GPS tracking app with Google Maps

Abstract

In Chapter 11 (App database and Google Maps), an app was developed to display map locations using Google Maps on an Android tablet or mobile phone with Internet access. In this chapter, a GPS location app displays the position of a remotely located GPS module or the route taken by the GPS module using Google Maps. An nRF24L01 module, connected to an ESP8266 or ESP32 development board attached to the GPS module, transmits the GPS location to a receiving nRF24L01 module, attached to an ESP32 development board. The GPS location information is transmitted to the app on the Android tablet or mobile phone by the ESP32 microcontroller using Bluetooth communication. The GPS location is displayed on the app using Google Maps, with the Android tablet or mobile phone accessing Google Maps data from the World Wide Web through the Internet Service Provider (ISP) (see Figure 12-1). The transmission range of the nRF24L01 transceiver module of at least 1 km combined with the 10 m range of Bluetooth provides a degree of flexibility in the distance between the app user, the receiving nRF24L01 module, and the remotely positioned GPS module.