ESP32 GPS Tracker using L86 GPS Module & OLED Display

Overview

In this post, we will make an ESP32 GPS Tracker using Quectel L86 GPS Module & OLED Display. The L86 GPS Module from Quectel is the tiny, low cost and low-power-consuming GPS Module available in the market. It has an integrated patch antenna and new generation MediaTek MT3333 GNSS chipset which has exceptional performance both in acquisition and tracking, and space-saving design.

It acquires and tracks satellites in the shortest time even at the indoor signal level. Compared to NEO-6M GPS Module and RYS8830 GPS/GNSS Receiver, this module has the best performance It is designed to be compatible with Quectel’s GPS L80 Module to provide a flexible and scalable platform for migrating from GPS to GNSS.

In this tutorial, we will interface Quectel L86 GPS Module with ESP32 and make our own GPS Tracker. The L86 GPS Module can give the value of Latitude, Longitude, Speed, Altitude, Date, and Time once it is synchronized with the satellite. We will display these parameters on a 0.96″ OLED Screen. Then using the ESP32 WiFi chip we will send the GPS coordinates to ESP32 Webserver.

You may refer to some previous GPS Tracker-based projects:

Bill of Materials

You need to purchase the following components for building this project.

S.N.	Components	Quantity	Purchase Links
1	ESP32 WiFi Module	1	Amazon \| AliExpress
2	GPS Module Neo-6M/L86	1	Amazon \| AliExpress
3	0.96" I2C OLED Module	1	Amazon \| AliExpress
4	Jumper Wires	10	Amazon \| AliExpress
5	Breadboard	1	Amazon \| AliExpress

Quectel L86 GPS Module

The L86 is an ideal solution for wearable fitness devices due to its ultra-compact design and low power demands. L86 GNSS module with an embedded patch antenna and LNA brings the high performance of the MTK positioning engine to industrial applications. It is able to achieve the industry’s highest level of sensitivity, accuracy, and TTFF with the lowest power consumption in a small-footprint leadless package. The embedded flash memory provides the capacity for users to store some useful navigation data and allows for future updates.

The L86 has a patch antenna on top measuring 18.4±0.15 ×18.4±0.15 ×6.45±0.1mm , with 99 acquisition channels and 33 tracking channels. It acquires and tracks satellites in the shortest time even at the indoor signal level. The module operates at 3V~4.3V with a typical power consumption of 26mA and in Standby mode power consumption is around 1.0mA.

Key Features

1. Power Consumption: Acquisition 26mA, Tracking 22mA, Standby 1.0mA, Backup: 7uA
2. Receiver Type: GPS L1 1575.42MHz C/A Code, GLONASS L1 1598.0625~1605.375MHz C/A Code, 99 search channels, 33 simultaneous tracking channels
3. Sensitivity: Acquisition -148dBm, Re-acquisition -160dBm, Tracking -165dBm
4. Power Supply: 3V~4.3V
5. Update Rate: Up to 10Hz, 1Hz by default
6. Accuracy of 1PPS Signal: Typical accuracy: <15ns, Time pulse width 100ms
7. Acceleration Accuracy: Without aid 0.1m/s2
8. Dynamic Performance: Maximum altitude 18000m, Maximum velocity 515m/s, Acceleration 4G
9. UART Port: TXD1 & RXD1 Supports baud rate from 4800bps to 115200bps, 9600bps by default
10. Velocity Accuracy: 0.1m/s
11. Working Temperature Range: -40~85 C
12. Embedded patch antenna
13. Built-in LNA for better sensitivity

L86 Pinout

The Quectel L86 GPS Module has 12 pins as shown in the image above. The function of each pin is defined below.

S.N.	Pin Name	Function
1	RXD1	UART Receiver
2	TXD1	UART Transmitter
3	GND	Ground Logic
4	VCC	2.8V~4.3V Supply, Typically 3.3V
5	V_BCKP	Backup power/Supply power for RTC
6	1PPS	One pulse per second, Synchronized at the rising edge, the pulse width is 100ms
7	FORCE_ON	Logic high will force module to be waked up from backup mode
8	AADET_N	Active antenna detection
9	NC	Not Connected
10	RESET	System reset
11	EX_ANT	External active antenna RF input
12	GND	Ground Logic

To learn more about this module you can refer to L86 Datasheet

Soldering Header Pins to L86 Module

The L86 is a tiny SMD-type Module that doesn’t have any male/female header pins for testing. So you can use the male header pin with 2.54 spacing and solder them on the L86 PCB from the bottom.

Interfacing Quectel L86 GPS Module with ESP32 & OLED Display

Now let us interface L86 GPS Module with ESP32. You can connect the L80 GPS Module with ESP32 WiFi Module o as per the circuit diagram below.

The connection is fairly simple. Connect the VCC/GND for the power supply. Similarly, connect the VCC backup (V_BCKP) with VCC or to an external battery. The GPS Module won’t work if this pin is not powered. Connect the RX/TX of L86 to the TX2/RX2 of the ESP32. This is for Serial Communication using UART2 of ESP32.

