gpsgate vehicletrackerfranson.com/gpsgateserver/gpsgate vehicletracker manual 2.0.pdf · 3.2...

GpsGate VehicleTracker

Application Manual

Version: 2.0Rev: 01

GpsGate VehicleTracker Application ManualVersion: 2.0 - Rev: 01

Table of Contents1 Introduction......................................................................................................................32 System Requirements.....................................................................................................43 Device Management........................................................................................................43.1 Device Mapper..............................................................................................................43.2 Channel Mapper............................................................................................................64 Account management.....................................................................................................64.1 User types......................................................................................................................64.1.1 Vehicles.............................................................................................................................................64.1.2 Operators..........................................................................................................................................64.1.3 Application Administrators (Operators with administration rights).....................................................74.2 Adding Operators..........................................................................................................74.3 Adding Vehicles.............................................................................................................84.4 Managing Accounts.......................................................................................................94.5 Attaching Devices........................................................................................................104.6 Track Recorder settings..............................................................................................104.7 Connecting Devices to GpsGate VehicleTracker........................................................125 Map view page................................................................................................................135.1 Top menu ....................................................................................................................135.2 Vehicle Info Panel........................................................................................................155.2.1 Vehicle Info Tab...............................................................................................................................155.2.2 Status Tab.......................................................................................................................................155.2.3 Commands Tab...............................................................................................................................155.3 Alarm Panel ................................................................................................................165.4 Vehicle and Track Panels............................................................................................165.4.1 Selecting Vehicles...........................................................................................................................175.4.2 Selecting Tracks..............................................................................................................................175.4.3 Drawing Tracks................................................................................................................................185.4.4 Track settings..................................................................................................................................185.4.5 Advanced Filters..............................................................................................................................196 Exporting track data......................................................................................................196.1 Using the Export Window............................................................................................196.2 Exporting from the Map View......................................................................................207 Reports...........................................................................................................................207.1 Distance Reports.........................................................................................................218 Application Settings......................................................................................................238.1 Changing your Password............................................................................................238.2 Track Visualization.......................................................................................................238.3 Localization..................................................................................................................249 Map Selection.................................................................................................................24

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1 IntroductionWelcome to the GpsGate VehicleTracker Application Manual! This guide mainly covers user functionality in GpsGate VehicleTracker.

If you need any additional information, please ask your GpsGate Server Site Administrator for help.

VehicleTracker is a web based vehicle tracking application designed for ease-of-use, flexibility and efficiency. You can view, manage and report on your vehicle fleet with a standard web browser. As an operator you can manage multiple vehicles and optionally access administrative functions if they have been enabled by your application administrator. Each operator has a personal account and access rights are defined for each operator for a set of vehicles. This ensures application flexibility and comfort.

Thank you for using GpsGate VehicleTracker!

The GpsGate Team

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2 System RequirementsAll you need to access the GpsGate VehicleTracker user interface is a web browser. Ask your GpsGate Server Administrator for the url (http-address) to your installation.

The recommended web browsers for GpsGate VehicleTracker are Firefox 2.0 (or later) and Internet Explorer 7 (or later). GpsGate VehicleTracker also supports Internet Explorer 6, Opera 9 and Safari 3.1.

3 Device ManagementNote: This chapter concerns Application Administrators.

VehicleTracker can handle status messages and alarms from supported devices. As a part of the system setup the appropriate mapping should be defined for each device used. The two step process is as follows:

The first step is to map device specific inputs to the common GpsGate message format. With support for multiple devices a common message format is required to enable a clear user interface and structured reporting. For example: the message “SOS Alarm“ can be anything like “SOS”, “SOS Button”, “Alarm1”, “Input1”, “In1”, etc. in different devices. The device mapper is used to transform all these device specific messages to a GpsGate “SOS Alarm”.

The second step is to decide which GpsGate messages should show up as alerts in the VehicleTracker user interface. These messages are added to the alarm channels. This enables flexible implementations where alarm monitoring can be customised to include exactly the right messages.

The configuration steps are explained in more detail below.

3.1 Device MapperYou find the Device Mapper under “Manage Device Mapper” in the “Admin”-menu. There are two predefined default mappings in the installation that you can edit to suit your needs or delete if you don't need them. Go through the following steps for each device type in your implementation.

