A case study of LoRa-GPS tracker and how to evaluate similar projects // LilyGO T-Beam, range test

#evaluation #lora #gps
While building my own LoRa-GPS tracker, I got my hands on another LoRa-GPS dev board, the LilyGO T-Beam. So I delved into the various components, sensors, and libraries used for this dev board and finally did a range test to do a proper evaluation against my design. In the process, I learned that exploring similar ideas prevents us from falling into the Non-Invented-Here syndrome bias.

⏰ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
02:49 Comparison matrix
6:03 Components
11:04 Test the device
15:50 Outro

‣ Some links below are affiliate. I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

📻 PRODUCTS MENTIONED
TTGO T-Beam https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_9ggvh6
Waveshare 1.54inch E-ink module 200x200 https://amzn.to/3dM1rOC

🎩 DEMO FILES
Arduino code for LoRa Duplex communication for a GPS tracker https://hutscape.com/tutorials/lora-d...
IR Blaster subsystem design https://hutscape.com/pine/design#sub-...
LoRa-GPS tracker subsystem design https://hutscape.com/oak/design#sub-s...
LoRa-GPS tracker similar project comparison matrix https://hutscape.com/oak/references#s...

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Using LoRa for P2P half-duplex long-range communication    • Using LoRa for P2P half-duplex long r...  
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🔗 LINKS SHOWN
Research paper on Opening the Black Box of 'Not Invented Here' - Attitudes, decision biases and behavioral consequences https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Research paper on Investigating the Not Invented Here (NIH) syndrome: A look at the performance, tenure, and communication patterns of 50 R & D Project Groups https://macro.media.mit.edu/share/Not...
Adafruit RFM69HCW and RFM9X LoRa Packet Radio Breakouts https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-r...
Murata Lora module datasheet https://wireless.murata.com/pub/RFM/d...
LoRa Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoRa
Arduino Core SAMD https://github.com/arduino/ArduinoCor...
Buy 18650 battery holder from AliExpress https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesal...
Buy 18650 battery holder from Mouser https://www.mouser.sg/Search/Refine?K...
HopeRF RFM95W LoRa Module https://www.hoperf.com/modules/lora/R...
Arduino-Lora library by Sandeep Mistry https://github.com/sandeepmistry/ardu...
Semtech SX1276 https://www.semtech.com/products/wire...
CDTop PA1010D Datasheet https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O-9R...
Adafruit GPS https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_GPS
Adafruit GPS hardware serial parsing example https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_...
ublox NEO-6 series for GPS modules https://www.u-blox.com/en/product/neo...
LilyGO-T-Beam firmware example https://github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/Lil...
ThingPulse ESP8266 OLED SSD1306 library https://github.com/ThingPulse/esp8266...
Waveshare 1.54in E-Ink display https://www.waveshare.com/1.54inch-e-...

🔌 TOOLS USED
https://hutscape.com/tools