.print(event.magnetic.y); Serial.print(\"  \");\r\n  Serial.print(\"Z: \"); Serial.print(event.magnetic.z); Serial.print(\"  \");Serial.println(\"uT\");\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Hold the module so that Z is pointing 'up' and you can measure the heading with x&amp;y\r\n  \/\/ Calculate heading when the magnetometer is level, then correct for signs of axis.\r\n  float heading = atan2(event.magnetic.y, event.magnetic.x);\r\n  \r\n  \/\/ Once you have your heading, you must then add your 'Declination Angle', which is the 'Error' of the magnetic field in your location.\r\n  \/\/ Find yours here: http:\/\/www.magnetic-declination.com\/\r\n  \/\/ Mine is: -13* 2' W, which is ~13 Degrees, or (which we need) 0.22 radians\r\n  \/\/ If you cannot find your Declination, comment out these two lines, your compass will be slightly off.\r\n  float declinationAngle = 0.22;\r\n  heading += declinationAngle;\r\n  \r\n  \/\/ Correct for when signs are reversed.\r\n  if(heading &lt; 0)\r\n    heading += 2*PI;\r\n    \r\n  \/\/ Check for wrap due to addition of declination.\r\n  if(heading &gt; 2*PI)\r\n    heading -= 2*PI;\r\n   \r\n  \/\/ Convert radians to degrees for readability.\r\n  float headingDegrees = heading * 180\/M_PI; \r\n  \r\n  Serial.print(\"Heading (degrees): \"); Serial.println(headingDegrees);\r\n  \r\n  delay(500);\r\n}<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This sketch demonstrates the use of the magnetometer by displaying the values from all three degrees of freedom on the serial monitor.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Calculating Magnetic Declination Angle<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One thing you may want to note is the \u201cDeclination Angle\u201d correction that you can add on line 91, this compensates for the difference between the true north (or south) pole and the magnetic one.\u00a0 It differs depending upon where in the world you are, the value in the sketch is for New York City.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This value is in Radians, so you\u2019ll need to do a little work to get it, as the resources that follow don\u2019t supply a Radians value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can calculate your magnetic declination if you know your longitude and latitude, or just by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.magnetic-declination.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visiting the Magnetic Declination website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several other interesting resources on the Internet for this, as a Canadian may <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geomag.nrcan.gc.ca\/calc\/mdcal-en.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I recommend one from the Government of Canada<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; it\u2019s useful for anyone, anywhere in the world, not just Canada.\u00a0 And that same <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geomag.nrcan.gc.ca\/mag_fld\/magdec-en.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canadian Government has a good article explaining what Magnetic declination actually is<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ngdc.noaa.gov\/geomag\/calculators\/magcalc.shtml?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NOAA also has a nice online utility that can accept your address and calculate Magnetic declination<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However you get it, you\u2019ll need to do two things to it so it can be used in the sketch:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convert it to Degrees with decimal places<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convert Degrees to Radians<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Radians value is what is required for the sketch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Convert the Degrees-Minutes-Seconds to Degrees with a decimal figure. Divide the minutes and seconds by 60 to get their decimal values, and add them up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then go to a Degree to Radian calculator, like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=degrees+to+radians\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the one Google has<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The resulting value is what you&#8217;ll need for your sketch, to correct for magnetic declination in your location.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnetometer Demo\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Load the sketch onto the Arduino and open the Serial Monitor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8020\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/magnetometer-test.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Magnetometer test\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/magnetometer-test.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/magnetometer-test.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You should see the readings of the X, Y, and Z-axis. Now rotate and twist the sensor, and observe the corresponding readings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can experiment and follow the calibration instructions in the code sample to see how accurate a \u201ccompass\u201d you can make!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adafruit Ultimate GPS with Raspberry Pi<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next module we will look at is a bit different in that it uses a USB connection to supply serial data, instead of a couple of output pins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This sort of sensor is better suited to a microcomputer, so we will be bringing a Raspberry Pi in for this one.\u00a0 Although I use a Raspberry Pi 4 any Pi with internet connectivity, including the model Zero W, would work fine for this task.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adafruit Ultimate GPS<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Adafruit Ultimate GPS is actually available in two configurations:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A USB one, like the one I have<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A model with discrete output pins, similar to the other devices we have looked at today.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both feature the same high-performance GPS sensor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One real bonus that this module offers is the ability to use an external antenna. I took advantage of this to work on the GPS indoors, with an antenna in my backyard!