Python and GPS Tracking

Introduction
In my quest to design a radio tracking system for my next HAB, I found it very easy to create
applications on my computer and interact with embedded hardware over a serial port using the
Python programming language. My goal was to have my HAB transmit GPS data (as well as
other sensor data) over RF, to a base station, and graphically display position and altitude on a
map. My base station is a radio receiver connected to my laptop over a serial to USB
connection. However, in this tutorial, instead of using radios, we will use a GPS tethered to your
computer over USB, as a proof of concept.
Of course, with an internet connection, I could easily load my waypoints into many different
online tools to view my position on a map, but I didn't want to rely on internet coverage. I
wanted the position of the balloon plotted on my own map, so that I could actively track, without
the need for internet or paper maps. The program can also be used as a general purpose
NMEA parser, that will plot positions on a map of your choice. Just enter your NMEA data into
a text file and the program will do the rest.

Showing a trip from SparkFun to Boulder, CO.

This tutorial will start with a general introduction to Python and Python programming. Once you
can run a simple Python script, we move to an example that shows you how to perform a serial
loop back test, by creating a stripped down serial terminal program. The loopback test
demonstrates how to send and receive serial data through Python, which is the first step to
interacting with all kinds of embedded hardware over the serial port. We will finish with a realworld example that takes GPS data over the serial port and plots position overlaid on a scaled

map of your choice. If you want to follow along with everything in this tutorial, there are a few
pieces of hardware you will need.

5V FTDI Basic

EM-406 GPS module with Breakout Board (or any NMEA capable GPS)

For the loopback test, all you need is the FTDI Basic. For the GPS tracking example, you will
need a GPS unit, as well as the FTDI.

What is Python?
If you are already familiar with installing and running Python, feel free to skip ahead. Python is
an interpreted programming language, which is slightly different than something like Arduino or
programming in C. The program you write isn't compiled as a whole, into machine code, rather
each line of the program is sequentially fed into something called a Python interpreter. Once
you get the Python interpreter installed, you can write scripts using any text editor. Your
program is run by simply calling your Python script and, line by line, your code is fed into the
interpreter. If your code has a mistake, the interpreter will stop at that line and give you an error
code, along with the line number of the error.
The holy grail for Python 2.7 reference can be found here:

python.org

Installing Python
At the time of this tutorial, Python 2.7 is the most widely used version of Python and has the
most compatible libraries (aka modules). Python 3 is available, but I suggest sticking with 2.7, if
you want the greatest compatibility.

Download and Install Python 2.7

After you install Python, you should be able to open a command prompt within any directory
and type 'python'. You should see the interpreter fire up.

If you don't see this, it is time to start some detective work. Copy your error code, enter it into
your search engine along with the name 'python' and your OS name, and then you should see
a wealth of solutions to issues similar, if not exact, to yours. Very likely, if the command 'python'
is not found, you will need to edit your PATH variables. More information on this can be
found here. FYI, be VERY careful editing PATH variables. If you don't do it correctly, you can
really mess up your computer, so follow the instructions exactly. You have been warned.
If you don't want to edit PATH variables, you can always run Python.exe directly out of your
Python installation folder.

Running a Python Script

Once you can invoke the Python interpreter, you can now run a simple test script. Now is a
good time to choose a text editor, preferably one that knows you are writing Python code. In
Windows, I suggest Programmers Notepad, and in Mac/Linux I use gedit. One of the main
rules you need to follow when writing Python code is that code chunks are not enclosed by
brackets {}, like they are in C programming. Instead, Python uses tabs to separate code blocks,
specifically 4 space tabs. If you don't use 4 space tabs or don't use an editor that tabs correctly,
you could get errant formatting, the interpreter will throw errors, and you will no doubt have a
bad time.
For example, here is a simple script that will print 'test' continuously.
# simple script
def test():
print "test"
while 1:
test()

Now save this code in a text editor with the extention your_script_name.py.
The first line is a comment (text that isn't executed) and can be created by using a # .

The second line is a function definition named test().

The third line is spaced 4 times and is the function body, which just prints "test" to the
command window.
The third line is where the code starts in a while loop, running the test() function.
To run this script, copy and paste the code into a file and save it with the extention .py. Now
open a command line in the directory of your script and type:
python your_script_name.py

The window should see the word 'test' screaming by.

