Simple Bus Tracking System Eddie Chi-Wah Lau MESc, CEng, MIEE UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

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1 Simple Bus Tracking System Eddie Chi-Wah Lau MESc, CEng, MIEE UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Article Info Received: 9 th October 2012 Accepted: 1 st January 2013 Published online: 1 st March 2013 ISSN: Design for Scientific Renaissance All rights reserved ABSTRACT In UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, there are two campuses, South Wing and, North Wing. Fixed route shuttle buses are provided for the students which run from South Wing to LRT (Public Bus) station and to North Wing, and then back to South Wing. Duration of the whole trip usually takes about 40 min. This simple tracking system is made use of university and 2.4G network facilities to track down the position of the buses. It is not intend to give the exact position of the buses but will store up the bus arrival and departure time in each station. All information will be shown on the LED outdoor panel next to the bus stop. Furthermore, same information in text and voice format can be retrieved using smart phone and IVR system for students that are not near by the bus stop. This concept can be applied to any bus tracking provided its constraint is met. Keyword: Simple Bus Tracking System, 2.4G Network, Outdoor LED Panel, Smart Phone, IVR System. 1. Introduction Vehicle tracking systems are commonly used nowadays by fleet operators for fleet management functions such as fleet tracking, on-board information etc. It consists of an electronic device as installed in a vehicle and enable user to track the vehicle s location. Modern vehicle tracking systems commonly use GPS technology for locating the vehicle. There are other types of automatic vehicle location technology using RFID and GPS technology such as in (Sringiwai et al. 2010, Hannan et al, 2012, Sriborrirux et al, 2008), where vehicle tracking systems can provide a very accurate vehicle positioning. However, for a small closed user community, in which user requirement is not so high; GPS technology can be replaced by WAN technology. It will not give the accurate positioning that GPS provided, but will serve the vehicle tracking purpose. Another consideration is to fully utilize the WAN resources in the community, so as to cut down the operation cost. UCSI University as located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia comprises of two campuses, South Wing and North Wing. Everyday, students need to travel from South Wing to North Wing or vice versa for class attendance. Free shuttle bus service between these two campuses is provided and moreover, the bus will stop at nearby LRT (Public Bus) station for students convenience. Bus route is fixed and the bus will start from the South Wing, to Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT station, to North Wing, and then back to South Wing. Duration of the whole trip usually takes about 40 min. Please refer figure 1.0 for detail

2 bus route. Although there is bus time table, buses usually will not be on time due to unforeseeable circumstances. Students need to wait in the bus stop, sometimes up to 40 min. This simple system is designed to give the arrival and departure time of the buses in each station in order to minimize the bus waiting time. This paper describes how the system is designed, built and tested. All system components used are low cost but very mature from nowaday market. The aim of this paper is to build a reliable simple bus tracking system with system/operation cost cut to a minimum. Organization of this paper is divided into six main sections - design approach, system compoments, software design consideration, message information, testing bench and result. 2. Design Approach Figure 1.0 UCSI University Shuttle Bus Route Map It is a very simple design approach. It is not intend to give exact position of the buses but only time information (arrival/departure) of the buses in each station. Information will be stored and displayed in the outdoor LED panel next to the bus stop. Furthermore, same information in text and voice format can be retrieved using smart phone and IVR system for the students that are not nearby the bus stop. This system is made use of existing university network for data access. 2.4G RF network is built in two campuses near the bus stop for bus tracking. Also, IVR system and smart phone access are provided for voice and text information retrieval. Buses are equipped with the 2.4G transceiver. When they enter or depart the campus 2.4G RF zone, they will be detected by the campuses transceiver. Data will then send to the network server and after processing, information will be displayed in the outdoor LED panel near the bus stop. Same information in voice and text format can be retrieved thru IVR system and smart phone access. This is useful to the students that are waiting in the Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT station where LED display panel is not allowed to install over there. 61

3 Please refer figure 2.0 for North Wing South Wing bus route and figure 3.0 for system block diagram. Figure 2.0 UCSI University North Wing South Wing Route Map Figure 3.0 System Block Diagram 3.0 System Components 3.1 Database Network An APACHE ( server with MYSQL ( database 62

