It was June 2007 when we first started a research on microchips, circuit design and PIC programming. It seemed to be okay, just a few more tricks and codes since I was already a software programmer. What could be the worst case? To learn and implement a new programming language? That's what I love most. But things started to seem a bit different a few weeks later.
You need some expertise to overcome the problems and the annoying thing was we did know nothing about anything to try possible solutions - we were trying and failing.
It took about a year to finalize this project roughly and we came up with the name LOCOMM - thanks to Emine Can.
LOCOMM is a pager device but has it's own base station setup on any Windows PC with contrast to standard GSM-based devices, easy and 100% free to use.
After a full-year of development, we finally created a device almost cost-less (about 5 USD each client - or receiver device).
A PIC 16F877A is used together with another chip MAX232 in each transmitter and a single 16F877A on each receiver. Coverage area is variable depending on the circumstances but at least 50 metres indoors and 100 metres outdoors up to 2000 metres outdoors again depending on the transmitters used.
With a more powerfull transmitter, cost of a server-side device is approximately doubled but still is a negletible amount.
LOCOMM is a senior project of Berrak Anil and me in Hacettepe University Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department coordinated by Ass. Prof. Ali Ziya Alkar, and supervised by Vice-President Prof. H. Selcuk Gecim.
You may visit LOCOMM Web Site, find detailed information and download server-side software.
http://www.locomm.net
