Why can't pet microchips have inbuilt GPS?
In the previous article, we talked about how to use chips and GPS trackers to find your adventurous dog. A reader wrote in asking if there are any chip products with built-in GPS? This way, it can be solved once and for all without having to buy two products.
First of all, the answer is that no pet microchip product has built-in GPS so far.
The reasons
Our humble Aorkuler team has experienced hardware engineer Qin who has been consulted for over a decade. He patiently and professionally explained the reasons.
1. No power supply
GPS chips consume energy when working. Microchips, on the other hand, are like small built-in dog tags that do not require additional energy. The energy requirement for GPS is not low, and current technology cannot design an extremely small but high-capacity battery. Even if a battery is implanted together, how to charge or replace it without causing secondary harm to our furry friends?
2. Too large in size
Microchips are very small in size. Because of this, microchips can be easily implanted into the lower layer of pet skin. GPS that can achieve positioning usually includes GPS chips and GPS antennas as well as related circuits, batteries, etc. Only the GPS chip itself, the world's smallest GPS chip also needs 4.5*4.5mm. Without considering the price factor, it is very cruel persecution for dogs to implant this volume of hardware into their bodies.
3. Data transmission
GPS itself can only obtain location coordinates, but the location coordinate data needs to be transmitted to the dog's parents through communication means. This requires an additional communication module. Common communication modules such as 4G/LTE based on cellular technology also have technical updates and wireless communication technologies that do not depend on mobile networks or require monthly fees such as Aorkuler's long-distance low-power wireless communication technology. This module still has problems such as insufficiently small size and requiring electrical energy support when working.
So is it possible to integrate "make dogs easy and parents at ease" into one solution in the future?
Engineer Qin told us that with the continuous development of technology, especially battery technology, GPS and communication technology innovation and development, it is possible in the future.
The unspeakable, open secret
Qin said that many dog trackers on the market now use old 3G, 4G or LTE cellular technology in essence because tracker manufacturers only want to use the lowest cost and most mature supply chain to occupy this market. The profit source of tracker brands mainly comes from high commissions from operators because every tracker user will pay monthly rent for a long time, and the monthly rent paid by users is much higher than the flow cost wholesale from trackers to operators. In addition, tracker manufacturers will also use flow pool technology to unconsciously squeeze out idle traffic in monthly rents from users with low usage frequency, and their profits will become higher. This is an open secret.
We hope that more good technologies and brands will enter this market without deceiving users or using outdated technologies and cheap products to extract too much profit from users.