A Tear-down of TrackR Device, a Bluetooth-Low-Energy Based Locator Fob
For Christmas, my wife gave me a TrackR device (see photo below). I played with it for a while and then put it aside, as I got busy with other things.
Yesterday I noticed it again on my dresser and began wondering what Bluetooth Low-Energy chipset was being used in it...you can already tell this isn't going to end well for the TrackR device.
Anyway, one thing lead to another and I am now pushing out a simple tear-down of the TrackR device.
Above is a photo of the intact TrackR device. It's really quite small and thin. There are apps for both Android and iOS.
To open the shell case, use an X-acto knife and gently slide the blade between the aluminum shell and the middle black plastic casing. The shell adheres to the casing with double-sided tape, and should be relatively easy to open. A little prying is needed, but be careful as the aluminum shell is soft and easily deformed if you're not careful.
Once you have completely remove the middle black casing, you can clean the sticky tape from the shell with alcohol or the like. Again, be gentle with the shell as it can be bent easily and the hinge can suffer from metal fatigue easily.
Above shows the major components after the shell has been removed. It is a surprisingly nice design/layout for such a relatively inexpensive device.
Above is a close up of the casing with the PCB board inserted.
The above annotated photo shows many of the interesting features for the TrackR PCB board. I was pleasently surprised to see that the nRF512822 (QFABC0) was used. This is the smallest (memory-wise) chip in the nRF51822 series, with 128K of flash, 16K RAM, and an ARM Cortex-M0 processor.
The above photo shows the back side of the TrackR PCB board. Notice the several circular metallic dots (pads) exposed. There are probably pogo-pin pads used during manufacturing.
The SWDxxx pads are ICP (In Circuit Programming), e.g. loading the firmware onto the device.
The other pads are probably for QA testing during manufacturing to insure the boards works properly. This allows the components which are more likely to fail during the manufacturing process to be tested: Buttons and buzzer are items which often are faulty.
The above photo shows the aluminum shell's inside. The most significant feature is the non-anodized (silvery) area. This is where the antenna connector (spring-finger) contacts the shell. In other words, the shell is acting as the antenna.
Yesterday I noticed it again on my dresser and began wondering what Bluetooth Low-Energy chipset was being used in it...you can already tell this isn't going to end well for the TrackR device.
Anyway, one thing lead to another and I am now pushing out a simple tear-down of the TrackR device.
 |
| The TrackR Locator Fob |
Above is a photo of the intact TrackR device. It's really quite small and thin. There are apps for both Android and iOS.
To open the shell case, use an X-acto knife and gently slide the blade between the aluminum shell and the middle black plastic casing. The shell adheres to the casing with double-sided tape, and should be relatively easy to open. A little prying is needed, but be careful as the aluminum shell is soft and easily deformed if you're not careful.
Once you have completely remove the middle black casing, you can clean the sticky tape from the shell with alcohol or the like. Again, be gentle with the shell as it can be bent easily and the hinge can suffer from metal fatigue easily.
 |
| Major Parts of the TrackR |
Above shows the major components after the shell has been removed. It is a surprisingly nice design/layout for such a relatively inexpensive device.
 |
| Close-Up of TrackR Internals |
Above is a close up of the casing with the PCB board inserted.
 |
| Annotated TrackR PCB Board (Front Side) |
The above annotated photo shows many of the interesting features for the TrackR PCB board. I was pleasently surprised to see that the nRF512822 (QFABC0) was used. This is the smallest (memory-wise) chip in the nRF51822 series, with 128K of flash, 16K RAM, and an ARM Cortex-M0 processor.
 |
| Annotated TrackR PCB Board (Back Side with Pogo Pin Pads) |
The above photo shows the back side of the TrackR PCB board. Notice the several circular metallic dots (pads) exposed. There are probably pogo-pin pads used during manufacturing.
The SWDxxx pads are ICP (In Circuit Programming), e.g. loading the firmware onto the device.
The other pads are probably for QA testing during manufacturing to insure the boards works properly. This allows the components which are more likely to fail during the manufacturing process to be tested: Buttons and buzzer are items which often are faulty.
 |
| TrackR Aluminum Shell Case (Note Non-Anodized Area for Antenna Contact) |
The above photo shows the aluminum shell's inside. The most significant feature is the non-anodized (silvery) area. This is where the antenna connector (spring-finger) contacts the shell. In other words, the shell is acting as the antenna.
NOTE: When you put the TrackR back together, and use double-sided tape to secure the shell to the casing again, be especially sure that this non-anodize are is not covered by the tape, otherwise the antenna spring finger will not contact the shell.
Later, given some time, I might attempt to reprogram the TrackR with, say, Eddystone firmware. This will allow the TrackR device to participate in the Google's "Physical Web" initiative. There are apps for Android and iOS which interact with Eddystone devices. I suggest reading about Eddystone and the Physical Web, if you're interested. My github site has a project for Eddystone firmware of the Nordic PCA1001 board, which should be a good starting point for porting to the TrackR board.
Later, given some time, I might attempt to reprogram the TrackR with, say, Eddystone firmware. This will allow the TrackR device to participate in the Google's "Physical Web" initiative. There are apps for Android and iOS which interact with Eddystone devices. I suggest reading about Eddystone and the Physical Web, if you're interested. My github site has a project for Eddystone firmware of the Nordic PCA1001 board, which should be a good starting point for porting to the TrackR board.
7 Comments:
Really Nice teardown :)
We just launched a unique minimalist family of wallets. Besides being a minimalist wallet, we add RFID blocking and GPS tracking. Currently, I am using the TrackR as my tracking device. see my website
gamechangerwallet.com
We are looking for ways to improve performance. Since trackr uses their aluminum case as a antenna, do you think we can improve performance by pressing the wire arms and clip to the trackr's aluminum case?
Also, is this wallet a good candidate for Eddystone?
Great tear down and well documented too.
Most interested in any comments you may have. Please respond to
sales@gamechangerwallet.com
VERY INFORMATIVE , THERE IS NO INTERNAL GPS , IT USES DATA FROM MOBILE GPS, ITS NOT THAT MUCH WORTHY AS THEY SAY , BEACAUSE WE CANNOT TRACK TRACKER BRAVO IF THERE IS NO OTHER TRACKER NERBY DEVICE OF WE ARE NOT IN THE BLUETOOTH RANGE. I WAS PLANING TO BUT 10 BRAVOS BUT I HAVE CANCLED THE PLAN
Is there anyway you can reach me? Skype alvinrn1
Thank you..
Hi there,
I was thinking of hacking the bravo for longer range and louder volume. Could I possibly bother you for some help. I wanted to figure out the signal sent to the buzzer, so I couture maybe use a different one that could use the same signal etc.
Thanks for the information. I really like the way you express complex topics in lucid way. It really helps me understand it much better way.
double aluminium case wallet
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