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Have you ever wished there was a product that could monitor, issue alerts, and track your vehicle, bike or child or any other moving asset, but ONLY when they move out of range or are in your absence? We do as well! And that's exactly why we are developing the MDP Device and Apps. But we need your support to complete its development so that we can offer the product to the general public. Please continue reading...
Imagine the peace of mind you will have if, for example, you are visiting Disney Land with your children and one of them wanders off. Instead of panicking, you will be able to track them and locate them immediately. Our tracking device is designed to monitor your 2 to 10-year-old child, typically the age group that does not have a smart phone.
MDP is the first versatile tracking product that even protects user's privacy. It consists of:
The MDP Device - Battery Powered Hardware
The MDP App - for iOS and Android Phones
The MDP Server - the Backend Server
The MDP Device and App communicate with each other via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). When the MDP Device and a phone (on which the MDP App runs) are within range (15 meters) of each other, the MDP App tracks the asset and MDP Device goes into idle mode. In order to protect user's privacy, all tracking data remains locally on the phone and is not transmitted to any Backend Serve . However, when the phone is out of range and yet the object that is carrying the MDP Device is moving, the MDP Device turns on its built-in GNSS (GPS) receiver and Cellular Modem, tracks the asset and immediately notifies the user on his/her phone via remote push notification.
The MDP App allows the user to easily change the type of the asset that is being tracked from the default Vehicle/Motorbike to Person (Child/Elderly) or Bicycle, as shown in the App screenshots below. Users may also adjust the radius of the geo-fencing circle for receiving alerts when the Person exits it.
How about our bikes? We park them outside a coffee shop and by the time we return, they're gone!
That's too bad, but no worries ! If your bike is equipped with the MDP device (placed under the seat), you would immediately receive an alert on your phone and could track it on map, no matter how far it moves away. The range is unlimited, because the MDP Device comes with built-in GNSS (GPS) and Cellular modem and will find the location of the bike with an accuracy level of meters, anywhere in the world.
Car getting too hot? MDP Device is equipped with temperature sensor and ambient sound detector. If interior temperature of the car gets too hot and it hears noise from inside (pet, child, etc.), MDP App immediately delivers warning (via remote push notification) on user's phone, if he/she is not in close proximity of the car.
How about locating our Quadcopters or Drones?
Drones - strictly speaking, ‘multicopters’ - are ubiquitous now. We see them in the news, behind the camera filming aerial footage, and more frequently in parks. There is something thrilling about zooming through the air, controlling the futuristic device from your mobile phone. If you are one of these guys, then I bet you would also love MDP. You can place (or attach) an MDP Device inside your drone to track it in real-time on your phone and obviously locate it with meters level accuracy, if you ever lose it.
Can the MDP Device track driving trips?
The simple answer is: Yes. Wouldn't it be nice if we had a product that automatically record our trips and could show where and how long ago the vehicle was parked. Additionally, if someone is foolish enough to attempt to steal it, you will receive alert immediately on your phone and be able to track it on a map. This feature will help you as well as law enforcement get your vehicle back to you in record time - and mete out justice!
It doesn't matter if you are a professional runner or a casual walker like me, the MDP App allows you to manually record your walking, running, biking, or driving trips. It shows the route on a map and updates the distance and duration of the trip in real-time in both US (foot, mile) and Metric (meter, kilometer) units. The Trips History page of the MDP App lists up to 20 previous trips, as shown in screenshots below. The user has the option to delete those they do not wish to keep. The App will automatically overwrite the earliest entry.
Size of MDP
The MDP Device comes in two models for this campaign:
MDP Device 1
MDP Device 1s
As shown in the image below, the "MDP Device 1" is slightly bigger than a credit card, but fairly thin at 10 mm (about the thickness of iPhone 4S). "MDP Device 1s" is smaller than a credit card, but a little thicker at 15 mm. The MDP Device 1s easily fits under a bike's saddle (seat).
MDP Device Colors
The MDP Device comes in five colors. If you want a color other than white, please select the relevant Perk for it:
White
Green
Blue
Yellow
Pink
Below are images of MDP Device 1 in its five colors:
The following are images of MDP Device 1s in its five colors:
MDP Feature Breakdown
MDP Device consists of the following major components:
We have designed and manufactured the first version of the "MDP Device 1" and we are currently developing the firmware. We are also in the process of manufacturing the "MDP Device 1s", which is smaller in size. The MDP Server is fully developed and up and running on Amazon Cloud EC2. iOS version of the MDP App is fully developed. A Beta version of the Android App is ready as well.
