Hi.
I was reading about implanting RFID and NFC in one of the topics here so thought I ask. My son doesn’t talk yet and is special needs. I am looking for a very small device, like a small dog tag that he can wear as necklace or I can Velcro to his clothing that I can use my cell phone to track him over long range. He has wondered off on his own with family running frantically to locate him. I am sure all the genius folks at DMS have a few ideas.
Thanks
Manny
Manny,
You MIGHT try looking at a Tile Gen 2.0 and see how that works, but that is more for inanimate objects than mission critical scenarios like children:
But it will GPS and talk to other Tiles to help locate, plus it will emit a sound when activated.
I would also be interested in other suggestions.
JAG “Offspring Bearing 274 Mark 3” MAN
Contact some of the of the organizations that support special needs, I know they exist and can make recommendations. I also know they make them for hunting dogs, although for PC reasons you may not want to disclose that what it was made for.
Now-a-days people worry too much about being PC…
Here is a commercial version (one of many) https://www.angelsense.com/
I am sure if you are a DIYer you could make one with some electronics that is smaller and does just what you need. I noticed a few of the commercial ones want you to pay big $ for a monthly subscription to their moitoring.
I’m not sure what @JAGMAN suggested would work for you. The Tile seems like a proximity based system. So if your son was say more than 100 feet from you, it probably wouldn’t work. I did some research into items like you are talking about a few years back and found that the ones worth getting had both GPS and Cellphone options. The cellphone feature meant that you had to pay for a service to provide data for the device. That is what made this a no go for me at the time.
That being said the good cellphone and gps trackers have come down in price, have better battery life, and more feature options.
Here are a few options I’ve found after looking back at some of the links I still had on my web browser.
http://www.amazon.com/Trackimo-TRK-100-Universal-Personal-Tracker/dp/B00JP5X698/ref=pd_sim_sbs_422_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1P25XNJW8TYA2ZA6NR8R&dpID=41ohi0m7%2BAL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160
Check out the features and pick the version that you think will work best for you.
Nick,
I’m not sure what @JAGMAN suggested would work for you.
And I said as much.
The Tile is proximity based but also works with GPS (I tested a GEN 1 myself) and does swarm connectivity with other Tiles, but I have an intuition that it is still not good enough for this kind of application.
Thank you for the additional suggestions! I will bookmark these in case I need to track a vehicle or something.
JAG "Now Where Did I Park Again? MAN
Thank you all so much for the information and suggestions. We will check them all out as well as contact Dallas Down Syndrome Guild and Plano Police to see what they suggest.
Thanks
Manny
I have a few Tiles ( https://www.thetileapp.com ) that I use for tracking keys and wallet and they work using Bluetooth only (the Tile doesn’t have a GPS chip in it) and uses the GPS connectivity that your connected phone provides. They are good at what they do and I’m also considering attaching one to a pet collar for finding a lost pet (the pet would also be microchipped and have tags so a Tile wouldn’t be the only way to find the pet again). It won’t tell me if the pet is 4 blocks away but it will tell me if I’m near my pet as I drive through a neighborhood. As far as using it for a child, I wouldn’t mainly because while a Tile can easily help me find my keys, a moving child/Tile would be harder to pin down (in range one second and out of range the next because both of you are moving) and proximity is required. Plus a GPS-based child tracker would also be able to provide location history over time (which is not something that a tile can do at all).
-the purring dork
I know Verizon Wireless, and other carriers have GPS tracking for their phones as an added feature (Family Locator on VZW), if you son carries a compatible cell phone that’s locked down, it could be used to GPS track as well as long as it’s charged.
Comter,
So the Tile does GPS by proxy through your cellphone, not by itself.
Thank you for clarifying - I will note that for future applications. And again, I agree with you and Nick that it would not be my highest recommendation for children.
JAG “But I Had To Throw Something Against The Wall To See What Sticks” MAN
Yep, but it is smart about it in so much as, say I leave my wallet (with a Tile in it) at home and go to work. Well my phone can’t connect to the Tile in my wallet anymore but if my girlfriend is at home and her phone (where the Tile app has been logged into my account where my keys and wallet tile are linked) can connect to my wallet Tile, then on my phone my wallet Tile will be shown as located and show the GPS location of where her phone currently sees it. One of the other very useful functions with this is that say I left my wallet at a gas station and then ran two other errands at different places and then went home. When I got home I realized I didn’t have my wallet on me but now I have an important question: where/which stop did I leave my wallet at? Well the Tile app last saw my wallet Tile at my first stop (the gas station) so thats the first place that I go and once I get there, I get within range of my wallet Tile and can locate it easily by having it beep audibly. In that case, the last known location is very helpful (and if for some reason I get to the gas station and my wallet is nowhere to be found, then I can turn on “Mark As Lost” and then all Tile apps will try to crowdsource the location).
-the purring dork
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im interested in purchasing for my son, tristan. he goes out a lot and i want to keep track of his movements. i just want one for peace of mind.
Personally,
None of these options are all that good. I would suggest to just get him an I-phone and make sure you have Find my phone turned on. Or similar service on another phone.
I used to work for a company that did this, I will see if I can get info from the ex founders.
Thanks Bitta. I haven’t found I can be confident that will work still.
Manny
Look at the tinitell.
Thanks, I just did. Unfortunately, a watch or anything he knows he has is sure to get lost. He is Downesyndrome, so he won’t wear it like normal kids would. I appreciate the suggestion though.
Try trackimo’s tracker for kids. It is wearable and reliable.