AlpineQuest & OfflineMaps

Thanks for another great release of AQ -- 1.4.5

There is always some things that we ( users ) wish to see in
AQ and to work in a "little" different way.
These suggestions would certainly improve the application
and the number of happy users with it, although increases the code complexity and implies additional work.

Concerning AQ 1.4.5, I will make some comments/suggestions about some
old and new features (some of them suggested by me at
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1306,
and marked as planned for 1.4.5 release. So, I am assuming they were
made and included in AQ 1.4.5)


I) At "Location Tracker" panel

1) As said in "Summary list of suggested features" post

--

More information in the tracker window (by Rac here) planned
for 1.4.5

It will be nice to see more live information here (this
information must be actualized at every "location" acquired):

(for example)

Length (it is OK)
Total time ( it is OK) Average Speed ( it is OK)
Moving time Moving Av. Speed
Elevation (Geoid) Min/Max Gain/Loss

ETA distance ETA Time



2) on "track information window" (after touching plot)


i) in statistics (filtered values): the number of locations is
lower than total ones. Why?
This is for all statistics values or only for the plot?

ii) when I touch plot I can change the X, and Ys quantities,
but they are reseted to the default ones (Y-elevation,
X-distance, Y1- speed) when I exit to the "Location Tracker
panel". Why don't the selected quantities remain to be
followed in the live plot?

iii) the Ys axis scale is not always suitable to follow the
evolution of the quantities (principally for elevation). Why not
use, for example, Max + (10 % or 15 %) x Max for upper scale range (similar for lower scale limit)?



B) On the map display, as I already have suggested in my other post, I
would like to see information about "real" moving time and "real"
average velocity. I think, this can be easily inserted in the tracker
information box.


C) "Store Area" -- Off-line Maps

A really nice feature. Thanks.

However, the zoom level doesn't say much to me. I also don't
understand the little red line on the "bar" that follows the Map name.
Don't you think it will be useful to have a small scale (like that
in the map workspace) to show/clarify the selected zoom level?



D) ETA

As said in "Summary list of suggested features" post

--

ETA on a waypoint based on current speed (by Rac here) planned for
1.4.5

When, in my other post, I suggest ETA to a waypoint (target point), I
was thinking in something like this:

I import to AQ a track named X, downloaded from wikiloc, GPSIes, or a
previous saved track. I select in AQ to follow the X track ( a
collection of location points). I select a target (one of the "location
points" from X track). I start recording my track and I am following X
track. Maybe AQ based on GPS accuracy and location points can alert
de user if distance to the track X is greater than a specified
threshold. I would like to have the information of "real distance to
travel (following X track) to target point" - based on the information
from track X and "estimated time to arrival to target point" using the
"real distance" and the average speed of the current recording track.

(this, I think is similar to following a route to some destination)




I hope I have been clear in my suggestions!

Best regards

Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the delay of this answer.
I have added a lot of small improvements in the last version, but some will require more work for sure.

I) 1) Yes I'll try to add the missing values.
I) 2) i) All the locations are filtered before computing statistics and drawing graphics. They are "grouped" based on some threshold (speed, times, elevation diff, etc). This is done in order to smooth them, and compute statistics more fast (the spacial information is lost but useless for the stats).
I) 2) ii) Yes you're right both graphics are independent right now, but it could be good to maintain the settings.
I) 2) iii) The min/max values of the scales are usually set as the min/max values of the plotted data. There are 2 exceptions:
- If both Y axis share the same data type (both elevations for example), they are merged to correspond;
- There is a minimum scale amplitude, which depends on the data type (I think it's what you're encountering): 250m for elevations, 50hPa for pressures, etc. It has been done (following an user request) in order not to have a plot going from the min to the max of the window, looking like hiking high summits, while running on a flat path... Having an minimum amplitude makes flat profiles appearing flats, which if much nicer...

B) Yes I'll try to add it. It's technically easy you're right, it hasn't been done yet because it require a complete re-computation of the stats at each locations, which could reduce the battery life. I'll try to make some tests to see if there is a visible impact.

C) The zoom level allows you to set the maximum details level to download. Topo maps are usually raster maps, composed of various images for all different zoom levels. Since all levels have a different set of images, they have to be all downloaded separately. For the more detailed levels the number if images is huge which implies a very large storage size. This setting allows you to omit the last scales.
There is a size limit for each download session, if your reach this limit, the bar turns red. The bar is a map scale like in the map workspace, at least it should be. You can find screen-shots here to check if it's conform on your device: http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/1.4/ ... store-area

D) The ETA feature will be complete soon. In fact, it's not so far from what you are expecting, but not yet that:
- The speed is based on the 20 last locations of the user. I plan to use the one from tracker data (if available).
- The ETA distance is based on the currently followed track, from the closest user location to the end. It seems that you're suggesting to stop on the targeted point. It's interesting but I should take care of the case of a moving targeted point (when using the auto-select mode). This distance is not displayed yet, but it should be you're right. Concerning the warning when going to far from the track, it's in the waiting features list. I'll try to add this soon.