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The specifications of the Adafruit Ultimate GPS are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Satellites: 22 tracking, 66 searching<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patch Antenna Size: 15mm x 15mm x 4mm<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Update rate: 1 to 10 Hz<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Position Accuracy: &lt; 3 meters (all GPS technology has about 3m accuracy)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Velocity Accuracy: 0.1 meters\/s<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warm\/cold start: 34 seconds<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acquisition sensitivity: -145 dBm<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tracking sensitivity: -165 dBm<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maximum Velocity: 515m\/s<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vin range: 3.0-5.5VDC<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MTK3339 Operating current: 25mA tracking, 20 mA current draw during navigation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Output: NMEA 0183, 9600 baud default, 3V logic level out, 5V-safe input<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DGPS\/WAAS\/EGNOS supported<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FCC E911 compliance and AGPS support (Offline mode : EPO valid up to 14 days )<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up to 210 PRN channels<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jammer detection and reduction<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Multi-path detection and compensation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can use the Adafruit Ultimate GPS with a Windows-based utility, the MT3339 GPS Tool. It is an older utility,, but I had no problem getting it to work using Windows 10.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, however, we will be using Linux, specifically the Raspberry Pi Operating System.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adafruit Ultimate GPS Connection to Raspberry Pi<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Adafruit Ultimate GPS uses its microUSB connector for both power and data transfer, so as soon as you plug it into an active USB port it starts working.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While you could certainly use any Internet-connected P{i for the job (you need the Internet to download the software for our demo) the model Zero W has only one USB port, so you would likely need a USB hub.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As I wanted to take advantage of the external antenna jack I purchased a few other accessories.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>An external GPS antenna<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, I got the Sparkfun\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A metal plate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to thread onto a tripod or light stand and to act as a ground plane for the GPS antenna (it&#8217;s a requirement). Your car roof is also a good surface, and the antenna is magnetic.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A ufl to SMA cable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to connect the tiny ufl connector in the Ultimate GPS to a standard SMA cable, used by most GPS antennas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A couple of SMA male to female extension cables.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In my case, I had a total of 8 meters of extension cable, and everything worked well.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7999\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-remote-antenna.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS Remote Antenna\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-remote-antenna.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-remote-antenna.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This allowed me the luxury of using the GPS in my office, but it didn\u2019t quite reach the workshop. So I solved that with a <\/span><b>4 meter USB to microUSB cable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to run the \u201clast mile\u201d down my hallway. The GPS module sat in the middle of the hallway, with the Raspberry Pi on my workbench, and it worked well enough to film the demo!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Displaying GPS Data on Raspberry Pi<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a number of ways to make use of the GPS data on a Raspberry Pi. I\u2019m going to show you a very simple one that you can install and run from the command line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll need to type six lines at the command line to install the GPSD software and run it &#8211; once it\u2019s installed you can run it with just two lines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheat Sheet<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> available, a text file with all of the commands in it. It\u2019s in the ZIP file with all of the code, and you can download the whole package to make your GPS experimenting easier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is what you\u2019ll need to type in:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, we will list the USB devices, just to be sure we see our Adafruit GPS.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"ls \/dev\/ttyUSB\">ls \/dev\/ttyUSB<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, we will install GPSD, so we can examine incoming GPS data.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true\" title=\"sudo apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients\">sudo apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll be notified of the resources the software will consume and you&#8217;ll be asked if you want to proceed, naturally you do, so type \u201cY\u201d.\u00a0 The software will take a minute to install.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the GPSD software is installed we need to stop a service it installs, and prevent it from running again. This is a modification required for the Raspberry Pi Operating System, and for some other versions of Linux as well,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, we stop the service, and then we disable it so it can\u2019t run again:<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"disable gpsd.socket\">sudo systemctl stop gpsd.socket\r\nsudo systemctl disable gpsd.socket<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now we can manually start the GPSD service and connect it to the GPS on USB0, which is where your Adafruit Ultimate GPS should be.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"sudo systemctl disable gpsd.socket\">sudo systemctl disable gpsd.socket<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And finally, we can run the GPSD display.