We have also developed a separate iOS App called the "MDP iOS Device", that emulates our hardware. This App, together with the MDP IOS App are available for download on iTunes TestFlight. Please email us if you would like to test these iOS Apps. The Android App is not fully developed yet. You can evaluate almost all features of the MDP solution using these iOS Apps, except battery consumption and very early detection of movements. Please note that Apps must run on two separate phones. The iPhone must be 4s or newer. As for Android, it should be OS version 4.3 (API level 18) or newer. The majority of new Android phones support Bluetooth Low Energy. To check if you Android phone supports it, please check this website.
Use of Fund
We will use this campaign's fund to support the following tasks:
Hardware Development and Refinement
Firmware Refinement
Develop Waterproof Enclosure (case) for MDP Devices
Power Consumption Optimization
Certifications - FCC, CE, PTCRB
Technical Details
The GNSS receiver of the MDP device is the GN87, made by eRide (formerly based in San Francisco, now a Furuno company). It is one of the best of its kind in the market. Shahram Rezaei, founder of MDP, worked for more than 8 years at eRide and was the main developer of eRide's long-term GNSS aiding data (known as LTCSM). This aiding data enables the receiver to determine its position within seconds, even in tough environments. Long term aiding data are good for 7 days. At MDP, we have implemented an innovative method (patent-pending) to transfer this aiding data to the receiver inside the MDP device. As shown in the diagram below, the MDP App downloads this data from our backend server, which itself receives the data from Furuno's GNSS Aiding server. When the MDP device and phone are within range of each other, the App sends the GNSS aiding data to the device via Bluetooth Low Energy.
When the BLE connection between phone and device breaks, the MDP device starts monitoring the movement of the object carrying the device. Upon observing a movement, it transmits location data of the object to MDP server. The server then sends a remote push notification to the App in order to notify the user about the event and query if he/she would like to track the movement or simply dismiss the alert.
There are some cellular based tracking devices in the market that claim to be able to determine the location within 100 meters accuracy level, but don't believe it! To prove it for yourself, use an Android phone and run a Network Location App, like Network Location Tracker, to find out how poor the accuracy is, even when there are several cellular towers around the phone. Actual accuracy of these systems is from several hundred meters to a few kilometers. They determine a device's location by scanning nearby GSM cellular towers. The Location of cellular towers are mostly known (check Opencellid for example) and distance to each tower can be roughly estimated from the strength of the received cellular signal. To achieve even a 500 meter accuracy, a strong signal from three or more GSM cellular towers needs to be received. This is not possible in many regions. Out of the biggest US carriers, only AT&T and T-Mobile run on GSM networks, while Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology. So, the three cellular towers mentioned above can only be from AT&T or T-Mobile.
Schedule
We are very excited to deliver the MDP Devices and Apps to our supporters by November 15th of 2015. Our iOS Apps are already available for download on iTunes via TestFlight. The Android version of the App will be ready by July 15th of 2015.
Contact Us
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions, comments, or suggestions! You can leave your questions on the comments page or send us an email at info@mydrivingpal.com.
For inquiries regarding Distribution, Retail, and Partnerships please send emails to info@mydrivingpal.com.
FAQ
1) What countries does the MDP Device work in? The current version of MDP Device, which is going to be delivered through this campaign, works in at least 88 countries (including the United States, European Union, Russia, Japan, India, South Africa, Australia, and many more). We are getting out Global Cellular (Mobile) data service from Aeris. To find out if your country is covered, please check list below or this website. On the website, please go to "GSM Data Coverage Map” section and then click on “View Detailed Coverage” button. The only geographical limitation associated with MDP product is the cellular (mobile) network availability. GPS, Bluetooth Low Energy, and MDP Apps all work fine everywhere in the world.
List of countries covered by the MDP Devices:
2) Is this a one-time fee for the MDP Device or are there additional subscription fees to track an object? The fee is all-inclusive. All communication expenses are included in the price, so there is no additional monthly, renewal, etc. charges for MDP.
3) Do you provide the SIM card? Yes, The MDP Device is shipped with a factory-installed SIM card. You DON'T need to buy your own SIM card and pay for the service.
4) How long does the battery last on one charge? We are using a 1500 mAh rechargeable Lithium battery in MDP Device. Depending on the usage, the battery may last between 1 to +6 months. The later is when MDP is used mostly to monitor a vehicle (car, motor-bike, bike, etc.) with occasional (couple of times, each 2-3 hours, per month) use for monitoring a person (child, elderly, etc.). The former is when MDP is used 6-8 hours every day for monitoring a person.
MDP Device is most of the time in idle mode (only accelerometer and/or Bluetooth Low Energy being active), only when asset (car, child, bike, etc.) moves out of range, it starts tracking the object. Other times, MDP App is aware of the situation.
5) Is MDP iOS App compatible with my iPhone? iPhone 4s and newer are compatible with the MDP App.
