Until recently, working in the field could be a chore if you were to lose your network connection. You either couldn't work or you had to wait a long time to load data, which could be outdated by the time you need it in the field on your local device. For this cliffhanger, we [...]
Intro to Map Tiles Map tiles are used to show background or other data layers that need to be fast. Instead of rendering the whole viewport from scratch each time a zoom or pan takes place, map tiles show a mosaic of small images (typically 256x256 pixels) to build the whole viewport. Each map tile [...]
What’s the biggest drawback when you lose connectivity in the field? You don’t have access to your data. Application developers (including Cliffhanger Solutions) have gone to great lengths to overcome this by building offline functionality, storing data on the local device, etc. But the solution is not ideal. For one, storage space is limited compared [...]
Going offline while using an application may be necessary when an insufficient data signal is available. Alternatively, going offline can be a choice (like airplane mode) for several purposes, such as saving bandwidth. Fortunately, using Atlas, this has never been easier. Atlas will detect when there is no coverage and automatically switch to offline mode. [...]
Our goal, as engineers, is to come up with ideas on how to do things better, more efficient, while saving cost at the same time. Several of our clients use GPS for fleet management. A GPS device is installed in (maintenance) trucks, and data is collected and visualized on some dashboard applications. In the same vehicles, they also use tablets running our mapping software.
Fleet tracking using GPS
This eliminates the use of a dedicated GPS device and all the associated back-end software, servers, etc. And if you still want to use existing dashboards, simply use our platforms API to derive the data. One of the data sources is, you guessed it, is GPS. After some thinking we thought this was kind of silly: so we have a GPS device, sending data to a central location, which is then being ‘downloaded’ back into the trucks? But tablets and smartphones (both Android and iOS) have GPS build in. And the App is already sending data back and forth. So it doesn’t take a genius to realize that we can easily have the App to share its current location, to be shared an processed between users.