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"cgps -s\">cgps -s<\/pre>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8013\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Raspberry-Pi-cgps.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Raspberry Pi CGPS Utility\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Raspberry-Pi-cgps.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Raspberry-Pi-cgps.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The display may take a minute to lock in if you\u2019re performing a cold start, after that it should happen pretty quickly. You\u2019ll get your position information updated every few seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build a GPS Position Logger<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019re going to finish off with a fun experiment, one that will get you out of the worship and outside in the fresh air. At least it worked on me!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are going to build a very simple GPS Position Logger. A device that will log our GPS position and time readings to a mMicroSD (or SD) card, so that we can view them later.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And we can actually \u201cview\u201d them, as the results we are returning are in a format suitable for use with Google Maps!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS Position Logger Operation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a very simple position logger, you can use it as the basis for a more advanced design.\u00a0 It works as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starts up, checks GPS and SD card status<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blinks LED three times to indicate all is OK<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attempts to lock onto several satellites. If this is a cold start the process may take a few minutes, a warm start usually locks in a few seconds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reads and validates satellite data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Records latitude, longitude, and timestamp to the SD card<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flashes the LED to indicate a successful recording<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continues until powered down<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The data is saved in a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CSV,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comma Separated Value<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, format. I\u2019m pretty sure you&#8217;ve already encountered this standard text format, which can be opened with any spreadsheet application or text editor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A CSV file can also be used with Google Maps to import map data, so you can get a visualization of where you have traveled to. <strong>Note that Google Maps accepts a CSV file with a maximum of 2000 entries.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To prevent \u201cflooding\u201d Google Maps, which I did a few times while prototyping this design, I put a counter into the program. This worked to slow down the CSV file update from several times per second to once every three seconds, which I deemed an adequate compromise and suitable for walking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a variable in the code you can use to set the pace of the update, with my experiment I walked for over 25 minutes and recorded just under 400 lines of data. You may experience slightly different times, due to differences in satellite reception conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS Position Logger Components<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I just built my logger on a standard solderless breadboard. I advise that you do that before you put together a more permanent version of it. You might come up with some great modifications!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7988\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-logger-arduino-build.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS Logger\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-logger-arduino-build.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-logger-arduino-build.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To build the GPS Position Logger you will need the following parts:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An Arduino Uno, or other 8-bit AVR Arduino board<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A GPS sensor like the Bietain BN-220 (any sensor with a serial output should work)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An SD or MicroSD card module that runs on 5-volts.\u00a0 One that has a regulator and level-shifter onboard.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An LED and a dropping resistor, 220 ohms is what I used and I could see my LED flash in broad daylight.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2018ll also need a way of powering up your project when you take it outside. I just used a 9-volt battery (a fresh one!) and the power jack on the Uno, which is probably the easiest way. You could also use a USB Power bank.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7989\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-logger-arduino-build-2.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS Logger\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-logger-arduino-build-2.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-logger-arduino-build-2.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, you\u2019ll need a breadboard or perfboard to build everything, as well as some suitable wire.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS Position Logger Hookup<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is how to hook everything up, it\u2019s essentially the same GPS hookup we have already used with the addition of the SD card module and the LED. The SD card module uses the Arduino&#8217;s SPI connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7990\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Logging-Hookup-Arduino.jpg?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Arduino GPS Logger Hookup\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Logging-Hookup-Arduino.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Logging-Hookup-Arduino.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may want to give consideration as to where you mount the GPS module, as that will be our \u201creference point.