1. Select “Add new Device Mapper” or “Edit” the device mapper you want to update.

2. Select a supported device in the drop-down menu (please contact us at [email protected] if you want to add support for additional devices)

3. Give the mapper a descriptive name and a description

4. Map the device specific messages to GpsGate Messages. You only need to map the device specific messages that you actually use in you implementation.

5. If you are mapping analog inputs you can add a multiplier and constant to transform the device specific input to a “real” value. For example: If your vehicle tracking device sends fuel level represented as 0 – 255 for 0 to 70 liters your multiplier should be set to 70/255 = 0.2745098. This way the GpsGate “Fuel level” message will contain the actual fuel level in liters. The constant can be used to add an offset to the value.

Note: You can add several Device Mappers for one device type. You would for example want to do this if you have two types of trucks with different fuel tank volumes or different fuel level readings.

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mailto:[email protected]


Note: When you later add vehicles to your installation you can select one Device Mappers for each device.

The screen shot below shows an example with the StarsNav Rover device.

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3.2 Channel MapperYou find the Channel Mapper under “Manage Channels” in the “Admin”-menu. The Channel Mapper is used to select channels for the input messages. In the current version the channels “Alarm” and “SOS” are supported.

All input messages mapped to either “Alarm” or “SOS” will show up as alarms in the VehicleTracker user interface.

Go through the following steps to setup the appropriate alarms for your implementation.

1. Select “Alarm or “SOS” as the Output Channel for each message field that you want to have as an alarm in the VehicleTracker user interface.

2. Press “Save Changes” to save the updated Channel Mapper

To the right is a sample Channel Mapper picture.

4 Account management

4.1 User typesThere are three different user types in GpsGate VehicleTracker: Application Administrators (also referred to as Operators with administration rights), Operators, and Vehicles. The table below shows the differences between the user types.

User type Send tracking data Viewing rights Administration rights Act on alarmsAdministrator Yes Yes Yes YesOperator Yes Yes - YesVehicle Yes - - -

4.1.1 VehiclesVehicles are users that can send tracking information to GpsGate Server. These users can not login to the VehicleTracker user interface. Normally this user type is selected for vehicle mounted tracking devices.

4.1.2 OperatorsIn addition to the Vehicle functionality Operators are able to login to the VehicleTracker user interface to view vehicles, draw tracks, export track data in KML and CSV formats, generate different reports and act on alarms.

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4.1.3 Application Administrators (Operators with administration rights)In addition to the Operator functionality Administrators can create, edit and delete other users in the application.

4.2 Adding OperatorsAs an Application Administrator you can create new Vehicles, Operators and Application Administrators.

You create an Operator by selecting “add Operator” in the “Admin”-menu. This will open up a window where you can enter the Username, Name, Surname, E-mail and Password.

Note: The Username and Password are used both as login credentials to the VehicleTracker user interface and as the client login when sending data to GpsGate Server from a GpsGate Client.

Click “Next” to continue.

Now you select whether you want this Operator to have Admin rights or not.

Click “Next” to continue and click “Finish” to save the Operator. The Operator will now appear in the user list and also in the Vehicle list on the Map view page.

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4.3 Adding VehiclesAs an Application Administrator you create a Vehicle by selecting “add Vehicle” in the “Admin”-menu. Although a Vehicle can not login to the VehicleTracker user interface, you still have to give it a Login ID and Password as that can be used for authentication for example if you have GpsGate Client installed in your vehicles.

Note: The Login ID and Password is used if your Vehicle uses GpsGate Client to send its position or a device that uses Login ID and Password to connect.

Click “Next” to continue and click “Finish” to save the Vehicle. The Vehicle will now appear in the list of vehicles and also in the Vehicle list on the Map view page.

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4.4 Managing AccountsAs an Application Administrator you can edit an existing Operator or Vehicle account by selecting “Manage Vehicles” or “Manage Users” in the “Admin”-menu. To display the Operator / Vehicle you then click the Username/Login ID in the list.

On this page you can change user information such as password and description. If you want to upgrade an Operator to an Application Administrator you have the option to set Administrator rights here.

You can also manage Devices and Track Recorder Settings here, that is explained further in the sections below.

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4.5 Attaching DevicesYou can configure GPS tracking devices to both Vehicles and Operators.

