Location API and AIR Application test
June 19th, 2007 by Mike ChambersWe have been working on some of the new APIs that will go live once the tour actually starts and the bus hits the road. One of the most important APIs is the location API that will provide information about where the bus is, and where it has been. You will be able to grab this data as its own feed, but we will are also planning on using it to tag other items (Flickr, blog posts, tweets) with geo data.
Once we get everything working and installed I’ll make a more detailed post on how it works, but basically it goes:
GPS — AIR App — Server — API Feed
Again, I will make a much more detailed post on this once all of the kinks are worked out.
Anyways, we just did our first on the road test, and it went really well. Below are some images (geotagged) from the test, as well as JSON and GPX feeds of the test.
Download GPX Feed of Test
Download JSON Feed of Test
You can use these feeds to map the route on google earth, or other online maps. Post in the comments if you find any errors or have any issues with the feeds themselves.
Here are the images:
During this test, the database was on the same machine. Tomorrow or Thursday we will do another test, with the database remote (this will be to test the online / offline syncing of the AIR app).
[...] Just a quick fyi, but I just made a post over on the on AIR Bus tour blog about some of the GPS / Location / AIR App / API testing we are doing for the bus tour. [...]
Hey Mike – cool stuff.
The JSON link doesn’t seem to be working.
Also do you know what the final URL of the Bus GPS data will be?
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The JSON link doesn’t seem to be working.
Also do you know what the final URL of the Bus GPS data will be?
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Thanks. I just fixed the JSON link.
URLs for the new data feeds should be live the week before the events start (about 2 weeks).
mike chambers
mesh@adobe.com
[...] Location API and AIR Application test Via Mike Chambers Blog. New Air API available for GPS Location. They are testing it and will use it on the Bus tour. It seams cool. Check the post here. [...]
Mike, what GPS hardware are you using for this test?
>Mike, what GPS hardware are you using for this test?
Im using a Garmin GPS 18, which is working well, and can be mounted on the outside of the vehicle.
mike chambers
mesh@adobe.com
Does your AIR app supply the nice maps shown in the picture, or is it a Garmin app, or Google Maps, or something else like MacGPS Pro? That is an Apple with USB connection to the GPS, no?
I want to buy that Garmin 18, but not sure if I should pony up for all the Garmin software or just get the OEM version…
>Does your AIR app supply the nice maps shown in the picture, or is it a Garmin app, or Google Maps, or something else like MacGPS Pro?
That is built into my AIR app (Im just using the Yahoo map API).
Yeah, im using the GPS 18 on a Mac (via USB). Garmin doesnt have any software for it on the Mac (at least not that I can find). I have been using gpsbabel, which basically acts as a bridge between the app and GPS.
http://www.gpsbabel.org/
(Ill post more on how I use gpsbabel in a later post, but you can see the script here:
http://onairbustour.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/projects/AIRTracker/gps/sendloc
(there is a Windows PowerShell script in that same directory).
This works well except, Apple just relased an updated to OS X (10.4.10), which has caused a lot of problems with USB. In particular, it completely broke connectivity to my GPS.
I am hoping they fix it, and the guys at gpsbabel are looking in to it. For the bus tour, we will just use Windows if the issue isnt fixed on Mac on time, but scheduling tasks on windows is a real pain (so hopefully it will get fixed on Mac).
Hope that helps…
mike chambers
mesh@adobe.com
> we will just use Windows if the issue isnt fixed on Mac
> on time, but scheduling tasks on windows is a real pain
using AT in a batch is not that painfull
or maybe I don’t get where is the pain :)
[...] part of the Adobe AIR applications we are building for the bus, I ran into a need to log information about the app state to the file [...]
[...] and the Adobe bus will be the first vehicle I’ll have been in that has its own API. You’ll be able to track our movements every step of the way. Filed under: Adobe @ 1:18 am [...]
According to the JSON specs at http://www.json.org, the object key names (ie. latitude,longitude,geotime) should be quoted.
Good catch. Ill fix the json feed.
mike chambers
mesh@adobe.com
Actually, as a second note… it is not required to quote numeric values. Not quoting them can be useful so that an application reading your feed can positively identify them as numeric types, rather than as “string that happens to contain numbers” types. JSON supports exponentials in numeric types, so for example 1.183989543E+12 is still a valid numeric type.
This should be fixed now.
mike chambers
mesh@adobe.com
You should also put out a GeoRSS feed (http://georss.org), or incorporate GeoRSS into your normal RSS feed to add location from bus stops.
Most mapping API’s also make it very easy to do overlays using just a GeoRSS feed (and even easier when using Mapstraction – http://mapstraction.com).
I put your Flickr geotagged feed into Mapufacture. You can then mix in your Blog feed, GeoTwitters, and any events from Upcoming or Eventful for a full AIR mashup!
AIR bug posts mapped – http://mapufacture.com/feeds/1000312
[...] of the applications, and video feeds from the bus. This is a video from our on the road test of the GPS AIR applications that upload data and images from the bus to the server, as well as the live video stream that will [...]
The Garmin 18 works fine when under the glass of a sun roof. I’ve had mine there for about three years now & actually leave it on the inside shelf when the laptop is elsewhere.
Have Funn!!
Terry
Hello! nice blog!
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