\u00a0 I mounted mine at the end of the solderless breadboard, with a couple of wire loops to position it and minimize its movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPS Position Logger Code<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, the real fun is in the code, which is presented here:<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:c++ decode:true \" title=\"GPS Position Logger\">\/*\r\n  GPS Position Logger\r\n  gps-position-logger.ino\r\n  Read GPS data from BN-220 or any serial GPS sensor\r\n  Requires TinyGPS++ Library\r\n  Save to SD or microSD card\r\n\r\n  DroneBot Workshop 2021\r\n  <blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"94OCaN1p24\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/\">Welcome to the Workshop!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Welcome to the Workshop!&#8221; &#8212; DroneBot Workshop\" src=\"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/embed\/#?secret=ggCFwrMCo0#?secret=94OCaN1p24\" data-secret=\"94OCaN1p24\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\r\n*\/\r\n\r\n\/\/ Include required libraries\r\n#include &lt;TinyGPS++.h&gt;\r\n#include &lt;SoftwareSerial.h&gt;\r\n#include &lt;SPI.h&gt;\r\n#include &lt;SD.h&gt;\r\n\r\n\/\/ GPS Connections\r\nstatic const int RXPin = 4, TXPin = 3;\r\n\r\n\/\/ GPS Baud rate (change if required)\r\nstatic const uint32_t GPSBaud = 9600;\r\n\r\n\/\/ SD Card Select pin\r\nconst int chipSelect = 5;\r\n\r\n\/\/ Write LED\r\nconst int recLED = 7;\r\n\r\n\/\/ String to hold GPS data\r\nString gpstext;\r\n\r\n\/\/ GPS write delay counter variables\r\n\/\/ Change gpsttlcount as required\r\nint gpscount = 0;\r\nint gpsttlcount = 30;\r\n\r\n\/\/ TinyGPS++ object\r\nTinyGPSPlus gps;\r\n\r\n\/\/ SoftwareSerial connection to the GPS device\r\nSoftwareSerial ss(RXPin, TXPin);\r\n\r\nvoid setup()\r\n{\r\n  \/\/ Set LED pin as output\r\n  pinMode(recLED, OUTPUT);\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Start Serial Monitor for debugging\r\n  Serial.begin(115200);\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Start SoftwareSerial\r\n  ss.begin(GPSBaud);\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Initialize SD card\r\n  if (!SD.begin(chipSelect)) {\r\n    Serial.println(\"Card failed, or not present\");\r\n    \/\/don't do anything more:\r\n    while (1);\r\n  }\r\n  Serial.println(\"card initialized.\");\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Blink LED so we know we are ready\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, HIGH);\r\n  delay(500);\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, LOW);\r\n  delay(500);\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, HIGH);\r\n  delay(500);\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, LOW);\r\n  delay(500);\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, HIGH);\r\n  delay(500);\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, LOW);\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\nvoid loop()\r\n{\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Turn off LED\r\n  digitalWrite(recLED, LOW);\r\n\r\n\r\n  \/\/ See if data available\r\n  while (ss.available() &gt; 0)\r\n    if (gps.encode(ss.read()))\r\n\r\n      \/\/ See if we have a complete GPS data string\r\n      if (displayInfo() != \"0\")\r\n      {\r\n\r\n        \/\/ Get GPS string\r\n        gpstext = displayInfo();\r\n\r\n\r\n        \/\/ Check GPS Count\r\n        Serial.println(gpscount);\r\n        if (gpscount == gpsttlcount) {\r\n\r\n          \/\/ LED On to indicate data to write to SD card\r\n          digitalWrite(recLED, HIGH);\r\n\r\n          \/\/Open the file on card for writing\r\n          File dataFile = SD.open(\"gpslog.csv\", FILE_WRITE);\r\n\r\n          if (dataFile) {\r\n\r\n            \/\/ If the file is available, write to it and close the file\r\n            dataFile.println(gpstext);\r\n            dataFile.close();\r\n\r\n            \/\/ Serial print GPS string for debugging\r\n            Serial.println(gpstext);\r\n          }\r\n          \/\/ If the file isn't open print an error message for debugging\r\n          else {\r\n            Serial.println(\"error opening datalog.txt\");\r\n          }\r\n\r\n        }\r\n        \/\/ Increment GPS Count\r\n        gpscount = gpscount + 1;\r\n        if (gpscount &gt; gpsttlcount) {\r\n          gpscount = 0;\r\n        }\r\n\r\n      }\r\n\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\/\/ Function to return GPS string\r\nString displayInfo()\r\n{\r\n  \/\/ Define empty string to hold output\r\n  String gpsdata = \"\";\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Get latitude and longitude\r\n  if (gps.location.isValid())\r\n  {\r\n    gpsdata = String(gps.location.lat(), 6);\r\n    gpsdata += (\",\");\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.location.lng(), 6);\r\n    gpsdata += (\",\");\r\n  }\r\n  else\r\n  {\r\n    return \"0\";\r\n  }\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Get Date\r\n  if (gps.date.isValid())\r\n  {\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.date.year());\r\n    gpsdata += (\"-\");\r\n    if (gps.date.month() &lt; 10) gpsdata += (\"0\");\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.date.month());\r\n    gpsdata += (\"-\");\r\n    if (gps.date.day() &lt; 10) gpsdata += (\"0\");\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.date.day());\r\n  }\r\n  else\r\n  {\r\n    return \"0\";\r\n  }\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Space between date and time\r\n  gpsdata += (\" \");\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Get time\r\n  if (gps.time.isValid())\r\n  {\r\n    if (gps.time.hour() &lt; 10) gpsdata += (\"0\");\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.time.hour());\r\n    gpsdata += (\":\");\r\n    if (gps.time.minute() &lt; 10) gpsdata += (\"0\");\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.time.minute());\r\n    gpsdata += (\":\");\r\n    if (gps.time.second() &lt; 10) gpsdata += (\"0\");\r\n    gpsdata += String(gps.time.second());\r\n  }\r\n  else\r\n  {\r\n    return \"0\";\r\n  }\r\n\r\n  \/\/ Return completed string\r\n  return gpsdata;\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see the code is based upon the TinyGPS++ Library, which you need to install using a ZIP file as described earlier in this text. So if you haven\u2019t done that yet you should do it right now!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other three libraries are already part of your Arduino IDE, so there is nothing else to install\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SoftwareSerial library, to create a software serial port for the GPS connection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SPI library, to address the MicroSD card module, as it is an SPI device,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SD library, to work with files and directories on the MicroSD or SD card.