You can enter the following information for a device:

Device name A description of your deviceProtocol The protocol your device uses to connectIMEI The device IMEI number (usually printed somewhere on the device)Device mapper The device mapper you want to use to map status messagesAPN The Access Point Name (GPRS setting received from your telecom operator)Phone number The device phone number in international format (i.e. +...)GPRS username The GPRS username (GPRS setting received from your telecom operator)GPRS password The GPRS password (GPRS setting received from your telecom operator)

Save your settings when you are done.

Click “Send settings to device” to initiate a tracking device with the correct settings to connect to your GpsGate Server. This requires that your system administrator has set up SMS support for your implementation.

For additional information for specific devices, please have a look at the connection guides found on the link below.

http://gpsgate.com/index.php?id=41

4.6 Track Recorder settingsA Track is a collection of geographical positions referred to as Track Points. In the Track Recorder you specify when a new Track should start and how often a Track Point should be stored from the User or Vehicle.

You can enter the following information in the Track Recorder:

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Update Interval (new track)

The time required between two position updates to create a new track

Update distance (new track)

The distance required between two position updates to create a new track

Restart Interval The maxium length of a track (useful for devices that are rarely turned off)UTC Offset Offset for the Restart interval (e.g. +2 initiates the Restart Interval at Midnight

in the UTC+2 time zone)Update Interval (new position)

The time between two position updates. Used both for position recording and device configuration on supported devices.

Update Distance (new position)

The minimum distance between two position updates to make recording. Used for position recording.

Speed change (new position)

Speed change required to trigger position recording.

Direction change Minimum direction change to trigger position recording.and movement Minimum movement, used together with ”Direction change”

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4.7 Connecting Devices to GpsGate VehicleTrackerConnecting devices to GpsGate VehicleTracker is usually handled by your GpsGate Server Administrator. This is a brief overview of how it works, please contact your GpsGate Server Administrator for additional help.

To get position updates to GpsGate VehicleTracker you need to connect a GPS device to GpsGate Server over the Internet. The two main device types are:

● GpsGate Client (available for Windows computers, Windows mobile devices and Java mobile phones)

● Dedicated GPS tracking devices.

GpsGate Client:GpsGate Client is a client product that can be downloaded from GpsGate.com. It is identified as a VehicleTracker user with a Username and Password. Please look at these online guides for connection instructions:

Windows: http://gpsgate.com/index.php?id=30

Windows Mobile: http://gpsgate.com/index.php?id=40

Mobile phone (Java): http://gpsgate.com/index.php?id=42

Dedicated GPS tracking devices:Tracking devices all have different identification methods. The most common is the use of an id number or the device IMEI number. Please look at these connections guide for supported devices and a generic guide for most devices using a NMEA based message format:

Supported devices list: http://gpsgate.com/index.php?id=41

Generic guide: http://gpsgate.com/index.php?id=45

Note: Please contact us at [email protected] if you have a device you would like us to support!

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mailto:[email protected]







5 Map view pageThe Map view page is the default view in VehicleTracker. On this page you see the selected map, a Vehicle list, Vehicle Info for the selected vehicle and panels with Tracks and Track points. Above the map there are a number of menu options depending on if you are an Application Administrator or an Operator.

5.1 Top menu Map view – Takes you to this main page.

Export and Reports – Enables you to export multiple tracks as KML or CSV files. Here you can also generate different types of reports.

Admin – This is where you create/delete/edit Users and Vehicles. (This option is only available for Application Administrators)

Settings – Where you select Languages, Measurement settings, Track filtering, and change your own password.

Maps – If you have more then one map available for this application you can choose between them in this menu.

Help - Will open up a new browser window with the Help-pages.

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Logout – Logs you out from the application.

Above the map on the right hand side of the screen you have the following Display options:

Follow selected vehicle – if this is checked the map will automatically center on the position of the vehicle selected in the Vehicle list.

Pan on click – If this is checked the map will center on a vehicle when you select it in the Vehicle list.

Show trace – This option will show a short red line after the vehicle you have selected in the Vehicle list, the line represents the last 10 position updates for the vehicle.

Full Screen – By Clicking the button you will hide the right side panels and show the map in full screen mode. Click the button again to display the panels.

On the map itself you have several options and tools:

Map modes – There are currently four different Google Map views, Map, Satellite, Hybrid and Terrain. Note that if you are using Custom maps then you will not have these options.