To stop the program, hit Ctrl+c or close the window.

Installing a Python Module

At some point in your development, you will want to use a library or module that someone else
has written. There is a simple process of installing Python modules. The first one we want to
install is pyserial.

pyserial

Download the tar.gz file and un-compress it to an accessible location. Open a command
prompt in the location of the pyserial directory and send the command (use sudo if using linux):
python setup.py install

You should see a bunch of action in the command window and hopefully no errors. All this
process is doing is moving some files into your main Python installation location, so that when
you call the module in your script, Python knows where to find it. You can actually delete the
module folder and tar.gz file when you are done, since the relevant source code was just
copied to a location in your main Python directory. More information on how this works can be
found here:

Installing Python Modules

FYI, many Python modules can be found in Windows .exe installation packages that allow you
to forgo the above steps for a 'one-click' installation. A good resource for Windows binary files
for 32-bit and 64-bit OS can be found here:

http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/

Python Serial Loopback Test

This example requires using an FTDI Basic or any other serial COM port device.

Simply, connect the TX pin to the RX pin with a wire to form a loopback. Anything that gets sent
out of the serial port transmit pin gets bounced back to the receive pin. This test proves your
serial device works and that you can send and receive data.
Now, plug your FTDI Basic into your computer and find your COM port number. We can see a
list of available ports by typing this:
python -m serial.tools.list_ports

If you are using linux:

dmesg | grep tty

Note your COM port number.

Now download the piece of code below and open it in a text editor (make sure everything is
tabbed in 4 space intervals!!):
import serial

#####Global Variables######################################
#be sure to declare the variable as 'global var' in the fxn
ser = 0

#####FUNCTIONS########################################
#####
#initialize serial connection
def init_serial():
COMNUM = 9 #set you COM port # here
global ser #must be declared in each fxn used
ser = serial.Serial()
ser.baudrate = 9600
ser.port = COMNUM - 1 #starts at 0, so subtract 1
#ser.port = '/dev/ttyUSB0' #uncomment for linux

#you must specify a timeout (in seconds) so that the

# serial port doesn't hang
ser.timeout = 1
ser.open() #open the serial port

# print port open or closed

if ser.isOpen():
print 'Open: ' + ser.portstr
#####SETUP###########################################
#####
#this is a good spot to run your initializations
init_serial()

#####MAIN
LOOP############################################
while 1:
#prints what is sent in on the serial port
temp = raw_input('Type what you want to send, hit enter:\n\r')
ser.write(temp) #write to the serial port
bytes = ser.readline() #reads in bytes followed by a newline
print 'You sent: ' + bytes #print to the console
break #jump out of loop
#hit ctr-c to close python window

First thing you need to do before running this code is to change the COM port number to the
one that is attached to your FTDI. The COMNUM variable in the first few lines is where you
enter your COM port number. If you are running linux, read the comments above for ser.port.
Now, if you want to send data over the serial port, use:
ser.write(your_data)

your_data can be one byte or multiple bytes.

If you want to receive data over the serial port, use:
your_data = ser.readline()

The readline() function will read in a series of bytes terminated with a new line character (i.e.
typing something then hitting enter on your keyboard). This works great with GPS, because
each GPS NMEA sentence is terminated with a newline. For more information on how to use
pyserial, look here.
You might realize that there are three communication channels being used:
1. ser.write - writes or transmitts data out of the serial port
2. ser.read - reads or receives data from the serial port
3. print - prints to the console window
Just be aware that 'print' does not mean print out to the serial port, it prints to the console
window.
Notice, we don't define the type of variables (i.e. int i = 0). This is because Python treats all
variables like strings, which makes parsing text/data very easy. If you need to make
calculations, you will need to type cast your variables as floats. An example of this is in the
GPS tracking section below.
Now try to run the script by typing (remember you need to be working out of the directory of the
pythonGPS.py file):
python pythonGPS.py

This script will open a port and display the port number, then wait for you to enter a string
followed by the enter key. If the loopback was successful, you should see what you sent and
the program should end with a Python prompt >>>.
To close the window after successfully running, hit Ctrl + c.
Congratulations! You have just made yourself a very simple serial terminal program that can
transmit and receive data!