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We start by defining some constants and variables, most of which are pretty obvious. The SD Card CS lead is defined as pin 5, you can move it if you want to and change the code here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Same with the LED on pin 7.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gpstext<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> string holds a line of comma-delimited text to write to the SD or MicroSD card.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two variables for the gpscount are used to \u201ctaper off\u201d the readings, otherwise, you\u2019ll exceed the 2000 points that Google Maps can use very quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of particular note is the variable <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gpsttlcount<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> , an integer that determines how many GPS readings we \u201cthrow-away\u201d. I have set it to 30, which means I only record one out of every 30 readings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I found this value suitable for walking, but you can feel free to experiment. You\u2019ll get more readings if you reduce it, and fewer if you increase it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the setup, we set up our ports, start the SoftwareSerial and then attempt to initialize the SD card.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we fail to initialize the SD card then we don\u2019t continue, and we print an error message to the serial monitor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since we plan on using this in the field, without a serial monitor, we flash the LED a few times after we successfully initialize the SD card. So if you don\u2019t see the flashing LED a second or two after powering up, then the SD card didn\u2019t initialize.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before you look at the Loop take a peek further down at a function called <em>displayInfo()<\/em> . This function returns a string with one of two values:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A formatted line of text for the CSV file<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The character \u201c0\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201c0\u201d is sent back when the GPS data for location or time isn\u2019t valid, which will happen during a cold start. We don\u2019t want to record those failed attempts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The function makes extensive use of the TinyGPS++ library to get data for location and time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note how the longs used for latitude and longitude are converted to Strings with the String macro. This macro uses an optional parameter to determine decimal places, which in this sketch is \u201c6\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also note how time and date digits less than 10 are handled, with a preceding zero inserted to make everything format correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Loop we call this function, and if the data is valid we go through the counter. If the count has been reached then we open a file called \u201cgpslog.csv\u201d for writing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If this file does not exist we will create it. If it does exist we will append data to it. This is important to note if you are using the GPS Logger and turn it off and on again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the file opens successfully we will write a line of text and then close the file.\u00a0 We set the counter back to zero and go through it all again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Load the sketch onto your Arduino and run it, ideally with the serial monitor at first to see if all is working correctly. The serial monitor will print a line of CSV data every time it is written to the MicroSD card.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have it working with the computer you can try it stand-alone, I\u2019d suggest a small local trip to start.\u00a0 Go out and gather some data, and then we\u2019ll see how we can display it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading GPS Position Logger Results with Google Maps<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After running the position logger for a while you should be ready to read the data you have gathered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Power down the Arduino and eject the MicroSD card. Pop it into a computer with a suitable adapter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You should see one file on your card, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPSLOG.CSV<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Note that despite entering our filename in lowercase in the code the SD library has converted it all to upper case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might want to copy that CSV file to your local computer, to make it easier to work with.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading CSV File<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A CSV file is just a text file with values separated by commas, so it can be read in any text editor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even better, this is also a format recognized by pretty well every spreadsheet application ever built. So you can open Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice Calc to view the file in a more detailed fashion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7987\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-spreadsheet.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS Log in Spreadsheet\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-spreadsheet.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-spreadsheet.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I opened my file in LibreOffice Calc, and it shows three columns.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Longitude<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Latitude<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timestamp<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking at the timestamp on my sample file I determined that I walked for about 26 minutes, during which time I collected 398 lines of data.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Displaying CSV Files on Google Maps<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, looking at all this data in a spreadsheet isn\u2019t really very descriptive, unless you happen to have geographic coordinates memorized (I don\u2019t).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a much better way to look at our data and see where we have been &#8211; Google Maps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Maps can import data in several formats, including a CSV file with three columns, like the one we just saved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is what you need to import <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPSLOG.CSV <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">into a Google Map.