Child Safety Tracker: GPS Wristband with SIM800 Cellular

System Design
Components
GPS Integration NEO-6M
SIM800L SMS Alerts
Geofence Alert Logic
Battery and Enclosure
FAQ

System Design

A child safety GPS tracker with cellular SIM provides real-time location of your child to your smartphone without requiring the child to have a phone. Commercial child GPS trackers (Jio Safety, Syenx, Reachmaster) cost Rs 2,000-6,000 with Rs 200-500/month subscription fees. A DIY Arduino build costs Rs 1,500-2,500 with only SIM call costs. Essential features: live location via SMS, geofence alerts when child leaves a defined area, SOS button, and low power operation for all-day battery life.

Recommended: Tiny RTC Real Time Clock DS1307 I2C IIC Module for Arduino – DS1307 RTC Module – add accurate timestamping to GPS location logs for school attendance verification and route history.

Components

Arduino Nano or ESP32 (for Wi-Fi capability)
NEO-6M GPS module (Rs 300-500) – acquire satellite fix in 1-2 minutes
SIM800L GSM/GPRS module (Rs 200-350)
3.7V 1500-3000mAh LiPo battery (Rs 200-500)
TP4056 LiPo charging module (Rs 20-40)
Tactile SOS button (Rs 10-20)
3D printed or commercial wristband/watch case
Jio or Airtel prepaid nano SIM with active data plan

GPS Integration NEO-6M

#include <TinyGPS++.h>
TinyGPSPlus gps;
SoftwareSerial gpsSerial(4,3); // RX,TX to NEO-6M
void setup(){ gpsSerial.begin(9600); }
void loop(){
  while(gpsSerial.available()>0){
    if(gps.encode(gpsSerial.read())){
      if(gps.location.isUpdated()){
        float lat=gps.location.lat();
        float lng=gps.location.lng();
        // Send to phone: SMS with Google Maps link
        sendSMS("+91XXXXXXXXXX",
          "Location: https://maps.google.com/?q="+
          String(lat,6)+","+String(lng,6));
      }
    }
  }
}

SIM800L SMS Alerts

The SIM800L requires 3.7-4.2V power supply (NOT 5V – use a LiPo directly or AMS1117-4.0 regulator). It draws up to 2A peak during transmission. Use a 10uF + 100uF capacitor bank on the power supply to handle peak current. Indian carrier SIM recommendations:

Jio: Best data coverage in India (4G everywhere). Use for live location tracking via GPRS. Monthly data plan Rs 15-20 for basic data.
Airtel: Best voice/SMS coverage. Useful for SMS-only trackers in rural areas where 4G is limited.
BSNL: Best coverage in remote hilly areas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K) and government-owned buildings where private carriers have limited penetration.

Geofence Alert Logic

// Geofence: alert when child leaves circular area
float homeLat=28.6139, homeLng=77.2090; // home coordinates
float geofenceRadius=200.0; // metres
void checkGeofence(float childLat, float childLng){
  float dist=TinyGPSPlus::distanceBetween(
    childLat,childLng,homeLat,homeLng);
  if(dist > geofenceRadius){
    sendSMS(parentPhone,
      "ALERT: Child is "+String((int)dist)+"m from home!");
  }
}

Battery and Enclosure

Target battery life: 8-12 hours for a school day. At 50mA average draw (GPS in fix, SIM in standby, periodic location updates every 5 minutes), a 1000mAh LiPo provides 20 hours. At 100mA (more frequent updates), 10 hours. Use deep sleep between GPS updates: Arduino Nano draws 1mA in sleep; SIM800L and NEO-6M each have low-power modes. Wristband enclosure: use a 38mm watch case from AliExpress (Rs 200-400) or 3D print a custom case at a local FabLab (most Indian cities have at least one FabLab, IIT D/B/M campuses have public FabLabs).

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is NEO-6M GPS in Indian urban areas?

NEO-6M achieves 2.5-5 metre accuracy in open sky conditions. In Indian urban areas with tall buildings (especially Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad IT districts), multi-path reflections reduce accuracy to 10-30 metres. Accuracy improves significantly with SBAS satellite assistance enabled (India has GAGAN SBAS system). For school tracking, 30-metre accuracy is sufficient to determine if a child is at school vs on the way home.

Will my child tracker work inside school buildings?

GPS signals are blocked by concrete buildings. Inside school buildings, the tracker will show the last known outdoor position. This is acceptable for school arrival/departure tracking. For indoor position, you would need an additional method (Wi-Fi triangulation using the school Wi-Fi SSID, or Bluetooth beacons placed at school entrance). The SIM cellular connection works inside buildings for SMS communication.

Is a DIY child GPS tracker legal in India?

Yes – personal GPS tracking devices for your own children are completely legal in India. There is no licence required for GPS receivers (receive-only devices). The SIM data usage is standard mobile data. Audio monitoring (recording conversations) would require different legal consideration, but pure GPS location tracking for personal child safety is unrestricted.

What is the monthly cost to run this tracker?

With Jio: a Rs 15 data plan (1GB/30 days) is sufficient for GPS location updates every 5 minutes via GPRS data. If using SMS only (no GPRS), a Rs 1 per day flash SMS pack provides 10-15 SMS per day on Airtel/Jio. Total monthly cost: Rs 15-30. Commercial tracker subscriptions cost Rs 200-500/month for the same functionality.

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