Some GPS Setup

The USB GPS receiver came before the RasPi so I got it up and running on my windows machine first and tested it with the windows utility provided to make sure I was getting data.

Yep, all ok. Good start.

I then configured the VirtualPC to be able to access that USB Port. Fire up your virtual machine and look at the bottom of the VirtualBox Screen (see Image Below) you will see a little USB Icon, right click and select the 'Proliffic Technology ......' line.

That now gives access to the GPS Receiver from the Virtual Machine.

Bit of useful info. A GPS receiver collects a lot of useful info like latitude, longitude, speed and then transmits it to the PC as text over the USB connector. To be able to use that data you need to understand the format of the data it transmits and what 'connection' to listen in on to get the information you need. In the olden days they used to use an old RS-232 serial port, in modern times we use USB.

Ok that's the simple stuff out the way.

In the next post I'll show you how to get at that GPS data on your Debian Virtual Machine.

Test Platform

So while I was waiting for all the bits to arrive I decided to setup my software development platform, it's a lot easier coding on a decent PC rather than on the RasPi.

I don't fancy running a dual boot system between Linux and Windows 7 (my normal platform), so the obvious choice is to run Linux in a virtual machine using some free software like VBOX.

If you're not familiar with VBOX of virtual machines all it really does is allows you to run other operating systems in their own little 'box' or window onto of your current operating system as if it was a PC in it's own right.

Here's a screenshot of VBOX running on my rig.

You'll notice a text editor with some coding going on. We'll get to that a bit later. But to whet your appetite that's some python (programming language) code I'm using to plot GPS coordinates from a file onto the screen.

The VBox software is basically a PC Emulator. You just fire up a new 'Virtual PC' then install whatever operating system you want on it, whatever software you need.

The advantages are you can run multiple OS's on one machine and everything you do in that Virtual PC is isolated from your normal PC, so it's great for trying things out. If you make a mess of it then your normal PC is protected and you can only screw up the virtual PC.

You can configure the Virtual Machines to use your network connection, share peripherals etc, like keyboards, mice, USB devices. And you can configure then so they can access your hard disc so you could share files between you main PC and you Virtual PC.

So I've now setup a couple of virtual machines in VBOX using Debian Wheezy, the version the RasPi uses. The first is my main dev & test platform, the second is a clone of the first after I set it up. Vbox can take a copy of a virtual machine. Saves time re-installing everything "when" you screw something up, you just re-copy the clone and off you go again.

The Platform

First of all I need to decide on the platform to build this thing on. As you can tell from the title that's already decided.

I'm going to base it on the new RaspberryPi mini computer. Theses things are great. Basically a computer on a credit card size circuit board with enough connections to actually be useful. Lots of  people are starting to experiment with these, so loads of community support. And they are cheap. (£24).

Have a look here for more info about this great little unit. RPi Hub.

Basically, they use a mobile phone chipset. They have a couple of USB ports, HDMI, Ethernet and sound output. They have an SD card port that you use as a hard disk to run your operating system.

You have a few operating systems to choose from, Windows is not one of them !!!!! I went for Debian which is a Linux distribution.

I've messed around with Linux in the past so know my way around it enough to get me going.

To get the RasPi going I'll need a few other odds and ends.

• USB Power adapter, for, well, power really.
• SD Card for the operating system
• HDMI Cable, I'm sure I've got one lying around somewhere.
• Network Cable, yeah I've got them coming out of my ears.
• Monitor, I'll just use my TV in my office for now.
• Keyboard and Mouse, I've got a small media centre keyboard and mouse from Maplin - here
• Power USB Hub. - Got an old belkin one lying around I can use.

Other things I'll probably add later

• External hard drive or USB Stick for more data storage
• WiFi Adapter - I have a Netgear N150 I don't use any more that will be perfect.

And finally to get the project going

• A USB GPS Receiever - GlobalSat BU-353

So that's pretty much all the hardware gathered together for now.

Check the "Spendomiter" to see how much this has cost so far

What's it all about ?

So what is the RaspberryPi Track Day Data Logger ?

Well, I decided to try and combine some of my interests into a little project.

So I'm into my cars and I'm into computers and I love to make things so I came up with the idea of making a data logger for track days.

For those that don't know what a data logger is it's a device which will record all sorts of useful data about your laps as you whiz round a circuit. Kind of like the stuff they have on F1 cars.

So records things like location, speed, braking, acceleration, lap times etc etc. Even video !!!

Commercial units cost anything from £500 to over £1000.

So I think I might be able to knock something together from readily available components, plus with my computer programming background I can write the software I need to run it all how I want it to work.