Zoom control – On the left side of the map you have the zoom control bar. Drag it up or down to zoom in and out. You can also zoom in with a double left click on the map and zoom out with double right click.

Zoom area – Click on the button then hold down left mouse button and drag a square over the area you would like to zoom to.

Zoom all Vehicles – Click on the button to zoom in on all shown vehicles on the map.

Undo Zoom – The button undoes the previous zoom operation.

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5.2 Vehicle Info Panel

5.2.1 Vehicle Info TabThe Vehicle Info tab shows information for the vehicle currently selected in the Vehicle list. It displays information such as Latitude/Longitude, speed, heading and when it was last updated.

5.2.2 Status TabUnder the “Status”-tab on top of the Info panel you find all current information from the device attached to the selected user. The information shown is dependant on the Device Mapper selected for the device.

5.2.3 Commands TabUnder the “Commands”-tab on top of the Info panel you find device configuration commands. Here you can start and stop tracking and send a poll-position SMS to request a position from an offline device.

The “Commands”-tab shows the commands available for the currently selected vehicle.

Sending commands is a three step process:

1. Select tracking method, e.g. if you want the device to send position updates over GPRS only you select GPRS.

2. Select the device you want to send the command to.

3. Click on the appropriate command:“Start tracking” starts tracking with the selected tracking method with the current Update interval. The Update interval can be changed in the Track Recorder settings.“Stop tracking” stops tracking.“Poll position” sends a request to the device for a single position update.

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5.3 Alarm Panel You can map events on your device in the Channel Mapper to generate alarms. The available alarm channels are Alarm and SOS. Incoming messages that are mapped to the Alarm or SOS channels will be displayed in the alarm panel.

A new alarm will automatically open the Alarm panel if it's closed and zoom in on the alarm position on the map. In the alarm panel header you can see if there are any active alarms.

You can close an open alarm by clicking on the “Act on alarm”-button on the right side of the desired alarm.

5.4 Vehicle and Track Panels

To the right of the map you have the Vehicle panel where you see all Operators and Vehicles in the application. It shows the Vehicle Name, the time it was last seen, a check-box for Tracks, and one for Show/Not show. You also have a field that shows current status.

Connected and sending position Connected but not sending position Not connected Never been seen

Above the Vehicle panel there is a Search-function where you can search for Operators/Vehicles by Login ID or Vehicle name. If you have a large number of Operators/Vehicles you can use this function to limit the number shown in the Vehicle list.

If you check the box for Tracks for one or more vehicles, this will open up the Tracks panel where you can see the tracks for these vehicles. The Tracks-list consists of the Start and Stop timestamp for the track and the total track length.

You can also delete tracks in this list by clicking the icon to the right of a track.

When you check the box next to a track in the Tracks list this opens up the Track Points panel, where you see the individual positions in the track.

Clicking on the Draw Tracks button will draw the chosen tracks on the map. There is also a button here for clearing all tracks from the map.

Note: The three panels to the right of the map are logically connected from the top down. This means that everything you change in one panel will affect the panel below.

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5.4.1 Selecting VehiclesYou select a User/Vehicle either by clicking on its name on the map, or in the Vehicle list in the Vehicles panel. A selected User/Vehicle will be marked in green color on the map and highlighted in the Vehicle list.

5.4.2 Selecting TracksYou can show multiple tracks for multiple Operators/Vehicles at the same time on the map. First you select the desired Operators/Vehicles by checking the Track box next to the name in the Vehicle list in the Vehicle panel. This will open the Tracks panel below the Vehicle panel that displays the tracks of the selected Operators/Vehicles. The default sort order is with the newest track first, you can sort the lists in another order by clicking the column headers. You can limit the tracks you wish to show by narrowing the start and stop time stamps. By doing so you will only display Tracks that have Track points inside the selected time period.

To view a Track click on the check-box in the Select column in the Track list. This will open then Track points panel and fill the Track points list with all the Track points from the selected Track.

If you have selected the “Auto update points” option all you changes in the Tracks panel will instantly take effect in the Track Points panel. If you are working with many tracks and Track Points at the same time you can disable this function by clearing the check-box. This will Speed up load time. If you have done this then use then Update-button to load the Track Points into the Track Points panel.

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5.4.3 Drawing TracksClick on the Draw tracks button on the top of the Track points panel. This will draw the chosen Track points on the map in a different color for each track.

