Bikepacking App ready for AZT

[DaveH]

As soon as I got a smartphone I started looking for apps that worked with SPOT data.  Since there's always an "app for that" I just had to find it, right?  Well, that search came up empty.

So I made my own.

Without further ado, I present http://bluedot.mobi/tl





What can it do?

- It's integrated with TrackLeaders.com and shows the most recent position report for each rider in a tracked event.
- You can add any SPOT unit/rider to your installation.  All you need is the public SPOT unique ID (part of the URL of the sharepage).
- The ability to add your own routes in KML format.  
- Cuesheets:  cuesheet data is derived from the waypoints in a kml file.
- Offline use:  it is designed to work offline.  When offline, there is a special limited set of base maps will still work, and the rest of the app continues to function (except for things that need data connections like spot updates).  NOTE:  BlueDot is not a GPS replacement.  The map resolutions are not good enough to use for precise navigation.

Map features:
- Several basemaps to choose from when connected:  road, aerial, hybrid, MyTopo, open cycle.
- Radar!  Yes, I said radar overlay
- SPOT reports are color coded by age of the last report.  Blue < 30 min, orange 30-90 min, gray > 90 min.
- GPS:  hit the GPS button to center the map about your current location.  An opaque circle is overlayed to show the accuracy of your reported position.  This works with or without the GPS chip being activated, it is just a lot more accurate when the chip is on.
- "Switches" to enable/disable any layer via the layers page.

I've got a lot of ideas to improve the rider pages and cuesheet functionality, but for now, it is ready for AZTR, all 750 miles of it.

If you'd like to upload your own KML file to the app, first go to http://bluedot.mobi/blog and setup an account (just a few clicks, no moderation at this point).  Once you have an account you'll be able to upload KML files to a specific directory, and then access them from the bluedot app using your credentials from the blog account.

I'm eager to hear how it works in the wild.  It has not had a lot of testing so you've been warned  Feel free to post any questions or feature requests here.  I'll have some better help docs up on the blog eventually, but probably not before AZTR.  I need to ride a bike!!

This has been a labor of love, completely free, my gift to the community I've had the pleasure to ride with the past decade.  Use for good, not evil!

[Done]

Wow, Dave, what can I say? What great tool! I'm going to check it out this weekend. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cheers,
Toby

[Marshal]

my smart phone is actually pretty dumb, I think it (me) has a mental block about being used for more than just a simple phone call

ie: about the smartest thing it (I) does is upload a simple photo to my computer--

and while I might want to 'know' about the fellow racer ahead or behind me I am usually so stretched I could not respond anyway--so I will leave that to the racers that have enough humph in the motor to actually respond in a meaningful way--

But a quick & easy radar map on top of the route??? Now you got me!!

guess I have try to raise my phones IQ a bit-so far no luck but will try some more pre AZTR!

[Done]

I'm really looking forward to following some TD riders, and I usually have my phone with me when I'm not in front of my computer. As for Spot-stalking, I suppose that some people could use this app for that, but it's pretty hard to get a voice signal on most of the longer rides--nevermind a solid data signal!

[DaveH]

My original thought was to have something I could glance at while rolling into/through a town where there was signal.  Get a quick status update then put the phone away.  That is still probably the best way to utilize it for *racing*, but I did make it so everything is stored locally and the size of the returned data from SPOT requests is tiny - not much connection needed for those.

I'm looking forward to a reality check next week.

[MattRuscigno]

This is super awesome. I'll definitely download and use it! Thanks so much.

[bmike-vt]

iPhone? Android?

[krefs]

It's about time we get to see this! It looks very nice, especially the radar overlay. Now get out there and ride your bike all weekend, because I'm sure you've spent far, far too long in your cave lately...

[DaveH]

my smart phone is actually pretty dumb, I think it (me) has a mental block about being used for more than just a simple phone call

Marshall, I was really thinking about you when I was designing the cuesheets.  Your description of how you prepared for TD last year, with all the digital photos and cuesheet data, well that gave me some inspiration.  For TD I hope to have Bluedot ready to store images that are linked to from waypoint data.  This will let you (for example) store elevation profile images for each section of interest...combine that with some smart route analysis and the on-board GPS chip and...oh I'm getting ahead of myself!  These have been the things that wake me up at 3 am the past 4 months...

For AZT, you can load all the cuesheet data you like.  Here are some guidelines as to how that would be done.  

First, some concepts.  Once you have uploaded a file to the blog page and then retrieved it from the app, essentially what you have done is save the file to a cache on your phone.  It is not yet loaded in the map.  Go the the "Routes" page, and you will see your new file.  Touch it and you'll have options to show on the map, and to set it as the cuesheet source.  You can do one, both, or none of the above.  There can be only one source for cuesheets at any given time.  There can be any number of routes on the map (of course too many will grind your phone to a halt).

Now for the KML format.  Right now I recommend Google Earth to create your files.  There is a KML bug in TopoFusion that has been fixed but not yet released (it will be soon).  You should order your waypoints in the file in the order that you will approach them on route - that is the order they will be displayed in.  Drag/drop works fine in GE for that.

