Implementation of Low Cost Real Time GPS

Using the Haversine Method in Fishermen Electronic Navigation

Noviarianto Noviarianto

, Turahyo Turahyo

, P. Tony Kusumartono

and Amthori Anwar

Politeknik Maritim Negeri Indonesia, Indonesia

Sekolah Tinggi Teknologi Bontang, Indonesia

Keywords: GPS, Microcontroller, Ublox Neo-6M, Satellite, Fishing Boat.

Abstract: Fishermen who sail to catch fish in the sea generally already use electronic navigation in the form of the

Global Positioning System (GPS). This tool is utilized to assist in determining the position of the ship at sea.

Currently, GPS used by fishermen is still relatively expensive and quite difficult to operate. In this paper, GPS

is designed using the Haversine method and uses electronic components that are easily got on the market at a

price that is quite cheap and easy to use. In this system, the Ublox Neo-6M Module is used for communication

with the satellite to determine the position point. While the Atmega328 microcontroller on the Arduino Uno

board is used as the main controller of the system. To facilitate position monitoring, a LCD display with a

screen size of 20x4 is used. The display on the LCD screen is in the form of real time position in DMS,

distance in meters and directions to specify points, speed in knots and calendar. GPS design has been trials to

carry out the reference points with a distance of 10 meters to 300 meters. Built on the test results, it was found

that this GPS was able to show the position, direction of movement, ship speed and calendar quite accurately.

However, the accuracy of the GPS positioning point is also determined by the weather.

1 INTRODUCTION

Navigation equipment such as GPS plays a major

role in navigating the ocean (Sweet, 2003). It is easy

to determine the position of the archipelagic

boundaries by using GPS-assisted equipment

(Yulius & Salim, 2013). As one of the navigation

equipment, the use of GPS on modern ships is very

widespread, but the price of this navigation

equipment is quite expensive. Various brands and

types of navigation tools have been sold in the

market and are used extensively.

Research and design of GPS equipment to be

applied in several places such as the installation of

GPS modules to determine national boundaries

(Arfianto et al., 2018). However, in this study, the

modeling of regional boundaries still uses proximity

sensors mounted on microcontroller equipment. In

addition to point positions, directions to specify

points, speed of movement and calendars, are

discussed in this paper. In this paper, reference

points are also determined that serve as the basis for

calculations in the microcontroller program.

Monitoring of position points can be seen using the

20x4 LCD screen which contains quite a lot of the

required characters.

2 THEORETICAL BASIS

GPS is an electronic equipment used to determine

the position of a place (E. Ceruzzi, 2018). GPS

receivers work by figuring out how far from a

number of satellites that are located in Earth orbit.

This GPS is planned to find out which gps satellites

are at a certain time. Satellites transmit information

in the form of digital data wrapped in radio signals

about the current position and time. This signal

identifies the satellite and tells the receiver where it

locates.

The radio receiver's electronic equipment

calculates how far each satellite is by figuring out

how long it takes for the signal to be provided. Once

you have that information about the GPS can

pinpoint your exact location on Earth. In general, no

less than 3 satellites are accustomed. This process is

commonly known as Trilateration (Engineers, n.d.)

as showed in Figure1.

284

Noviarianto, N., Turahyo, T., Kusumartono, P. and Anwar, A.

Implementation of Low Cost Real Time GPS Using the Haversine Method in Fishermen Electronic Navigation.

DOI: 10.5220/0011760500003575

In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science (iCAST-ES 2022), pages 284-289

ISBN: 978-989-758-619-4; ISSN: 2975-8246

Figure 1: Trilateration GPS.

2.1 Ublox Neo-6M Module

In this paper, the satellite receiver module used is the

Ublox Neo-6M module. This module is useful in

modeling electronic devices to determine the position

(Yulius &Salim, 2013), as well as position tracking

(Budiman et al., 2020). This gps module has the

advantage of being able to prove the fixed position in

cold start conditions for about 27 seconds with a 50

channel receiver type. The sensitivity of the module

in tracking and navigation conditions is -161 dBm.

While the level of accuracy of the GPS horizontal

position of this module is 2.5 m. communication

systems interfaces and protocols that can be used are

UART, USB and serial peripheral interface (SPI).

The operating voltage of this module is a maximum

of 3.6 V and a current of 100 mA (U-blox, 2017). The

accuracy level of the Ublox Neo-6M module is quite

mild compared to the Neo-M8N module (Firdaus &

Ismail, 2020). The Ublox Neo-6M satellite signals

receiver module and pin positions are shown in

Figure 2. 3.