You can highlight each individual track point in a track by either clicking on the track on the map, or by clicking on it in the Track point list. You remove the tracks drawn on the map by clicking the

icon next to the Draw Tracks-button.

5.4.4 Track settingsNext to the “Draw tracks”-button you have a split-button menu (facing down arrow). Clicking it exposes a menu with different options for track drawing. Check the check-box next to the specific option to enable it for track drawing. You have the following options:

● Show polylineSelect this option to connect all the track points in a track with a solid line.

● Show pointsSelect this option to show markers with direction arrows on the track points. To show a bread crumb trail you should enable this option without the polyline option above.

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● Show fatpointsSelect this option to show “fatpoints” where the vehicle has been idle. A fatpoint also includes information on the length of the stop.

● Zoom to fitSelect this option to automatically zoom in on the entire selected tracks when drawing and re-drawing them. You should un-check this option if you have zoomed in on a part of the selected tracks and you wish to re-draw them without changing the zoom level and position of the map.

5.4.5 Advanced FiltersYou can narrow down your search further based on different search criteria. This is done by expanding the Advanced filters options found on top of the Track points panel.

You have the options time, speed and altitude. By default the search options are disabled. You enable them by checking the check-box to the right of each field.

Below the search fields you have a check-box named “Live Filtering”. When this option is enabled the Track Point list below will update directly when you change your search criteria. If you are working on large amounts of data you have the option to disable the Live Filtering by clearing the check-box and using the Apply Filter button to the right.

6 Exporting track dataThere are two ways to export tracks. The Export-window that you open in the “Reports”-menu, and the Export button that you find in the Track points panel.

6.1 Using the Export WindowThe Export window allows you to choose one or more vehicles that you wish to export tracks for, the start and stop time stamps, the option to “trim” any tracks that cross a start/stop time stamp, and whether it should be exported as CSV (Comma Separated Values) for use in, for example, Excel or Access, or in KML (Keyhole Markup Language) format for Google Earth. Note that all time stamps are exported in UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) format.

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6.2 Exporting from the Map ViewExporting from the map view is done by clicking on the Export button in the Track points list. You export the tracks that are listed in the Track points list, and shown on the map if you have drawn them. All time stamps are exported in UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) format.

7 ReportsVehicleTracker Reports are found on the Reports-tab in the “Reports”-menu. Reports are output in HTML format.

The reporting framework allows for easy extension of VehicleTracker reporting capabilities.

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7.1 Distance ReportsThere are two distance reports, Distance Report and Distance Report (detailed). Select the report you want from the drop-down list on the Reports tab and click “Open”.

The next step is to select the vehicles for the report and the time interval. Click “Generate report” to continue.

Below is a sample of a weekly report for one vehicle.

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The report contains the distance travelled for each vehicle, travel time, average and maximum speed. The length of idle time between two trips is also displayed.

You can click the Map-links in the address column to show the start and stop positions for each trip on a Google map (this requires an Internet connection).

Click to open the report in a new window for printing.

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8 Application SettingsUnder the Settings link in the top menu you can select the Language file of choice, change the Measurements you want the user interface to display (Metric/EN-US/Nautic) and change your password.

8.1 Changing your PasswordUnder the “General” tab on the Settings menu you can change your password. Enter your old password, your new password and finally a verification of your new password.

8.2 Track VisualizationUnder the “Track Visualization” tab on the Settings menu you enable track filtering.

Track filtering has been added to better visualize the true movement of a GPS tracking device. Under imperfect conditions, such as under a roof or in dense areas with high buildings, a GPS receiver can report a valid position with bad accuracy. On an unfiltered track this can be seen as jerky moves, that not only look ugly but also add distance travelled to a GPS device actually

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standing still.

To enable track filtering, you check the “Use filtered reader”. This adds fatpoints and re-calculates the track length to better depict the actual movement of the GPS device.

Note: The original tracks are kept so you can un-check track filtering at any time to see the raw un-filtered track data.

8.3 LocalizationUnder the “Localization” tab on the Settings menu you can change your preferred language and the measurements you want your application to use.

Ask you GpsGate Server Site Administrator for help if you would like to add more languages to your application.

9 Map SelectionIn the Maps menu you can choose between the maps available to your VehicleTracker application. Ask your GpsGate Server Site Administrator if you want to add custom maps to your application.

Date: August 29, 2008 (24)

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