Read a GPS and plot position with Python

Now that we know how to run a python script and open a serial port, there are many things you
can do to create computer applications that communicate with embedded hardware. In this
example, I am going to show you a program that reads GPS data over a serial port, saves the
data to a txt file; then the data is read from the txt file, parsed, and plotted on a map.
There are a few steps that need to be followed in order for this program to work.Install the
modules in the order below.

Install modules
Use the same module installation process as above or find an executable package.

pyserial (should already be installed from above)

numpy (use: this link for Windows and this link for Mac/Linux)

matplotlib

pynmea

The above process worked for me on my W7 machine, but I had to do some extra steps to get
it to work on Ubuntu. Same might be said about Macs. With Ubuntu, you will need to
completely clean your system of numpy, then build the source for numpy and matplotlib
separately, so that you don't mess up all of the dependencies. Here is the process I used for
Ubuntu.
Once you have all of these modules installed without errors, you can download my project from
github and run the program with a pre-loaded map and GPS NMEA data to see how it works:

github-gps_tracker

Or you can proceed and create your own map and GPS NMEA data.

Select a map
Any map image will work, all you need to know are the bottom left and top right coordinates of
the image. The map I used was a screen shot from Google Earth. I set placemarks at each
corner and noted the latitude and longitude of each corner. Be sure to use decimal degrees
coordinates.

Then I cropped the image around the two points using gimp. The more accurate you crop the
image the more accurate your tracking will be. Save the image as 'map.png' and keep it to the
side for now.

Hardware Setup
The hardware for this example includes a FTDI Basic and any NMEA capable GPS unit.

EM-406 GPS connected to a FTDI Basic

For the connections, all you need to do is power the GPS with the FTDI basic (3.3V or 5V and
GND), then connect the TX pin of the GPS to the RX pin on the FTDI Basic.
It is probably best to allow the GPS to get a lock by leaving it powered for a few minutes before
running the program. If the GPS doesn't have a lock when you run the program, the maps will
not be generated and you will see the raw NMEA data streaming in the console window. If you
don't have a GPS connected and you try to run the program, you will get out-of-bound errors
from the parsing. You can verify your GPS is working correctly by opening a serial terminal
program.

Run the program

Here is the main GPS tracking program file:

gpsmap.py

Save the python script into a folder and drop your map.png file along side maps.py. Here is
what your program directory should look like if you have a GPS connected:

The nmea.txt file will automatically be created if you have your GPS connected. If you don't
have a GPS connected and you already have NMEA sentences to be displayed, create a file
called 'nmea.txt' and drop the data into the file.
Now open maps.py, we will need to edit some variables, so that your map image will scale
correctly.
Edit these variables specific to the top right and bottom left corners of your map. Don't forget to
use decimal degree units!
#adjust these values based on your location and map, lat and long are in decimal
degrees
TRX = -105.1621
TRY = 40.0868
BLX = -105.2898
BLY = 40.0010

#top right longitude

#top right latitude
#bottom left longitude
#bottom left latitude

Run the program by typing:

python gpsmap.py

The program starts by getting some information from the user.

You will select to either run the program with a GPS device connected or you can load your
own GPS NMEA sentences into a file called nmea.txt. Since you have your GPS connected,
you will select your COM port and be presented with two mapping options: a position map...

...or an altitude map.

Once you open the serial port to your GPS, the nmea.txt file will automatically be created and
raw GPS NMEA data, specifically GPGGA sentences, will be logged in a private thread. When
you make a map selection, the nmea.txt file is copied into a file called temp.txt, which is parsed
for latitude and longitude (or altitude). The temp.txt file is created to parse the data so that we
don't corrupt or happen to change the main nmea.txt log file.
The maps are generated in their own windows with options to save, zoom, and hover your
mouse over points to get fine grain x,y coordinates.
Also, the maps don't refresh automatically, so as your GPS logs data, you will need to close the
map window and run the map generation commands to get new data. If you close the entire
Python program, the logging to nmea.txt halts.
This program isn't finished by any means. I found myself constantly wanting to add features
and fix bugs. I binged on Python for a weekend, simply because there are so many modules to
work with: GUI tools, interfacing to the web, etc. It is seriously addicting. If you have any
modifications or suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. Thanks for
reading!