The pins contained in the Ublox Neo-6M module

are 4 consisting of: (1) GND (ground) connected to

Arduino ground, (2) TX (transmitter) is used for serial

communication, (1) RX (receiver) is used for serial

communication, (4) VCC is connected to the power

supply or can be directly connected to 5V on the

Arduino pin. The communication system between the

Ublox Neo-6M Module and the microcontroller uses

UART. This module supports baud rate 4800bps –

230400bps with the default baud rate of 9600. On the

module there is also a LED that will flash every

Figure 2: Ublox Neo-6M Module.

1 second if the satellite is fixed. In addition there is a

battery that can be charged, and a 3.3V voltage

regulators. The module is further equipped with a

serial EEPROM with a memory capacity of 4KB

which is connected to the NEO-6M chip using I2C

communication. In this module there is likewise a

satellite receiving antenna with a sensitivity of -161

dBm. This antenna is attached to a U.FL cable and

connector. Serial data generated from the Ublox Neo-

6M module is in the form of NMEA sentences.

NMEA is submitted to National Marine Electronics

Association which is the standard format on all GPS

receivers. The NMEA standard is in the form of rows

of data called sentences. Each sentence is delimited

by a comma to facilitate the parsing of data on a

computer or microcontroller. This NMEA sentence

will be transmitted in a certain interval called the

update rate. Information updated by default on the

Neo-6M module is one per second or 1Hz frequency,

but can be set to 5 data per second or 5Hz frequency.

The most common is $GPRMC (Global

Positioning Recommended Minimum Coordinates)

which provides time, date, latitude, longitude and

estimated speed. $GPGGA This sentence presents an

essential data fix that provides 3D location and data

accuracy.

2.2 Microcontroller

The microcontroller device is used as a controller and

signal processor from the GPS receiver module. This

microcontroller is Atmega328 which is built-in an

Arduino Uno development board as showed in Figure

Implementation of Low Cost Real Time GPS Using the Haversine Method in Fishermen Electronic Navigation

285

3. The operating voltage of this board is 5V. It has 32

KB of flash memory, and 2KB as a boot loader. The

clock speed is 16 Mhz. This microcontroller is

equipped with digital I/O, Analog IN, and PWM

output pins (Arduino, 2021). In detail pins found on

the Arduino Uno can be observed in Figure 4.

Figure 3: Arduino Uno Board.

Figure 4: Pinout Arduino Uno.

Arduino Uno will process serial data from Ublox

Neo-6M. The data will be processed and displayed on

the LCD screen. Positioning modeling (Arfianto et

al., 2018) is not equipped with a screen that shows the

position directly. In this paper, because it serves as a

navigational aid, a position indicator in the form of a

screen is necessary. The addition of a 20x4 character

LCD screen is supposed to be sufficient to display the

required data.

2.3 LCD

The LCD module in this paper is a 20x4 LCD type.

This LCD has 20 character columns and 4 rows. Each

character makes up to 5x8 dots. Built-in controller

with S6A0069 series or equivalent. Supply voltage

5V and fitted with LED backlight. This LCD module

has 16 pins that are utilized to display characters on

the screen. LCD is likewise composed of several

blocks consisting of controller, driver, led backlight,

and LCD panel. The block diagram can be viewed in

Ga Figure 5. (Ocular, 2003). Turning on a 20x4 LCD

requires a lot of cables to connect. To reduce the need

for cables and pins on the microcontroller, in this

paper the LCD is connected to the I2C serial interface

module. The I2C serial interface module used has a

PCF8574T chip (Semiconductors, 2002).

Figure 5: LCD Block Diagram.

The use of the I2C serial interface on the 2004

LCD only requires 4 pins to carry on the LCD. The

four pins are: (1) GND which is connected to the

microcontroller ground, (2) VCC is connected to a 5V

voltage source, (3) SDA is connected to Analog pin

4, (4) SCL is connected to Analog pin 5. The shape of

the I2C board can be observed in Figure 7. On the

PCF8574T chip, the address for I2C is of the format:

0 1 0 0 A2 A1 A0. The factory default address is 0x27.

While the address ranges is between 0x20 - 0x27.

Figure 6: I2C Serial LCD Board.

2.4 DMS Conversion

Decimal Degree (DD) is a notation for expressing

geographic coordinates of latitude and longitude as a

decimal fraction of a degree. Decimal degrees are

used in various geographic information systems

iCAST-ES 2022 - International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science

286

(GIS), web mapping applications such as Open Street

Map, and GPS devices. Decimal degrees are an

alternative to using sexagesimal degrees (degrees,

minutes, and seconds - DMS notation). As with

latitude and longitude, values are limited by ±90 and

±180, respectively (Wikipedia, 2022). Converting

DMS coordinates to decimal degrees is a work of

converting the minute and second components to

decimal degrees. Converting minutes and seconds to

degrees are equal to turning minutes and seconds into

hours. Where 1 minute = 1/60 hour and 1 second =

1/3600 hour.