Keep the file format relatively simple and it should work fine.  Line colors/widths are preserved in the bluedot map but at this point external links are not cached (they will show up with a data connection both as a popup if the labels are on the map, and in the cuesheet).

Hope that helps - I figured it could be a bit confusing to download a file but it doesn't immediately go to the map...

[DaveH]

iPhone? Android?

Both and then some!  It is a web app based on HTML5 and half a dozen bitchin' frameworks.  So far I have positive reports on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.  It does require that you allow it enough time to download all the files to the cache if you want to use it while offline - click the settings button and the top line will tell you what the cache status is.

[bmike-vt]

Both and then some!  It is a web app based on HTML5 and half a dozen bitchin' frameworks.  So far I have positive reports on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.  It does require that you allow it enough time to download all the files to the cache if you want to use it while offline - click the settings button and the top line will tell you what the cache status is.

cool.
i'll test drive it later next week... although i'm far from the action.

might just firm up my thoughts on the dyno hub / charger setup for the tour divide.
especially if we can hack cue sheets and other personalized data onto it.

it wouldn't replace a gps, but certainly could augment it... especially if some of that stuff was preloaded with no need for data...

[ActionJackson]

I've got it loaded up now on my Motorola Droid and will give you some feed back after the AZT.

Perfect for being away from the computer and follow the action from my phone.

Thanks and good luck out there next week.

[DaveH]

Awesome.

FYI I'm making some changes this morning - there is an issue with the live update of the event roster.  I'll post here when I have the kinks worked out.

[DaveH]

OK, updates complete.

To ensure you have a setup that works offline, make sure your application status is "cached". 

Each time an update is made to the event roster, those changes will get pushed to Bluedot and require a download of about 3mb.

The most recent version is 0.61.  You should see this in application status:



If you've got 0.61 you should receive any roster updates within an hour or so of when they happen when you're connected.  Once the race begins those should be few.

NOTE:  to get 0.61 you may need to clear your browser cache.  If using the Dolphin browser (it's awesome!) the settings you need are buried in settings->advanced settings->HTML5 data and clear cache.

[ActionJackson]

Just some quick feedback.

I updated to 0.61 and the roster updated almost immediately.

I find the app very quick and snappy if that means anything, ha!

Just an idea, what if you moved the "events" button to underneath "Map" that way people can quickly and easily access an event. Then since Routes is customizable through "Settings" by "Add a route" you could move it to where "Events" was located. Really an ease of use thing if it is possible.

I work for a large wireless carrier and do a fair bit of software testing both on PC and phone. Some other ideas I will just throw out there since you asked, some of which you might have already thought of.
1. "Riders" add a link that auto updates to MTBcast for call in replay. May need someone to link your app rider list to MTBcast. Someone out there might volunteer!
2. "Riders" lots have blogs and maybe add a link to that to read their setup, training etc.
3. "Riders" I am not sure how it will act once things are under way, but it would be neat if it could somehow list the placing of each rider overall from within the riders list based off GPS/SPOT location on route only. The way we see blue dots now it a long line of riders with their initials and for the bigger endurance events with many riders it takes a while to zoom in/out finding whom is who. Simply more user friendly.

This looks to be a great app for our corner of the dirt.

I'll throw out more ideas as they come to me.

J

[DaveH]

Thanks for the feedback!  These are great ideas.  I've thought of some of them but not all.

The rider pages are currently a blank slate more or less.  Right now they get the contents of the popup box on Trackleaders.com.  There are several items I have considered adding to it, Twitter is probably a good way to make it more social.  I had not thought of MTBCast links though - that is a killer idea!  I think Joe has that set up with RSS, if so it should be doable without too much trouble.

Between Scott, Joe, Matthew and myself we're going to have to come up with data standards LOL.

The trickiest thing about Bluedot is that I've given the riders top priority (over non-participants), and that means the app cannot break when there is no data connection.  The more immediate development will likely go towards cuesheets and track development in preparation for Tour Divide riders, but I'm really going to push for some social additions too.

I like your idea about the events.  That event selector doesn't need to be a new page, it might just as well be next to the map button.

[Slowerthensnot]

crazy neato!

[Stefan_G]

Holy crap.  I'm officially old skool...

Thanks for an incredible contribution, Dave!  What a super idea.

[DaveH]

There have been 2 more updates since 0.61, and the app is now at 0.63.

0.62 fixed the offline features.  There were some issues with the caching mechanism, now all is well.

0.63 adds rider history.  So, the app now preserves rider history from one session to the next.  Each time you fire up the map for the first time in a session, it will automatically display the last known point for each rider.  Even if you are out of service it will at least remember the last known point - I figured this could be handy if bivying out of service.

That's it for feature updates until go time.  The roster will be updated a few times, but that is all automated.

Now if it could only produce gallons of water on demand

[bmike-vt]

When I go to the link you posted I get this:


when I go here:
http://bluedot.mobi/tl.html

or here:
http://bluedot.mobi

or here:
http://bluedot.mobi/tl

it works.