International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue5- May 2013
Gps- Gsm Based Inter-City Buses Distance Predictor
and Display System
Asmita A1, Kiran A R2, G R Udupi3
1
Department of Electronics and Communication, VTU University
Vishwanathrao Deshpande Rural Institute of Technology, Haliyal(U.K), India
3
Department of Electronics and Communication, VTU University
Vishwanathrao Deshpande Rural Institute of Technology, Haliyal(U.K), India
2
iTriangle infotech pvt ltd
Vijayanagar Bangalore, India
Abstract— This proposed work is an attempt to design a tracking
unit that uses the global positioning system to determine the
precise location of a vehicle to which it is attached and using
GSM modem this information can be transmitted to remote user.
It provides tele-monitoring system for inter-cities transportation
buses. This system contains embedded system, GPS and GSM
modems along with ARM processor that is installed in the bus
stops. During bus motion, its location can be reported by SMS
message. The SMS so generated is displayed in the bus stops (as
well as in the bus if required) for the commuter’s information
about the arrival of which bus and from what distance. A
software package is developed to read, process, analyze and store
the incoming SMS messages.
Keywords— Embedded ARM, GPS, GSM, and NMEA Protocol.
I INTRODUCTION
Proposed system is designed for the commuter travelling by
inter-city buses waiting for their bus to arrive at the bus stop.
In big hi-tech cities people travelling from one place to
another, though within the city they waste their lot of time
waiting for their bus at the bus stops. In such case the
commuters start waiting at the bus stop without knowing
where actually the bus is? It would be of help if there was a
system which would give the information about the bus arrival
time or the distance of the bus from the bus stop. So that the
commuter would know the exact location of the bus,
accordingly estimate the time of arrival of bus at the bus stop
and try to be present at the bus stop in time. Also in hi tech
cities many other linguistic people travel by the inter-city bus
in such case the displays at the bus stops help them to get the
bus information on their own as the displays are in English
language. Hence this proposed system is so designed to get
the real time information of the buses, calculate the distance
of bus from the stops and display it on the displays placed at
the bus stops or even have the facility to get the message on
their own hand held mobile sets. GSM and GPS based
tracking system will provide effective, real time vehicle
location, and reporting. A GPS- GSM based tracking system
will inform where the vehicle is and, is at what distance.
ISSN: 2231-5381
The system uses geographic position and time information
from the Global Positioning Satellites. The system has one
―On- Board GPS Module" which resides in the vehicle to be
tracked. The other On-Board module consists of a GSM
modem and ARM processor interfaced with the LCD display
unit at the bus stop (as well as in the bus if required). It can
provide tele-monitoring and management system for intercities transportation vehicles such as buses [1].
During vehicle motion, its real-time parameters such as
location and the calculated distance are reported by SMS
message. The system takes advantage of wireless technology
in providing powerful management transportation engine. The
use of GSM and GPS technologies allows the system to track
vehicle and provides the most up-to-date information. This
system finds its application in real time traffic surveillance. It
could be used as a valuable tool for real time traveller
information, congestion monitoring, and system evaluation [4].
An intelligent, automated vehicle tracking system can resolve
following problems such as, late arrivals of buses, waste of
time and resources, unsafe driving habits, assigned routes,
inefficient dispatching, and passenger’s dissatisfaction. This
can lead to better traffic flow modelling. This project includes
various features like ingenuity, simplicity of design and easy
implementation.
II PROPOSED SYSTEM
The proposed system is as shown in figure [1].
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Fig. 1 Proposed system
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue5- May 2013
GPS satellite sends GPS data to the server. The device at
other end contains a SIM card which is used to communicate
with the local GSM network thus the device uses GPS as well
as GSM network. The data on the device is send to the
tracking server through the local network. On the tracking
server there is a software component to get the data from the
device.
Geo fence is created on the Google maps provided so
whenever the device enters the geo fence the server software
component collects the longitude and latitude points and
calculates the distance from the bus stop, an alert will be sent
to the displays at the bus stops and to registered mobile
number. [3]
III HARDWARE DESIGN
Hardware framework for tracking system is shown in Fig 2.
System contains two main parts one, high Performance ARM
controller with interfaced display unit, and GSM modem with
appropriate power supply to each unit placed at the bus stop
figure 2. And a GPS module is placed in the vehicle.
GSM
MODULE
ARM
PROCES
SOR
LCD
DISPLAY
UNIT
BATTERY MANAGEMENT
Angles are in radians.
A common NMEA Sentence used for location is:
$GPRMC,161229.487,A,3723.2475,N,12158.3416,W,0.13,30
9.62,120598, ,*10
V WORKING PRINCIPLE
Initially the bus starts from its home place. The vehicle is
attached with the GPS module and hence the system
continuously gives the latitude and longitude points along
with many other parameters in the form of data packets using
NMEA protocol. The GPS data is sent to the server by the
GPS satellite. The server then runs software that takes
longitude and latitude values and with the code to calculate
the distance, calculates the distance based on the Geo-Fence
between the two points over Earth surface. The calculated
distance along with the details of the bus like the bus number
and any other details like the route of the bus type of message
is prepared and is shot to the GSM antenna.