Positive latitudes are north of the equator. Negative

latitudes are south of the equator. Positive longitude

is east of the Prime Meridian while negative longitude

is west of the Prime Meridian. Latitude and longitude

are usually expressed in order of latitude before

longitude. Nautical Miles is 60 miles = 1° flat = 1°

long at the equator. If 1 degree latitude is 111.3 km at

the equator, then the change in a fraction of a minute

is: (1) 1 degree = 60 minutes, (2) 1 minute = 1

degree/60 = 111.32km / 60 = 1,855km, (3) 1 minute

= 1855m, (4) 0.1min = 185.5m, (5) 0.01min =

18.55m, (6) 0.001min = 1.855m, (7) 0.0001min =

0.1855m = 185.5mm, (8) 0.00001min = 0.0185m =

18.55mm = 1.855cm. The more decimal places

behind the comma, the higher the GPS accuracy will

be.

Conversion of DD to DMS can be done as in the

example: on GPS the geographical position is -

7.020222 110.401566 then if converted to DMS is: -

7.020222= 7(0.02022*60) = 1.21332=

1(0.21332*6)= 12.7992 S is written 7° 1 12.7992″ S

110.401566 = 110, 0.401566*60 = 24.09396 =24

0.09396*60 = 5.6376 E is written 110° 24′ 5.6376″ E.

So the position in DMS is 7° 1′ 12.7992″ South

Latitude 110° 24′ 5.6376″ East. In this paper, the

position point display is displayed on the LCD screen

in DMS format. It is intended to make it easier to read

the position according to the paper map. Some

characters such as degrees, minutes, and seconds are

not part of the library. In this study, a special character

was in addition to display it.

2.5 Haversine Method

In this paper, the Haversine method is utilized to

calculate calculate the distance between coordinates

in a geographic projection system (decimal

degrees/DD). This method calculates the shortest

distance between two points on a curved surface by

utilizing the latitude (Y-value) and longitude (X-

value) values at that point. This calculation is of great

importance to use in navigation (Yulianto,

Ramadiani, & Kridalaksana, 2018). Haversine own

formula is as following:

𝑎=𝑠𝑖𝑛





∆𝜑

+𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑



.𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑



.𝑠𝑖𝑛





∆





(1)

𝑐 = 2.𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛





√

𝑎,

√

(1−𝑎)

(2)

d = R.c

(3)

The following information: (1) 𝜑 = latitude, (2) λ =

longitude, (3) R = earth radius/ mean radius =

6.371km. In order for trigonometric functions to work

properly, the angle values must be in radians.

3 PROPOSED SYSTEM

In this paper, a schematic of the low cost GPS circuit

design is shown as showed in Figure 7. In the figure,

it consists of a Ublox Neo-6M GPS module

connected to a microcontroller. The Tx data pin of the

Ublox Neo-6M module is attached to pin 3 and the

Rx data pin is connected to pin 4 of the Arduino Uno.

The 20x4 LCD is utilized to display the current

position and is connected to the PCF8574 I2C

module. On the SCL and SDA pins of the I2C

module, they are connected to pins on A5 and pins A4

of Arduino Uno, respectively. The indicator in the

form of a LED that will flash when approaching the

reference point at a distance of less than 300m is

connected to pin 7.

Figure 7: GPS circuit schematic.

In addition, to simplify the system design, a system

architecture is made. This GPS architecture consists

of a GPS module as an input signal to the

microcontroller, a voltage source from 2 of 18650

batteries, and at the output of a LED lamp and a 20x4

character LCD module as showed in Figure 8.

Implementation of Low Cost Real Time GPS Using the Haversine Method in Fishermen Electronic Navigation

287

Figure 8: GPS architecture.

In this paper, all existing electronic components are

contained in the X6 black plastic box. The design of

the GPS box that makes as in Figure 9. On the front

are placed a 20x4 LCD and LED indicators. The top

is placed on the GPS signal receiving antenna. The

voltage source to run all the equipment is obtained

from 2 Lithium ions 18650 batteries. Both batteries

are installed in series and each has a voltage of 3.7V,

so the available voltage is around 7.4V.

Figure 9: GPS box design model.