4 under Window environment is built for data storage. For server programming, PHP5 ( language is used. Since UCSI South Wing and North Wing are bridged together thru a microwave link network, so data can be stored and retrieved from both sides. 3.2 Bus Tracking 2.4G Transceiver Nordic nrf24l01+ transceiver ( with outdoor antenna module is used. It serves as an enclosed 2.4G network for bus tracking. Cover range can be up to 500M. The choice of this transceiver is based on its common-used nowadays, compact size, low-power, and efficiency. High power transceiver is used as to minimize the data lost due to blind spot and climate conditions. 3.3 Base Station This is the heart of the control system which serves three main functions. It connects to the server for database update and to 2.4G transceiver for bus detection and to outdoor LED display panel for information display. Rabbit core module [5] as produced by Digi International Ltd. is used. The choice of this product is based on its commercial grade device with strong networking interconnection. Two base stations are built in which one is located in South Wing while another is placed in North Wing. 3.4 Outdoor LED Panel Commercial type P10 outdoor LED display panel ( is used. The choice of this type is because of its outdoor behavior and the LED size that can view from 40M away without problem. 3.5 Voice System It is designed for the students that are not nearby the bus stop but still can retrieve bus information. This is the case when they are waiting in the LRT (Public Bus) station. A GSM voice board based on Siemens TC-35 chip ( and WT588D voice module ( are used. They are connected to the Database Server thru Rabbit core module. The choice of Siemens GSM board and WT588D voice module is because of its low-cost performance. 3.6 Smart Phone Access This is another type of add-on feature. Function same as IVR, but information retrieval is in text format. No hardware is involved. Information will be displayed on the smart phone with automatic message update function. 4.0 Software Design Consideration 4.1 WEB Server Typical WEB APACHE server under Window environment is built. For database software and server programming, MYSQL and PHP language are used. These OS and software combinations can provide a low-cost, reliable WEB programming environment for database access and network 63

5 programming. 4.2 Bus Transceiver This 2.4G transceiver will be housed in the bus. It is programmed to be in a slave mode, which is, always waiting for the master polling signal. If data sequence as received matches the pre-defined pattern, it is assumed that the bus is within the campuses 2.4G RF zone and acknowledgment data stream will then be sent out. 4.3 Base Station Transceiver This 2.4G base station transceiver will be installed near the bus stop. It is programmed to be in master mode, which is, sending polling signal in 3 sec interval. If it receives the pre-defined acknowledgment data stream, it is assumed that the bus is within its RF zone, otherwise, it will assume the bus already left. 4.4 Main Base Station This is the main control unit which using Rabbit Core module. It reads the base station transceiver status, programs the outdoor LED display and connects to the server for data base update. Programming of the Rabbit Core is using Dynamic C language which comes with a very powerful multi-tasking, I/O and networking tools. LED display is programmed in moving text pattern, thus saving physical space for information display. Socket programming is used for server connection. Two base stations will be implemented in South Wing and North Wing separately to identify different bus locations. 4.5 IVR system Pre-defined voice messages in wave file format are stored in the WT588D voice module. It connects to a GSM voice board and will broadcast current time and bus status when the GSM board receives call from the students. It is not intend to design any interactive function as to provide a very simple IVR system. Rabbit Core module is also used for the system control. Same message will be broadcasted twice in order to compensate any unclear voice output due to telephone network error. 4.6 Smart Phone Access This is to provide bus information in text format. Students can use their smart phones to retrieve information thru UCSI network. Automatic message update with ~5 sec interval is implemented. 5.0 Message Information Ultimate result is to give students the bus arrival and departure time, thus cut down the bus waiting time. LED moving text display is designed for better result. The message is designed to be simple, short and informative. Below are the message summaries. a) Unknown this status indicates that the bus is not in service. b) now in SW this status indicates that the bus is now in South Wing.. c) now in NW this status indicates that the bus is now in North Wing.. 64

