I need to develop a custom solution whereby elderly patients can be
tracked. They would need to wear a GPS device that sent coordinates
back to a central server. Off-the-shelf pieces would be best, but if I
need to develop a custom solution that would be OK.

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 06 Jan 2004 10:48 PST

rickl-ga:

I can provide you with a link and information for a company that
provides a solution very similar to what you describe. It is used to
track children, and came onto the market around the same time that
several high profile missing children cases occurred. The company is
also exploring alternate applications, so if their off-the-shelf
solution does not do everything you need, there is a good chance they
will work with you to customize it until it does... at a lower cost
than any custom development would be.

If you are interested, I can provide this information as the Answer to
your question.

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 07 Jan 2004 22:53 PST

rickl-ga:

Are you still seeking this information? If so, just let me know and I
can post the details I mentioned above.

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

---

Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 12 Jan 2004 00:33 PST

rickl-ga:

Are you still looking for an Answer to your Question? If so, perhaps
you can clarify whether the information I refer to above is of
interest to you. If you no longer need an Answer, then you may want to
consider closing this Question.

If there is some additional information you would like as part of an
Answer, please let me know and I can include it along with the
information referred to above.

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by rickl-ga on 12 Jan 2004 04:51 PST

There are solutions similar to what I described. But I need to create
my own solution. What I need are off-the-shelf GPS transmitters and an
off-the-shelf GPS receiver.

---

Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 12 Jan 2004 09:48 PST

rickl-ga:

To clarify that I understand your terminology correctly: when you say
'GPS transmitter' and 'GPS receiver', I must assume that you mean 'a
device capable of transmitting by radio signal its current position as
determined by use of GPS', and 'a device capable of receiving by radio
signal transmitted positions'.

The Global Positioning System uses a series of satellites transmitting
a constant reference signal, and portable receivers capable of
receiving and triangulating those signals, to allow the receivers to
determine their position relative to the satellites (which in turn
have positions that are known relative to a fixed datum).

For the type of system you describe, you are therefore seeking
components that would consist of:

a) portable GPS receivers capable of determining their own coordinates
b) portable transmitters capable of interfacing with the GPS receivers
to transmit the coordinates to a remote tracking station
c) a remote radio receiver capale of receiving the transmitted coordinates
d) tracking software that provides an operator interface to see those
transmitted coordinates

You state that you need to develop this as a custom solution. 

At the risk of sounding like I am trying to push you in a direction
you do not want to go, I feel that your requirements are an exact
match for the technology and in-market solutions offered by the
company I described above in my original request for question
clarification. They have a proven product that does what you want,
using a hosted tracking interface with national coverage instead of
remote station with limited local coverage. This would save you the
effort of developing a custom solution. They have various packaging
types intended for various customer types; a couple of them would work
perfectly for the application you describe (elderly patients who need
to be tracked).

So, I thought I would check with you one more time before
continuing... do you still want to bypass this ready solution, and
continue to seek the various pieces to develop a whole new solution
instead? I must of course of course inform you that this company I
refer to has filed for patent protection on their designs, so if you
were to create a custom solution that utilizes the same approach and
techniques, you would not be able to market it yourself.

Please let me know how you wish to proceed.

Thank you,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

rickl-ga:

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your Question regarding a
custom GPS solution.

As I mentioned in the clarification requests above, there is a company
in existence that offers a retail solution that appears to do exactly
what you are looking for, namely:

a) remote transmitters that can be worn by elderly patients, and which
can receive GPS satellite signals, compute the location of the device,
and transmit that location to a remote system;

b) a remote system capable of receiving the location transmissions
from the devices worn by the elderly patients, and providing that
information to a central operator or administrator.

The company in question is Wherify Wireless, their website is:

http://www.wherifywireless.com/corp_home.htm


Wherify offers several different models of remote devices, intended
for different customer requirements. Their best known solution is for
providing parents with peace of mind - their GPS Locator for Kids, a
wristwatch-like unit that incorporates a GPS receiver with a secure
wristband, allowing parents to locate their child easily through a web
interface.

http://www.wherifywireless.com/prod_watches.htm

They also have another product which should meet your needs even
better. Their GPS Universal Locator is a tiny unit that can be carried
or worn by the user, and features a two-speaker voice system for
communications to a pre-designated phone number if necessarily. This
is targeted to everyone from families, to Alzheimer's patients, to
mobile workforces.

http://www.wherifywireless.com/GPS_Univ_Loc_Datasheet_CES.pdf

The company previously (as of last week) also had two other products
that may meet your needs; however, they have just removed them from
their current website, replacing them with the GPS Universal Locator.
Here are their URLs, you may still be able to obtain the products from
Wherify:

GPS Offender Locator (for monitor house arrest offenders)
http://www.wherifywireless.com/prod_off.htm 

The previous GPS Universal Locator
http://www.wherifywireless.com/acrobat/UniLoc.pdf


The company can be contacted at:

Wherify Wireless, Inc.
2000 Bridge Parkway, Suite 201
Redwood Shores, CA 94065

T 650 551 5200
F 650 551 5225

To Order GPS Locator
  1 877 WHERIFY
  Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm PST

http://www.wherifywireless.com/corp_home.htm

Contact Emails
  info@wherify.com
  bizdev@wherify.com
  customercare@wherify.com
  jobs@wherify.com
  media@wherify.com
  sales@wherify.com 

===================================================

If the Wherify solutions are not what you are seeking, then an
off-the-shelf solution that would provide a peer-to-peer solution is
the Garmin Rino 120:

http://www.garmin.com/products/rino120/positionReport.html

This unit features the ability to automatically broadcast the unit's
position using the Family Radio Service (FRS) to any other Rino within
an optimally 2-mile radius (actual performance depends on terrain,
obstructions). The Rino 120 can manage up to 50 unique 'peer contacts'
at once, according to the user manual:

http://www.garmin.com/manuals/Rino120_OwnersManual.pdf

 - see page 13

===================================================

Beyond these two options (Wherify and Garmin Rino), the other
off-the-shelf solutions available out there tend to be intended for
installation in trucks or other vehicles. Here are two examples:

http://www.intuicom.com/www/products/products_index.htm

http://www.yourheregps.com/YRHP2K.pdf

===================================================

I hope that you find this information useful. Please let me know, via
the "Request Clarification" button above, if you would like me to
explain any part of this Answer in greater detail.

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

As a user of GPS on small yachts, be aware of the error that the U.S.
military build into the system. This can be rectified by a D.G.P.S.
unit but again this requires shore based facilities . In my case they
are not available. I solve the problem by regularly passing, at a few
feet, a known fixed navigation mark, whose lat. and long. are
recorded. I then compare my readings with the known mark. From then
on, until my next check, my GPS is accurate as far as I am concerned.
It may not match my "True" earth position. I use this, as well as my
eyes and common sense, to navigate an unmarked reef passage on a
regular basis. Hope this helps. Pugwash.

"Selective Availability" has been discontinued making the use of
"D.G.P.S." Receivers unnecessary. You can read about it here
http://www.intecamericas.com/techbulletinGPSselecavail.htm
In my commercial use of GPS on an almost daily basis, I have found
standard GPS receivers to be much more accurate now then they were
before selective availability was discontinued, evne with the use of a
DGPS reciver.

Yes, I think it will be fine to pursue the solution that has been
mentioned. Please give me the info.