This paper proposes and implements a low-cost GPS tracking system using GPS and GPRS on cheap mobile phone devices. The proposed system allows a user to view real time positioning and recorded tracks of a mobile phone adapted for the system. It reads the current GPS location of the mobile phone device using a GPS Receiver which may be external to or integrated in the device and sends data to a GSM network via GPRS where the data is forwarded to a main server database. A web application has been developed using PHP and MySQL and the free version of Google Maps APIs is used for the location visualization. The system also use the free email-text messaging attribute of the two major mobile network operators in Mauritius namely Orange and Emtel, to send Geofence alerts to the users if in case an adapted mobile phone device has reached a restricted zone set through the web application. This system has also been built in an intelligent way to send data to the server at the lowest cost possible. It is very useful for fleet management, family monitoring, and can be adapted to the needs of any user. The system meets its objective of being low-cost and is even the cheapest system developed with many functionalities of all existing tracking systems investigated.
This paper aims at presenting a framework for an optimal route planner system for Mauritius based on real time constraints for a better planned and informed decision on a trip. It is based on a 4-tier architecture with the front end servicing a broad range of ubiquitous users be it via mobiles or the web. It takes as inputs various constraints such as traffic weightage, points of interest and traffic variability depending on the time of the day. It also takes into account traffic conditions, accidents, road conditions and an interactive incident reporting from the public which are then validated by an authoritative instance before used in the system. And finally the core engine, based on an efficient and enhanced Dijkstra algorithm not only calculate the shortest distance path but also the shortest time route from a source to destination in real-time, with the ability to keep users updated on traffic conditions prevailing on that route. We tested our framework and it showed very promising and conclusive results.
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