Connect the OLED Display SDA SCL Pin to ESP32 D21 & D22 Pin. You can power the OLED Display using the 3.3V & GND pin of ESP32. Hence the hardware setup & connections for ESP32 GPS Tracker is ready.

Project PCB Gerber File & PCB Ordering Online

If you don’t want to assemble the circuit on a breadboard and you want PCB for the project, then here is the PCB for you. I used EasyEDA to design the PCB. The PCB Board for ESP32 GPS Tracker looks something like below.

The Gerber File for the PCB is given below. You can simply download the Gerber File and order the PCB from ALLPCB at 1$ only.

Download Gerber File: ESP32 GPS Tracker

You can use this Gerber file to order high quality PCB for this project. To do that visit the ALLPCB official website by clicking here: https://www.allpcb.com/.

You can now upload the Gerber File by choosing the Quote Now option. From these options, you can choose the Material Type, Dimensions, Quantity, Thickness, Solder Mask Color and other required parameters.

After filling all details, select your country and shipping method. Finally you can place the order.

You can assemble the components on the PCB Board.

Source Code/Program & Testing

The best part about the L86 GPS/GNSS Module is, it supports Tiny GPS++ Library. Download the library and add it to the library folder. You also need SSD1306 OLED Library for this project.

Now copy the following code and upload it to the ESP32 Board.

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

#include <Wire.h>

#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>

#include <TinyGPS++.h>

#define SCREEN_WIDTH 128 // OLED display width, in pixels

#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 64 // OLED display height, in pixels

//On ESP32: GPIO-21(SDA), GPIO-22(SCL)

#define OLED_RESET -1 //Reset pin # (or -1 if sharing Arduino reset pin)

#define SCREEN_ADDRESS 0x3C //See datasheet for Address

Adafruit_SSD1306 display(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, &Wire, OLED_RESET);

#define RXD2 16

#define TXD2 17

HardwareSerial neogps(1);

TinyGPSPlus gps;

void setup() {

Serial.begin(115200);

//Begin serial communication Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)

//Begin serial communication Neo6mGPS

neogps.begin(9600, SERIAL_8N1, RXD2, TXD2);

// SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC = generate display voltage from 3.3V internally

if(!display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, SCREEN_ADDRESS)) {

Serial.println(F("SSD1306 allocation failed"));

for(;;); // Don't proceed, loop forever

}

display.clearDisplay();

display.display();

delay(2000);

}

void loop() {

boolean newData = false;

for (unsigned long start = millis(); millis() - start < 1000;)

{

while (neogps.available())

{

if (gps.encode(neogps.read()))

{

newData = true;

}

//If newData is true

if(newData == true)

{

newData = false;

Serial.println(gps.satellites.value());

print_speed();

}

else

{

display.clearDisplay();

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

display.setCursor(0, 0);

display.setTextSize(3);

display.print("No Data");

display.display();

}

void print_speed()

{

display.clearDisplay();

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

if (gps.location.isValid() == 1)

{

//String gps_speed = String(gps.speed.kmph());

display.setTextSize(1);

display.setCursor(25, 5);

display.print("Lat: ");

display.setCursor(50, 5);

display.print(gps.location.lat(),6);

display.setCursor(25, 20);

display.print("Lng: ");

display.setCursor(50, 20);

display.print(gps.location.lng(),6);

display.setCursor(25, 35);

display.print("Speed: ");

display.setCursor(65, 35);

display.print(gps.speed.kmph());

display.setTextSize(1);

display.setCursor(0, 50);

display.print("SAT:");

display.setCursor(25, 50);

display.print(gps.satellites.value());

display.setTextSize(1);

display.setCursor(70, 50);

display.print("ALT:");

display.setCursor(95, 50);

display.print(gps.altitude.meters(), 0);

display.display();

}

else

{

display.clearDisplay();

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

display.setCursor(0, 0);

display.setTextSize(3);

display.print("No Data");

display.display();

}

After uploading the code, the OLED Display will display no data message as GPS Module is not synchronized with the Satellite. For the first time, it might take 2-3 minutes to retrieve data. Next time onwards it retrieves the location very quickly.

The OLED Display will show the Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Speed & total satellite. You can take the device outside and power it using a power bank or your Car USB and trace the GPS Location.

ESP32 GPS Tracker on Webserver

Instead of displaying the value on OLED Display, we can connect the ESP32 WiFi Module to WiFi Network. Using the static webpage, we can create a Webserver where we can display the GPS Data.

The complete code for ESP32 GPS Tracker Webserver is given below. In this code, change the WiFi SSID & Password.