Thanks for all these suggestions,
Best regard

Thanks for your kindly answers to all my suggestions and doubts.

I) 1) I will appreciate it.
I) 2) i) I don't know if I completely understand: "Suppose we have 1000 real locations with time and position information and that this information is smoothed based in several thresholds ( are some of the locations/information discarded ? ) and in the end of this process we have only 234 filtered locations. The stats values shown are calculated based on these filtered locations". Is the used algorithm something like this? I hope/suppose that in the data manipulation there isn't lost information.
I) 2) ii) Yes, I think so. It will be nice.
I) 2) iii) Yes there is the 250 m scale amplitude in elevation that I am finding. Makes sense in some situations, but would it be difficult to have an option to switch between: a) 250 m and b) [1.10 x Max, 0.90 x Min] ?

B) Ok, it makes sense to me.

C) Thanks for the explanation. It is clear for me now.

D) I will be waiting for you to complete this feature.


I hope to see this nice application to improve even further.

Best Regards

Hi again.
For the I) 2) i) (smoothed locations):
The 1000 real locations will be smoothed to create 234 locations. These filtered location are then used in the plots and for the stats.
There is a way to plots the real locations: long-press a track and select "edit profile". You'll have a dual view showing a profile using the real locations (needed in this case to be able to delete particular "real" locations). You'll see that this real profile if much noisy.
In fact, the smoothing process extract the data useful for the graphs and stats, and mean some of them by blocks. The coordinates of the locations are discarded (is you walk in circle or on a straight line won't change your speed, distance, elevation, etc.). In a way, no information is lost since all other values taken into account (technically it's not true since the process is not reversible, but all input data is not modified).

Concerning I) 2) iii), I have plans to add a tool-bar for the graphics, I could add this feature then (technically it's very easy).

Hi,

I) 2) i) (smoothed locations)

Thanks for the clarification on this subject.

About I) 2) iii), toolbars for controlling the range of the scales would be really nice.

I hope to see some of these suggested "minor" improvements implemented in AQ in a near future.

Best Regards

Hi again,
I have added few more information in the Tracker, I have added one line with elevation gain and loss. I have also replaced added the moving time and speed (second line).
Finally we have:
- Total distance and total time;
- Moving speed, time and distance;
- Cumulated gain, loss, and elevation difference (end from start).

Concerning the other features:
- axis settings reseted: done in 1.4.6;
- axis bounds (+/- 10%): will be done when adding the graphs toolbar;
- live info on the map: planned, I need to check the battery issue;
- ETA improvement, planned, should be in the next version (I hope).

Hi,

Thanks for the improvements you have done in AQ 1.4.6.

About the "more information in the Tracker" I have some more few suggestions:

1) maybe the label "Speed" in second line could be renamed to "Av. Speed"
2) I think is no need for distance information in second line (isn't the distance the same)
3) It would be nice to see "actual" elevation values in third line or so.



A found also a bug in computed information or I didn't understood the meaning of the information:

I done a test track with 3 segments (pause and restart recording) - I attach the gpx file
The total distance traveled ( sum of the 3 segments ) was 536 m and the total time 18.15m (not the moving time).

At tracker information we have:
As you can see: i) the moving and total time are equal - seems that the computed information don't take into account the time I have paused recording; ii) the distance traveled is greater than the one shown at live information on map view. This, is probably because as the "software" don't "detect" the recording pause, the distance is the sum of the 3 segments of the track plus the 2 straight lines connecting the end of the segments to the start of new one.


This is a bit annoying ...

Thanks
Rac

Yes the gaps between segments are taken into account (it has been though like that). I'll have a look at how the live info is computed.
The total time is computed based on all locations, ignoring segments.
It's the same thing for the moving values, except that the distance between segments is usually discarded due to a speed under the moving threshold. That's also why the moving distance can be different (smaller) than the total distance. However it's a particular case, usually a new segment starts around the end of the previous one, so both distances are equal.

Hi,

I agree with you that for a "normal" track both distances are almost equal. However we are talking about recorded tracks - Why not for whatever reason (user decision) the segments can't be apart ? I think the live computed distance makes more sense (in this way we have the same meaning for all situations).

The total time is OK. However the moving time must take into account the stopped calculated time interval based in velocity threshold and the time interval that recording of the track is paused (user action).

I hope I have been clear in my thoughts!

Best regards
Rac