Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Tracking Devices Revisited

I received a request for more information about micro tracking devices. Unfortunately, I don’t have many new facts. Commercially available tracing devices seem to be of two varieties: 1) small boxes equipped with magnets for attachment to cars and 2) collar tags designed to locate roaming pets. The grain-of-rice-sizedmicrochips that are injected under animals’ skin are used to identify lost pets once they are found. They need to be scanned at close range, and do not have a global positioning system (GPS) that could transmit the animal’s location. I read a spy novel in which the hero swallowed an encapsulated GPS before he was taken by the enemy. The book was fiction. I can’t verify whether the device was as well. 

The limitation on size reduction is probably the battery. The device swallowed by the spy wouldn’t have to transmit very long, because (without getting into gastrointestinal physiology) it wouldn’t stay with him. Pet collar and car tracking devices are larger because it is inconvenient to change batteries frequently.

1 comment:

Natalie Aguirre said...

Interesting facts. We're thinking of getting a dog soon. I hope we don't need to look into the dog tracking device.