A FATHER near Winchester has developed a new tracking device aimed at keeping tabs on his children.

Nick Hopkins, 51, of Main Road in Hursley, said he designed the Transponder, along with his colleague Pawel Maszcyk from their company Ratlake Technologies, to make sure he knew where his children were without hassling them.

He said knowing where his son Max, 16, and daughter Alex, 13, gave him and his wife, Nadia, a sense of comfort.

“It was three years ago when I started this and I had two young children,” he said. “What I didn’t want to do was create something that simply allowed me to know where they are. It’s not something to use to stalk, it was more around using location and getting essential information.

“For me it was around the both of our two kids. They were getting off the school bus, their phones were flat or they’d forgot to call us so we were wondering exactly where they were.”

Now Mr Hopkins is hoping to get the project firmly off the ground as he launches a new crowd-funding site in a bid to raise £10,000.

He said: “I have always been interested in technology, having worked for Virgin and IBM. When I left those companies I wanted to do product development and location was something I was interested in as GPS began to grow.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Nick Hopkins hopes to raise £10,000 for his tracking device

“I thought a tracking device would be a good product to do. At the time Apple had just launched the iPhone and prior to that it was difficult to create new apps.

“It’s not spying, it’s so I know people who are interested can find me. When my daughter went to Normandy on a school trip I knew she got the ferry and, when she was on the coach back, all the parents were hanging around the school for an hour while I knew where she was. I could plan where and when I would collect her.”

He claims the device will have a longer battery-life than GPS systems and but will be more reliable than working from wifi and says it can even be used to keep tabs on luggage when travelling abroad.

“I can just look at the phone so it allows me to keep in touch without phoning them. Our view is it’s always better to know where approximately someone is than not at all.”

To find out more about the project visit kickstarter.com/projects/1047628568/ratlake-transponder-locate-anything-anywhere.