THE CHALLENGEA Stolen Bike Is Usually Gone For Good
Two-wheeler theft is rampant, and a plain locator does little once the bike is loaded onto a van and driven off. Owners want two things, a real chance of recovery and useful data about how the bike is ridden. The hard part is doing this on a tiny battery and a small board that has to hide out of sight. This solution pairs compact hardware with firmware that wakes on motion, cuts the engine, alerts on towing, and keeps reporting even after the bike battery is pulled.
Part of the Telematics and GPS Tracking stack, and commonly built alongside Geofencing Solutions.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Compact Hardware and an Owner App That Recovers Bikes
Compact Low-Power PCB
A small board designed in Altium that carries the GNSS receiver, cellular modem, accelerometer, and a backup cell, sized to hide under the seat or behind a panel. Antenna placement and ground planes are tuned so a concealed install still holds a fix and a network connection.
Engine Immobiliser Cut-Off
A relay wired into the ignition or fuel circuit that the owner arms from the app. When armed the engine will not start, and the logic refuses to cut while the bike is moving. This is what makes the device a recovery tool, not just a dot on a map.
Accelerometer Wake and Tow Alerts
The tracker sleeps to save battery and wakes on motion. If the bike moves outside an allowed window or is towed out of its parked geofence, an alert reaches the owner within seconds, even with the ignition off.
Geofence and Movement Rules
The owner sets a home or parking geofence. Any unauthorised movement, crossing, or sustained motion while armed triggers a push alert. Thresholds are tuned so normal nudges and parking shuffles do not spam the owner.
Ride Analytics
The app shows trip history with routes, distance, duration, top and average speed, and harsh braking or acceleration events from the accelerometer. The owner gets a clean ride log and the safety logic reuses the same signals.
Owner App and Backend
The cloud backend and the owner app handle arming the immobiliser, viewing live location, receiving alerts, and reviewing rides. Built to scale from a single rider to a branded fleet of devices.
POWER AND HARDWARE DESIGN
Designed Around a Small Battery
A two-wheeler has a small battery, so the tracker has to be frugal. The device runs in deep sleep when the bike is idle, wakes on the accelerometer, and slows the reporting cadence when parked. A backup cell keeps the device alive if the main battery is disconnected, which is exactly when location matters most.
Deep Sleep and Wake
The firmware idles in a low-power state and wakes on accelerometer interrupt or a slow heartbeat timer. Reporting ramps up only when there is motion to report, which keeps the average current draw low.
Backup Battery
An internal cell takes over if the bike battery is cut, so a thief who disconnects power does not silence the tracker. The device keeps reporting its position long enough to support a recovery.
Rugged Compact Build
The enclosure tolerates vibration, heat, and the odd splash that comes with a hidden mount on a bike. The board is laid out to survive the ride, not just a bench test.
TECH STACK
The Parts It Runs On
Microcontroller and Sensors
An STM32 class microcontroller running FreeRTOS handles the GNSS fix, accelerometer interrupts, immobiliser relay, and sleep scheduling, with a low quiescent draw to protect the bike battery.
Connectivity
A Quectel or SIMCom cellular modem is paired with a u-blox multi-constellation receiver. Telemetry and alerts move over MQTT so the owner app gets near real-time updates without holding an open connection that drains power.
Cloud and App
An MQTT broker, a time-series store for ride history, and rule processing for geofence and tow alerts feed the owner app. The app and backend ship together as one product.
FAQ
Common Questions
How small is the tracker and can it be hidden on a bike?
The board is a compact PCB sized to tuck under the seat, behind a panel, or inside the tail section so it is not obvious to a thief. The layout fits the GNSS module, the cellular modem, an accelerometer, and a small backup battery on one board with a low profile, and the antennas are routed so a hidden install still holds a fix and a network connection.
How does the engine immobiliser work?
A relay cut-off is wired into the ignition or fuel line that the owner controls from the app. When armed, the relay holds the circuit open so the engine will not start. The cut logic is kept safe so it never engages while the bike is moving, and the owner can disarm instantly. This is what turns a tracker into a real anti-theft and recovery tool rather than just a locator.
How does it detect theft or towing?
The tracker spends most of its life in a low-power sleep to protect the battery. An accelerometer watches for motion and wakes the device when the bike is disturbed. If movement happens outside an allowed window or the bike leaves its geofence while parked, a tow or unauthorised-movement alert reaches the owner app within seconds, even if the ignition was never switched on.
What happens to the battery when the bike is parked for days?
A two-wheeler battery is small, so the tracker has to be frugal. It draws very little in sleep, reports on a slow heartbeat when idle, and only ramps up reporting when the accelerometer detects motion. An internal backup cell is included so that if a thief disconnects the bike battery, the tracker keeps reporting its location long enough to support recovery.
What ride data does the owner get?
The owner app shows trip history with routes on a map, distance, duration, top and average speed, and harsh acceleration or braking events from the accelerometer. Over time that becomes a ride log the owner can use for their own records, and the same signals feed the safety and anti-theft logic.
Can this be delivered as your own branded product?
Yes. Scope runs from the compact PCB and firmware through to the owner app, and the product can be delivered under your brand. The hardware is designed in Altium, the firmware is written for it, the cloud backend and the app are built alongside, and certification and the move from prototype to volume production are supported.
Ready to Build Your Two-Wheeler Tracker?
Share your target bikes, your install constraints, and whether this is to be your own product, to get a tailored approach across the hardware, the immobiliser, and the app, with a clear path to production.
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