Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am trying to create a GPS tracker that is small enough so that I can carry it (or put it on a necklace) while I run so that my parents know where I am at. However, I don't know much about circuits and as I was researching my materials and I came across a GPS Receiver but I can't understand how the receiver works. Does it just gather your location or does it send it wirelessly to my computer program?

This is the link to the GPS Receiver
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11571

GPD, your first guess was correct. It simply gathers your location and sends it to a computer of your choice in NMEA (0183, I think) format. You need to connect it to some little computer along with a cellular radio of some sort. Since you're thinking small, you probably won't want a Raspberry Pi or a full sized Arduino - look at some of the Teensy computers or the smaller Arduino Pro.

If this is a science fair project you should be able to make a tracker with the GPS module, one of these computers, a cell radio and a battery. It's not going to be small, cute and necklace-sized though. To achieve that you'll need to use the raw modules and make your own boards. If it's not for a fair and you simply want people to be able to find you, you can run a tracking app on your phone, or use one of the GPS pet/child trackers (http://www.pettracker.com or http://www.skynannygps.com). Both of these use GPS receivers, cell radios and a tiny computer. They've worked really hard on making them as tiny as possible and that's hard to do without specialized equipment and lots of engineering experience.

Howard