What X-Track Does

X-Track is an open-source GPS bike computer—think of it like the speedometer and trip computer you'd find on a car, but designed specifically for bicycles and hikers. It displays real-time speed, distance, time, calories burned, and your current location on a built-in map. The standout feature is that it works offline: the maps are stored locally on a microSD card, so you don't need a phone signal or internet connection while you're riding.

How It Works

The device is a small, self-contained gadget with a 1.5-inch screen, a GPS receiver, and a rechargeable battery. As you ride, it picks up your location from GPS signals and displays it on the offline map in real time. You can zoom in and out to see more or less detail. The device also tracks your movement history—every pedal stroke is logged—and when you're done, you can save your route in a standard GPX file format (a common format for sharing routes with other cyclists and hikers). It includes extras like a step counter, an electronic compass, and altitude tracking. All your data is automatically saved to the device even if the battery dies.

Who Would Use This

This is made for cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts who want to track their rides without relying on a smartphone. Someone training for a cycling event could use it to measure distance and pace. A hiker exploring new trails could keep offline maps and record their path to share later. It's also a good fit for people in areas with poor cellular coverage, or anyone who just prefers a dedicated bike computer over carrying a phone. The project is open source, so hobbyists and makers could also use it as a starting point to build their own GPS devices.

Technical Note

The device is built around a specific microcontroller and uses LVGL (a graphical interface library) to power the screen. The designer included a PC simulator so developers can test and debug the software on a computer without needing the actual hardware, which makes it friendlier for contributors. The code is written in C, so it's fairly close to the metal and efficient on the resource-constrained device.