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

#include <Wire.h>

#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>

#include <TinyGPS++.h>

#include <WiFi.h>

#include<WiFiServer.h>

#define SCREEN_WIDTH 128 // OLED display width, in pixels

#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 64 // OLED display height, in pixels

const char* ssid = "BELL685"; //ssid of your wifi

const char* password = "644642755D2F"; //password of your wifi

WiFiServer server(80);

//On ESP32: GPIO-21(SDA), GPIO-22(SCL)

#define OLED_RESET -1 //Reset pin # (or -1 if sharing Arduino reset pin)

#define SCREEN_ADDRESS 0x3C //See datasheet for Address

Adafruit_SSD1306 display(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, &Wire, OLED_RESET);

#define RXD2 16

#define TXD2 17

HardwareSerial neogps(1);

TinyGPSPlus gps;

void setup() {

Serial.begin(115200);

//Begin serial communication Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)

//Begin serial communication Neo6mGPS

neogps.begin(9600, SERIAL_8N1, RXD2, TXD2);

// SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC = generate display voltage from 3.3V internally

if (!display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, SCREEN_ADDRESS)) {

Serial.println(F("SSD1306 allocation failed"));

for (;;); // Don't proceed, loop forever

}

display.clearDisplay();

display.display();

delay(2000);

Serial.println();

Serial.print("Connecting to ");

Serial.println(ssid);

WiFi.begin(ssid, password); //connecting to wifi

while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED)// while wifi not connected

{

delay(500);

Serial.print("."); //print "...."

}

Serial.println("");

Serial.println("WiFi connected");

server.begin();

Serial.println("Server started");

Serial.println(WiFi.localIP()); // Print the IP address

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

display.setCursor(0, 0);

display.setTextSize(2);

display.print("IP Address");

display.setCursor(20, 30);

display.setTextSize(1);

display.print(WiFi.localIP());

display.display();

delay(5000);

}

void loop()

{

boolean newData = false;

for (unsigned long start = millis(); millis() - start < 1000;)

{

while (neogps.available())

{

if (gps.encode(neogps.read()))

{

newData = true;

}

//If newData is true

if (newData == true)

{

newData = false;

Serial.println(gps.satellites.value());

print_speed();

}

else

{

display.clearDisplay();

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

display.setCursor(0, 0);

display.setTextSize(3);

display.print("No Data");

display.display();

}

WiFiClient client = server.available(); // Check if a client has connected

if (!client)

{

return;

}

// Prepare the response

String s = "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Type: text/html\r\n\r\n <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>GPS DATA</title> <style>";

s += "a:link {background-color: RED;text-decoration: none;}";

s += "table, th, td </style> </head> <body style=background-color:WHITE>";

s += "<h1 style=color:RED;font-size:400%";

s += " ALIGN=CENTER>GPS RECEIVER DATA </h1>" ;

s += "<p ALIGN=CENTER style=color:BLUE;font-size:250% >";

s += "<b>Location Details</b></p> <table ALIGN=CENTER style=";

s += "font-size:250%;";

s += "> <tr> <th>Latitude :- </th>";

s += "<td ALIGN=CENTER >";

s += (gps.location.lat());

s += "</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Longitude :-</th> <td ALIGN=CENTER >";

s += (gps.location.lng());

s += "</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Speed :-</th> <td ALIGN=CENTER >";

s += (gps.speed.kmph());

s += (" kmph");

s += "</td></tr> <tr> <th>Altitude :-</th> <td ALIGN=CENTER >";

s += (gps.altitude.meters());

s += (" m");

s += "</td> </tr> </table> ";

s += "</body> </html> ";

client.print(s); // all the values are send to the webpage

delay(100);

}

void print_speed()

{

display.clearDisplay();

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

if (gps.location.isValid() == 1)

{

//String gps_speed = String(gps.speed.kmph());

display.setTextSize(1);

display.setCursor(25, 5);

display.print("Lat: ");

display.setCursor(50, 5);

display.print(gps.location.lat(), 6);

display.setCursor(25, 20);

display.print("Lng: ");

display.setCursor(50, 20);

display.print(gps.location.lng(), 6);

display.setCursor(25, 35);

display.print("Speed: ");

display.setCursor(65, 35);

display.print(gps.speed.kmph());

display.setTextSize(1);

display.setCursor(0, 50);

display.print("SAT:");

display.setCursor(25, 50);

display.print(gps.satellites.value());

display.setTextSize(1);

display.setCursor(70, 50);

display.print("ALT:");

display.setCursor(95, 50);

display.print(gps.altitude.meters(), 0);

display.display();

}

else

{

display.clearDisplay();

display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);

display.setCursor(0, 0);

display.setTextSize(3);

display.print("No Data");

display.display();

}

After uploading the code, you can open the Serial Monitor to get the IP Address of the ESP32 Module.

Go to your web browser and enter the IP Address that you got from Serial Monitor. Then hit enter.

Video Tutorial & Guide

Tiny, Sensitive & Best GPS Module | GPS Tracker using Quectel L86 GPS Module & ESP32

Watch this video on YouTube.

View 3 Comments

3 Comments

Jhony on January 16, 2023 1:39 PM

How can I send more decimals in latitude and longitude to display in my web browser?

Hihi on July 7, 2023 5:08 PM

Bro juat leaked where he lives

Martin on November 10, 2024 1:01 PM

You can use No-IP offers DDNS and DNS solutions for home. That will hide your location