6 d) left SW this status indicates that the bus just depart South Wing.. e) left NW, this status indicates that the bus just depart North Wing.. f) left SW xx mins this status indicates that the bus already left South Wing xx min. g) left NW xx mins this status indicates that the bus already left North Wing xx min. Complete message that will display on the LED panel, for example, HH:MM Bus1 now in SW, Bus2 Unknown HH:MM Bus1 left NW, Bus2 now in SW or or HH:MM Bus1 left NW 02mins, Bus2 left SW etc... ** Two buses are in service and HH:MM is current hour/min. 6.0 Testing Bench and Components All development work was carried out in the UCSI University Lab. Apache WEB Server, 2.4G transceivers/control station and IVR were built to simulate actual environment. Please refer figure 4-7 for some of the major components used. Figure G Bus Transceiver with Nordic nrf24l01+ 65

7 Figure 5.0 Base Station with Nordic nrf24l01+, Rabbit RCM2200 Core Figure 6.0 IVR with GSM Modem, WT558D Voice Module and Rabbit RCM2200 Core 66

8 Figure 7.0 Outdoor P10 LED Panel and Server A wireless AP is used for system networking. Apache server, IVR and two base stations are connected together thru CAT5 Lan cable while the wireless configuration is for the smart phone testing. Two base stations are placed about 15M apart with LED panel connected in order to simulate two campuses NW and SW locations. The bus transceiver is moving toward the base stations in order to simulate the bus movement. The antenna of both transceiver and base stations are modified in order to decrease signal sensitivity so as to bypass signal interference in the lab. IVR system with SIM card installed is used for voice testing. 7.0 Testing Result 7.1 Outdoor LED Panel Display The followings are some of the sample output. a) In the initial stage, the LED panels display the buses are in unknown stage HH:MM Bus1- Unknown, Bus2 Unknown b) When bus1 move towards NW base station and stays there, LED panels will display HH:MM Bus1 now in NW, Bus2 Unknown c) When bus1 left NW base station for 5 mins, LED panels will display HH:MM Bus1 left NW 05mins, Bus2 Unknown ** Only one buses is in service and HH:MM is current hour/min 67

9 Please refer Figure 8, 9 for some message displays. Figure 8.0 Message Display 7.2 Smart Phone Access Figure 9.0 Message Display1 Text information can be retrieved using smart phone access. Students need to download the 68

10 application software and run it. Information display in the smart phone will be auto update with ~5sec interval. At this moment, only Android smart phone is implemented. Please refer Figure 10.0 for Android smart phone simulation output. Figure 10.0 Android Smart Phone Simulation Output 7.3 IVR No interactive function is provided and voice output is recorded in wave file format. When dial to the access number, information such as current time and bus status will be heard. 7.0 Conclusions The objective of this project is to build a simple bus tracking system using existing network facilities. It is not intend to give exact location of the bus but to display bus arrival and departure time, thus minimize student bus waiting time. Simple IVR system and smart phone access are also provided for voice and text format output. All system components are tested in the lab for a long period > three month and result is promising. During the testing period, no system failure is encountered and thus a low-cost and reliable tracking system can be achieved. Nowadays, most of the tracking systems are using GPRS network, however, operation cost may be high. This system using the in-house network facilities and thus operation cost can be absorbed by the existing system. Although this system cannot give the exact location of the tracking, information is useful and can serve a simple tracking system. This concept can be applied to any bus tracking provided its constraint is met. Acknowledgments The author would like to thank UCSI University, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture & Built Environment for using their laboratory facilities; UCSI University, Computect for the computer server 69

11 facilities and UCSI University, CERVIE for the funding of this project, through UCSI University Research Grant Scheme (RGS), grant no. Proj-In-FEABE-004. References Hannan M.A., Mustapha A.M., Basri H. and Hussain A., Intelligent Campus Bus Identification and Monitoring System Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 4(11): , 2010 ISSN Sriborrirux, W., Danklang, P., & Indra-Payoong, N. (2008, October). The design of RFID sensor network for bus fleet monitoring. In ITS Telecommunications, ITST th International Conference on (pp ). IEEE. Sringiwai, K., Indra-Payoong, N., Sumalee, A., Roathanachonkun, P., & Sriborrirux, W. (2010, December). RFID-based travel time estimation: development case in Bangkok. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies (pp ). 70