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open <a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Maps<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click on the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Menu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (top left corner).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Places.<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Places<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> window click the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MAPS<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the bottom of the <em>Maps<\/em> tab click the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create Map<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> link. You can also click <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See All Your Maps <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and use the red <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create a New Map<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button.\u00a0 Both methods will open a new map.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may give your map a title and description, this is optional.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Import<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> link (under <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Untitled Layer)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 The Import dialog box will open.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Import dialog box click the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select a file from your device<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GPSLOG.CSV<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> file, either from the SD card or from a local copy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The import process will proceed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assign the first column to \u201clatitude\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assign the second column to \u201clongitude\u201d. Click to continue<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the third column (timestamp) as the name for the waypoint. Click to continue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your waypoints will be imported, and Google will draw you a map of your journey.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My maps looked pretty good, I walked around a park and my trip matched the one Google laid out for me pretty closely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7985\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-google-maps-1.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS Log in Google Maps\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-google-maps-1.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-google-maps-1.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In some cases, I was under a lot of trees, but it didn\u2019t seem to affect the readings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7986\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-google-maps-2.png?resize=750%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"GPS Log in Google Maps\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-google-maps-2.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gps-log-file-google-maps-2.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This simple position logger could certainly be expanded upon to make a useful tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I had a lot of fun playing with these GPS modules, and I was impressed with the performance of even the most inexpensive ones like the BN-180 and BN-220.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I also am doing more work with some fairly high-end GPS tools and will be showing you the fruits of my labor very soon, so stay tuned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the meantime why don\u2019t you pick up a GPS module and check it out, if you need precision location or time information, or just want to see how these little wonders work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"dbwspartsbox\">\n<h3>Parts List<\/h3>\n<p><em>Here are some components that you might need to complete the experiments in this article. Please note that some of these links may be affiliate links, and the DroneBot Workshop may receive a commission on your purchases. This does not increase the cost to you and is a method of supporting this ad-free website.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>COMING SOON!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Resources<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/download.dronebotworkshop.com\/GPS-Modules+-+DroneBot+Workshop.zip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Code and Cheat Sheet<\/a> &#8211; All of the code for this article, plus the command-line &#8220;cheat sheet&#8221; for Raspberry Pi<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/arduiniana.org\/libraries\/tinygpsplus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TinyGPS++ Library Guide<\/a> &#8211; More information about using the TinyGPS++ Library<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.adafruit.com\/adafruit-ultimate-gps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adafruit Ultimate GPS\u00a0 Guide<\/a> &#8211; Documentation for the Ultimate GPS (both interfaces) from Adafruit<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.magnetic-declination.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Find your Magnetic Declination<\/a> &#8211; Find Magnetic declination for your location or any location in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn to use common GPS positioning modules in your Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects.<\/p>\n<p>Today we will see how satellite positioning systems work, and how to use GPS modules in our projects.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll also build a GPS Logger to track our movements, then display our data on Google Maps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10,90],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GPS-Positioning-System-Modules.jpg?fit=768%2C432&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p74ClK-24G","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9854,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7978\/revisions\/9854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronebotworkshop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}