INTRODUCTION

The GPS Module ublox NEO-6MV2 is an easy to use and high performance GPS Module that you can add to your Arduino, Raspberry Pi or microcontroller projects. This GPS is a widely used module from ublox that can get from 50 channels at 5hz to 10hz update which gives a good and accurate GPS coordinates. It uses only 4 pins (UART communication and Power) to work making it a very reliable and handy addition to any project.

HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS

• Requires only 4 wires to use (UART Tx/Rx, Supply, Ground)
• Can be controlled by common microcontrollers such as Arduino Uno, Raspberry Pi and ESP8266.
• Built-in red LEDs for operation indication. Perfect for location and positioning project

PARTS LIST

For this tutorial we will be using the following parts.

• 1 – GPS Module ublox NEO-6MV2
• 1 – Arduino UNO R3 with USB cable
• Connecting wires

HARDWARE OVERVIEW

The GPS Module Hardware pinout.

WIRING CONNECTION

Setup the circuit as shown below:

Connect the Arduino and GPS module by following the diagram above. We use Arduino Digital PIN 3 as Tx and PIN 4 as Rx as UART Software Serial Pins for our Arduino Code.

Connections:
Arduino PIN VCC (3.3V) to GPS Module PIN VCC
Arduino PIN GND to GPS Module PIN GND
Arduino PIN 3 (Tx) to GPS Module PIN Rx
Arduino PIN 4 (Rx) to GPS Module Pin Tx

ARDUINO CODE

Download the Arduino GPS library here: TinyGPSPlus

Extract the folder TinyGPSPlus and paste it to your Arduino libraries folder. In our case our Arduino software files and libraries are in Disk C:/arduino-1.6.9/libraries.
You may need to close all opened Arduino IDE and open again before you can use the GPS library.

Open your Arduino IDE. Go to File>Examples>TinyGPSPlus>FullExample

In the FullExample Arduino code find and change the 4800 to 9600 since our GPS module operates at 9600 Baud.
static const uint32_t GPSBaud = 9600;

Then finally Compile and Upload the code to your Arduino.

OUTPUT

Open the Arduino Serial Terminal with 115200 Baud. It may take about 30 seconds for the GPS to lock down on the satellites before you will see the values. When the green LED on the GPS module starts to blink this means that the GPS has locked down on the satellites.

Below you can see the Latitude and Longitude values are given including some other data that may also be useful for your project.

Using Google maps, we use the Latitude and Longitude values to plot location. We can locate from the image below that the GPS has the coordinates from where we tested the GPS module. It also shows a range factor of +/-3 meters since accuracy can vary between modules and the different sample data’s we get from the Serial Terminal. You may get a more accurate coordinates when the GPS module is used outside of your home or building.

APPLICATIONS

You can find more uses of the GPS Module in the sample projects below: