Using a Bluetooth with your IOs Device Activity

Introduction

          The purpose of this activity was to familiarize ourselves to the opportunistic realm of combining IOs devices with GPS technology. Bluetooth makes this connection possible. In this activity, we used our smartphone and paired them to a Bad Elf GPS unit. This way we don't even need to use a WiFi connection to collect data, as it's not always available, but we can still rely on the Bad Elf's superior accuracy. In addition, an internet connection can drain your phone battery. A smart device can access online data and pair a Bad Elf GPS units to a variety of compatible apps, ultimately sharing data between these apps.
 
          Here are just a few of the apps that are compatible with Bad Elf.

Collecter for ArcGIS

This app is essentially ArcGIS for your phone or tablet.

-download maps offline

-collect points, lines, and related data

-collect and update data using the map or GPS

-attach photos to your features

-use professional-grade GPS receivers

-track and report where you've been

Survey123 For ArcGIS

This is a data collection app where you can download and share forms.

GIS4Mobile

This app allows you to connect your enterprise GIS with workers in the field.

-Inspections

-Documentation

Data-Collections

-Registration

-Data stored in safe servers

-synchronize your GIS data with collected field data

-free assistance 

Theodolite HD

A multi-function view finder, this app is used for a variety of recreational activities and disciplines.

-geotagged camera

-compass

-two-axis inclinometer

-rangefinder

-GPS

-map view

-nav calculator

-tracker

Gaia GPS Classic

This is an outdoor mapping app for your phone, tablet, or computer.

-view and download worldwide topo, road, and aerial maps

-record tracks, waypoints, and take geo-tagged photos

-sync tracks, photos, maps, and waypoints to all your devices

-share links

-customize coordinates, color, units, and more

Galileo Offline Maps Pro

This app allows you to search and download maps offline anywhere.

-up-to-date and accurate maps

-takes up less space

-unlimited regions to download

-fast search

-records trips and export as GPX/KML file

-data back-up

Fog of World

This app is a real-life game where you clear the fog of the world where you travel.

-records your tracks, even with app running in the background

-shows everywhere you've been all at once

-analyzes your statistics

-win badges

-can import tracks through GPX/KML files

Methods

          The Bad Elf app is needed for this activity. The app can tell you your location, how fast you're going, and your altitude. When connected to a Bad Elf, you can view your trips on a map. Some students did not have an IOs device and had to join groups of people that did so they could follow along.

          The first step in starting our tracklog was pairing our Bad Elf GPS unit to our phone using Bluetooth. It's important to make sure you are pairing to your GPS unit when you are around others doing the same. It's just a good idea in general to double check your Bad Elf GPS identification. From the Bad Elf app that's been downloaded to your phone, check to see that the GPS has been connected by the Bluetooth.

          When we were ready to start, we started the tracklog on our Bad Elf GPS by holding down the GPS button. We broke up into groups and took different routes around the UW - Eau Claire campus, and our GPS units collected coordinate data and sent it to our phone into the Bad Elf GPS app.

          After a quick jaunt, we reconvened in the middle of campus to upload the data we just collected. From the Bad Elf GPS app, we downloaded the data collected by the GPS into our phone. By clicking on the tracklog can pressing the share button, we were able to share the data as a GPX or KML file by emailing it to other group members. Our group sent out the data in a KML file that could be viewed in GoogleEarth are converted into a shapefile in ArcMap (Figure 1).

Results

          Figure 1 is the path my group took around campus. The data was collected by the Bad Elf GPS and sent to our phone, where it was downloaded and sent via email to each group member in a KML file. The data could have been displayed on outlets like Google Earth, ArcGIS Earth, or ArcMap.

Figure 1: Our Tracklog path displayed on map created through ArcMap.

Discussion/Conclusion

          What's unique about this new application of combining IOs technology with a GPS is the range of user capability. Bad Elf apps can appeal to the traveler with wanderlust to a professional surveyor. Traveling and navigation resources are now easier to access and to expand upon. You can look where you're going and where you've been. On the other end of the spectrum, biologists could use these apps to navigate in the field and collect data on the locations of their samples. Their data could be sent to other users and to other applications to be analyzed. With this IOs-GPS-GIS pairing, there are only more opportunities.

Sources

Apple Inc. (2017). Collector for ArcGIS By ESRI. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/collector-for-arcgis/id589674237?mt=8

Apple Inc. (2017). Fog of World By Ollix. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fog-of-world/id505367096?mt=8

Apple Inc. (2017). Gaia GPS Classic By TrailBehind. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gaia-gps-topo-maps-trails/id329127297?mt=8

Apple Inc. (2017). Galileo Offline Maps Pro By Evgen Bodunov. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/galileo-offline-maps-pro/id891362701?mt=8

Apple Inc. (2017). GIS4Mobile-X By GIS4Mobile ApS. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gis4mobile-x/id1080570270?mt=8

Apple Inc. (2017). Survey123 for ArcGIS By ESRI. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/survey123-for-arcgis/id993015031?mt=8

Apple Inc. (2017). Theodolite HD By Hunter Research and Technology, LLC. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from iTunes Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/theodolite-hd/id425456242?mt=8