On the other hand the module at the bus stop with the GSM
module and with the registered SIM in it receives the data
from the server in the form of SMS. The system here
continuously polls for the new messages for the display to
keep the updated distance of the moving bus approaching the
bus stop. The SMS so received by the GSM is communicated
to the processor by UART; the processor then displays the
same received SMS on the large LCD displays placed in the
bus stops.
A. Flowchart
The flowchart for system function of the embedded system
at the bus stop is as shown in figure [3].
Fig. 2 Block diagram of system at the bus stop
IV CALCULATION OF DISTANCE
The project is designed to calculate the distance of the
moving bus from the bus stop according to the Geo-Fence and
the same calculated distance is displayed on displays at the
bus stops and even to the cell phone of registered subscribers.
The calculation are done on the basis of a spherical earth
(ignoring ellipsoidal effects) – which is accurate enough for
most calculations purpose. [In fact, the earth is very slightly
ellipsoidal; using a spherical model gives errors typically up
to 0.3%]. The formulae used are called Haversine formula.
The Haversine formula shown below calculates the great
circle distance between two points – that is the shortest
distance over the Earth’s surface.
dlon=lon2 – lon1
dlat= lat2 – lat1
a = (sin(dlat/2))^2 + cos(lat1) * cos(lat2) * (sin(dlon/2))^2
c = 2* atan2(sqrt(a), sqrt(1-a))
d=R*c
Where R is the radius of the Earth [mean radius R= 6371km]
dlon is the difference of two longitudinal values
dlat is the difference of two latitudinal values
ISSN: 2231-5381
VI RESULT
The complete system is as shown in figure [4a] and the
result in figure [4b]. The LCD display displays the bus
number and the distance from the bus stop of the bus that is
arriving at the stop. This SMS is also got by the registered
subscriber. The SMS is shot by the server. The new SMS is
shot for every fixed slot of time.
VII CONCLUSION
The system has real-time capability, emerges in order to
strengthen the relations among commuter in cities and the
inter – city buses and road by putting modern information
technologies together and able to forms a real time accurate,
effective comprehensive transportation system. This system
has many advantages such as large capability, wide areas
range, low operation costs, effective, Strong expandability and
Easy to use in vehicle traffic administration. Upgrading this
setup is very easy which makes it open to future requirement
which also makes it more efficient.
The system can also be used to get many other information
useful for the proper management of transportation are:
 Driver wise improper stopping
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue5- May 2013







Kiran and Mr Vigneesh who stood as assets in completion of
this project. I thank for their valuable time and resources.
Details of Missed trips
Jurisdiction wise Scheduled trips for the day
Speed violation
Reports by Area name (Trip history in area names) –
Area traveled by a vehicle on any selected date and
time, sector wise
Reports by Location (Trip history in Map Location) Selected date and time. This gives status of motion,
location at that instance and speed of the vehicle.
Vehicle Travelled Path Report
Stoppage violation reports
START
POWER ON
Fig. 4a complete hardware of the system
INITIALIASATION OF THE
SYSTEM.REGISTRATION OF
SIM,UART INITIALIASATION.
POLLING FOR NEW SMS FROM
SERVER OF DETAILS OF BUS
N
IS SMS
RECEVIED ?
Y
PROCESSOR PROCESSES
THE SMS FOR
DISPLAYING AT THE BUS
STOP
LCD DISPLAY
DISPLAYS THE SMS
PLACED AT BUS
STOP
SMS ALSO
SHOT TO
OTHER
REGISTERED
SUBSCRIBERS
Fig. 4b Displays of details of bus on LCD and mobile set
.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
PROCESS CONTINUES
FOR THE NEXT NEW SMS
TO BE DISPLAYED
[4]
Fig. 3 Flowchart of processes carried out by system

.Missed Pickup point/bus stand Detail Report
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I owe a debt of gratitude to our guide Dr G R Udupi
Principal VDRIT and iTriangle infotech pvt ltd Mr Katti, Mr
ISSN: 2231-5381
[5]
M. AL-Rousan, A. R. AI-Ali and K. Darwish ―GSM-Based Mobile
Tele-Monitoring and Management System for Inter-Cities Public
Transportations‖,International Conference on Industrial Technology
(ICIT), ComputerEngineering Dept., American University of Sharjah,
UAE in 2004, pages859-862.
T.Shyam Ramanath, A.Sudharsan, U.Pelix Udhayaraj, ―Drunken
Driving and Rash Driving Prevention System‖, International
Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology (ICMET 2010),
Sri Sai Ram Engineering College, Chennai, India in 2010, page 603.
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 3,
Issue 5, May-2012 1 ISSN 2229-5518 IJSER © 2012
http://www .ijser.org Tracking System Using Gps And Gsm: Practical
Approach
Sameer Darekar, Atul Chikane, Rutujit Diwate, Amol
Deshmukh, Prof. Archana Shinde
For information regarding Automotive Navigation System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_navigation_system.
International Journal of Engineering Trends and TechnologyVolume3Issue22012
ISSN:
2231-5381
http://www.internationaljournalssrg.org Page 161GPS – GSM Based
Tracking System Abid khan, Ravi Mishra Electronics and
Telecommunication Engineering Department SSCET, CSVTU, Bhilai,
India Sr. Assistant Professor Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Department SSCET, CSVTU, Bhilai, India
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