[OSGeo Africa] Android based apps for navigation purposes
Wes Roberts
wes at biocarbonpartners.com
Mon Jan 7 04:19:23 PST 2013
Dear Colleagues,
Many thanks for all the advice, I appreciate the time taken to help.
I am really looking forward to seeing where QGIS mobile ends up, right now it is a bit buggy and not really ready for operational use (IMHO). I will also check out the various suggestions made below. Unfortunately my galaxy note does not support google earth else I would use that. I can however explore it using the Pocket and XCover we intend using in the field. In terms of navigation I think I used the incorrect term, we are not looking for turn by turn navigation rather a distance and bearing to a point of interest would suffice. We will be working offline all of the time as our site is fairly remote with patchy cell network. As such, all data must be on the device when we leave.
Will post an update when I return,
Wesley
Wesley Roberts PhD
GIS and Remote Sensing Professional
BioCarbon Partners
Email: wes at biocarbonpartners.com
Tel: +27 83 5355 646 (South Africa)
Skype: roberts-w
www.biocarbonpartners.com
-----Original Message-----
From: christopher legg [mailto:christopher.legg at blueyonder.co.uk]
Sent: 07 January 2013 10:19 AM
To: Africa local chapter discussions
Cc: wes at biocarbonpartners.com
Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] Android based apps for navigation purposes
I have experimented with QGis on a Samsung Galaxy Note, but had serious problems. Menu pages for attributes (colours, lines etc) were often larger than screen, and when I tried to access off-screen portions, system crash requiring complete re-booting often resulted.
For position logging - recording tracks and waypoints - GPS Tools is quite good. For point data recording, EpiCollect from Imperial College is excellent, but needs customisation. For GPS navigation when off-line, Maps with me is very good, but Pro version ($5) is needed for large areas.
Good luck!
Chris
On Mon, 2013-01-07 at 09:06 +0200, Tim Sutton wrote:
> Hi
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 8:59 AM, Wes Roberts
> <wes at biocarbonpartners.com> wrote:
> Hi Timm,
>
>
>
> Many thanks for the reply. I have actually installed GIS
> mobile onto my Galaxy Note but have not been able to get
> things running properly. I believe there was a problem with
> adding plugins to the app.
>
>
>
>
> Right python plugins are not yet supported on Android (there is work
> in progress to support it).
>
>
>
> As such I could not get the gps functionality to work.
>
>
>
>
> For me it works 'out of the box' . Note I am referring to the GPS
> realtime capture functionality, not the import / export plugin. You
> can find it by going View -> Panels -> GPS Information. Make sure your
> device's GPS is enabled and hit the connect - you should start seeing
> satellite signals in the panel. In the options you can set the display
> to pan to your current position automatically and you can capture data
> using GPS position too if you like (just start editing a point or
> polygon layer, make it active and then use the add feature / add point
> buttons).
>
> Installation was also a bit finiky, I seem to remember the
> download would bomb if the screen lock came on.
>
>
>
>
> Yeah a known issue :-(
>
>
>
> We will be rolling out our surveys using samsung xcovers so I
> think the QGIS mobile app would probably not be suitable right
> now. Will have to use our old Garmins for the navigation until
> a suitable alternative is available.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> There is also a native port (i.e. with a swipe / touch interface) to
> Android that was done as a Google Summer of Code project last year,
> but it doesnt have GPS integration yet IIRC.
>
>
>
> Do you know if the bug in the qgis mobile version has been
> fixed? Perhaps I should re-install and test on my next visit
> to the field.
>
>
>
>
> Its probably worth updating to see if it is working better for you as
> Marco (the Android dev) puts out regular updates.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
> Tim
>
>
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Wesley
>
>
>
> BCP CLR LOGO-FINAL LoRes
>
> Wesley Roberts PhD
>
> GIS and Remote Sensing Professional
>
> BioCarbon Partners
>
> Email: wes at biocarbonpartners.com
>
> Tel: +27 83 5355 646 (South Africa)
>
> Skype: roberts-w
>
> www.biocarbonpartners.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Tim Sutton [mailto:tim at linfiniti.com]
> Sent: 05 January 2013 11:15 PM
> To: wes at biocarbonpartners.com; Africa local chapter
> discussions
> Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] Android based apps for navigation
> purposes
>
>
>
>
> Hi
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 11:50 AM, Wes Roberts
> <wes at biocarbonpartners.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Africa.osgeo
>
>
>
> We are in the process of piloting a digital data collection
> app for our biomass surveys. In the past we have used a
> handheld GPS with our plots loaded as waypoints. We are now
> moving over to Android based devices and would thus like to
> employ a suitable navigation app which allows us to upload
> points (biomass plots) as well as additional layers such as
> roads and boundaries and navigate to those points. In the past
> we have looked at GPS Essentials, Backcountry as well as a
> number of others.
>
>
>
> We are looking for suggestions for either free or paid apps
> that can be used for navigation and orientation.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Shameless plug - there is a somewhat beta but probably usable
> port of QGIS to android with GPS support. You could simply
> create a QGIS project with your context info and then enable
> GPS tracking and you would be able to see when you get close
> to your plots etc. Note that it does not have any 'turn by
> turn' style navigation support and since it is a direct
> desktop port, it is more suitable for use on a tablet. Using
> an anti-glare screen overlay (those plastic film things you
> stick to the screen) may also be helpful.
>
>
>
>
>
> http://hub.qgis.org/projects/android-qgis
>
>
>
>
>
> Installation can sometimes be a little finicky - write to the
> list if you need help.
>
>
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
>
>
> Tim
>
>
>
>
>
> Many thanks and kind regards,
>
> Wesley
>
>
>
>
>
> Wesley Roberts PhD
>
> GIS and Remote Sensing Professional
>
> BioCarbon Partners
>
> Email: wes at biocarbonpartners.com
>
> Tel: +27 83 5355 646 (South Africa)
>
> Skype: roberts-w
>
> www.biocarbonpartners.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release
> Manager)
> ==============================================
> Visit http://linfiniti.com to find out about:
> * QGIS programming services
> * Mapserver and PostGIS based hosting plans
> * FOSS Consulting Services
> Skype: timlinux Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
> ==============================================
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release Manager)
> ==============================================
> Visit http://linfiniti.com to find out about:
> * QGIS programming services
> * Mapserver and PostGIS based hosting plans
> * FOSS Consulting Services
> Skype: timlinux Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
> ==============================================
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