6) Is MDP iOS App available for download now? If so, how can I access it? Yes, we have published our iOS Apps on TestFlight site of iTunes. Please email us at info@mydrivingpal.com, if you would like to test it. We need the email address for adding you to the list of the external testers on TestFlight. You will receive an email from iTunes that contains a link to download our iOS App.
7) Is MDP Android App compatible with my Android phone? The majority of new Android phones support Bluetooth Low Energy. To check if your Android phone supports it, please check this website.
8) Is MDP Android App available for download now? If so, how can I access it? No, the Android version is in development right now. Please email us at info@mydrivingpal.com,
if you would like us to notify you as soon as it becomes available. We are planning to release it by July 15th of 2015.
9) How can I recharge the battery inside my MDP Device? The MDP Device is rechargeable via mini USB cable (similar to Android phones).
10) Is MDP device water resistant? MDP Device 1 is water resistant enough to resist rain and ambient moisture. MDP Device 1s is waterproof.
11) Does MDP Device have cellular modem, GPS or Bluetooth inside? Yes, it has built-in GSM cellular modem, assisted GNSS (GPS) receiver, and Bluetooth Low Energy (also known as BTLE, BLE, or Bluetooth 4.0).
12) Is it possible to turn the device off? Yes, you simply press the power button on the side of the device to turn it off.
13) How can I change type of the asset (object) that MDP monitors? On the MDP App, press the drop-down menu button in the upper right corner of the screen, then tap on Settings. Now you can switch the type of asset from Vehicle/Motorcycle to Person (Child/Elderly) or Bicycle. Please note that at the time of this change, the device needs to be in range and connected with the phone via BLE.
14) How can I manually force MDP Device to do Bluetooth advertising? You can turn the Device off and then back on to force Bluetooth Advertising for minimum of 60 seconds.
15) Does the MDP App automatically record my driving trips? Yes, by default when the MDP Device is placed inside a car or motorbike, in combination with the MDP App, they automatically record the trips. You can disable the Automatic recording on the Setting page of the App if you don't want your trips recorded.
16) How is my privacy protected? Neither the MDP App nor the MDP Device sends any location data to the backend server; the location data are all stored locally on the phone or in the device. Only when the phone and the MDP Device are out of range and the object carrying the MDP Device is moving, does the MDP Device send the position data to the MDP Server, so that it may notify the user about the event.
17) Can I delete one of my previous trips on the App? Absolutely, Trips History page of the App shows information of the previous 20 trips. Any of these trips can be easily deleted by swiping to the left on the table's row for that trip.
Looking for more information?Check the project
FAQ
Early access to our MDP iOS Apps. Email is required for this Perk, so that we can share with you the Apps via iTunes TestFlight. There are two iOS Apps: 1) main MDP App, 2) Device Emulator App
Estimated Shipping
May 2015
1 claimed
MDP Device in Green Color
$5 USD
White is the default color of the MDP Device 1 and 1s . If Green reminds you of money and is your favorite color select this Perk, and we would be more than happy to make it for you.
Estimated Shipping
November 2015
1 claimed
MDP Device in Blue Color
$5 USD
White is the default color of the MDP Device 1 and 1s . If you want Blue to match your eyes, just select this Perk, and we're on it.
Estimated Shipping
November 2015
0 claimed
MDP Device in Yellow Color
$5 USD
White is the default color of the MDP Device 1 and 1s . If Yellow reminds you of spring flowers and makes you smile, select this Perk, and we will make it happen.
Estimated Shipping
November 2015
0 claimed
MDP Device in Pink Color
$5 USD
White is the default color of the MDP Device 1 and 1s . If Pink matches your nail polish , select this Perk and we are more than happy to send it in Pink.
Estimated Shipping
November 2015
0 claimed
Shipping Fee
$10 USD
Please select this perk for shipping of MDP Device to your destination (United States or International).
Estimated Shipping
November 2015
0 claimed
One MDP Device 1
$75 USD
One 'MDP Device 1' at Indiegogo special price. This is a one time payment and without any additional monthly or annual subscription fees-EVER! The regular price for this MDP device will include a $99 annual renewal fee outside this campaign.The 'MDP Device 1',is little bigger than a credit card in size and is NOT water resistant. However, it's very thin at only 10 mm.
Estimated Shipping
November 2015
0 out of 6000 of claimed
One MDP Device 1s
$100 USD
One 'MDP Device 1s' at Indiegogo special price. This is a one time payment and without any additional monthly or annual subscription fee-EVER! Regular price for MDP device will include a $99 annual renewal fee outside this campaign. 'MDP Device 1s' is a little smaller than a credit card in size, and IS water resistant. It fits well under a bicycle's saddle (seat) and inside children's pocket.