4 RESULT AND ANALYSIS

Data retrieval is achieved by bringing the GPS

equipment that has been made close to the reference

points that have been determined. After that, the

coordinates are shown at that distance. The data

generated in the position towards the reference points

as indicated in Table 1. In the table the results of the

display on the LCD screen are recorded. The resulting

data are latitude and longitude positions in DMS

format. On the screen will show the distance and

bearing. In the column on the right are included in the

results of calculations using the Haversine formula.

The indication on the LCD screen and the calculation

results is not too far apart.

Table 1: Data to reference points.

To make it easier to analyze the test results. It is

illustrated using a Google Map. The measurement

position point is indicated by a blue marking on the

Google map. Figure 10 indicates the position of the

marking points to the reference points. Measurements

are taken by walking along the road and getting closer

to the points as a reference.

Figure 10: Plotting to reference points on Google Map.

In addition, the 20x4 LCD screen display can be seen

as showed in Figure 11. The first row on the left is the

number of satellites. The first and second rows

indicate the latitude and longitude positions. CP or

closes point shows the distance to the nearest point.

BRG is the bearing to the nearest point in degrees.

Data display on the LCD screen. Calculation results,

and plotting on Google map shows the appropriate

distance and bearing.

Figure 11: GPS LCD screen display.

iCAST-ES 2022 - International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science

288

5 CONCLUSIONS

Testing and data retrieval using the GPS design has

been executed. The GPS design created can display

the position in real time and is presented on a 20x4

LCD screen. The displayed position is in DMS

format, making it more convenient for fishermen to

read the position. In addition, in this paper, a point is

determined as a reference point and the results of the

data can show the distance to the reference points

with results that is not too far apart. In this paper, the

distance and bearing measurements are not more than

300m and not less than 10m.

REFERENCES

Arduino, C. (2021). Arduino Nano.

Arfianto, A. Z. ;, Gunantara, N., Rahmat, M. B., Setiyoko,

A. S., Handoko, C. R., Hasin, M. K., … Aminudin, A.

(2018). Perangkat Informasi Dini Batas Wilayah

Perairan Indonesia Untuk Nelayan Tradisional Berbasis

Arduino Dan Modul Gps Neo-6M. Joutica, 3(2), 163–

167.

Budiman, M. A., Harefa, A. Z., Shaka, D. V., Studi, P.,

Informatika, T., Informasi, F. T., … Print, F. (2020).

Perancangan sistem pelacak gps dan pengendali

kendaraan jarak jauh berbasis arduino, 978–979.

E. Ceruzzi, P. (2018). GPS. Massachusetts Institute of

Technology.

Engineers, L. M. (n.d.). Interface ublox NEO-6M GPS

Module with Arduino. Retrieved from

Firdaus, F., & Ismail, I. (2020). Komparasi Akurasi Global

Posistion System (GPS) Receiver U-blox Neo-6M dan

U-blox Neo-M8N pada Navigasi Quadcopter.

Elektron : Jurnal Ilmiah, 12(1), 12–15.

https://doi.org/10.30630/eji.12.1.137

Ocular, X. (2003). GDM2004D. Data Sheet.

Pangaribuan, P., & Rusdinar, A. (2016). Design and

Implementation of Prototypes Monitoring System

Position Boat Fishing in Sea Water using GPS System

Based Arduino with Kalman Filter Method. e-

Proceeding of Engineering (Vol. 3, pp. 4097–4102).

Semiconductors, P. (2002). Data Sheet PCF8574. Retrieved

from

Sweet, R. J. (2003). GPS for Mariners. The McGraw_Hill

Companies.

U-blox. (2017). NEO-6 u-blox 6 GPS Modules. Www.U-

Blox.Com

Wikipedia. (2022). Decimal degrees. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_degrees

Yulianto, Y., Ramadiani, R., & Kridalaksana, A. H. (2018).

Penerapan Formula Haversine Pada Sistem Informasi

Geografis Pencarian Jarak Terdekat Lokasi Lapangan

Futsal. Informatika Mulawarman : Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu

Komputer, 13(1),14. https://doi.org/10.30872/jim.v13

i1.1027

Yulius, & Salim, H. L. (2013). Aplikasi GPS dalam

Penentuan Posisi Pulau di Tengah Laut Berdasarkan

Metode Toponimi (Studi Kasus Pulau Morotai dan

Sekitarnya). In Seminar Nasional Pemberdayaan

Informasi Geospatial untuk Optimalisasi otonomi

daerah 2013 (pp. 104–108).

Implementation of Low Cost Real Time GPS Using the Haversine Method in Fishermen Electronic Navigation

289