Android Mapping Application

Project Title

Android Mapping Application

Project Area of Specialization Computer ScienceProject Summary

                            Project Summary

One of the most important uses of smartphones are location-based services (LBS). Location smartphone can be easily identified due to the special internally equipped chip that supports Global Positioning system (GPS). Using GPS together with Google map can help the user discover bookstores, restaurants, etc. Most people today use their mobile phone to navigate around the world. Many users use applications that offer directions, places or other information that is based on the current location. Popularity for this type of application (LBS) is driven to develop an application in this area. The freest software and commonly used apps do not meet the user's needs within user interactivity. These apps either navigation systems, find places nearby, or show locations on a map. However, the online map apps do not support the ability to add or delete a specified location. This paper presents a way to build an online Interactive navigation map based on Google map. This can be done using a centralized database MySQL that exists on a server and client applications (in mobile phones). This paper also presents a comparison between the proposed method and the most famous applications running in the case of Online modes like "Google Maps" and "Hare" Maps'.

Project Objectives

                          Project Objective

• Detect the user's location and display it on the map.
• Allow users to zoom in and out on the map.
• Allow users to choose between two modes: online mode to display the map View pre-downloaded or automatically cached maps in global and offline modes. No internet connection is required.
• Track your location online and offline (not using the Internet).
• Even in areas with traffic lights, provide a compass pointing north Missing.
• Provide a scale to show the relationship between the distance in the map and the actual distance.
• You can send the user's location to the saved emergency number.
• Receive the location sent by other users and display it on the map.
• Warn the user to receive a message containing the location sent by another user.
• Allows you to register and edit emergency numbers.

All map applications contain two main functions: viewing the map and identifying user location.

1. Show map.

The application needs to display a sufficiently detailed map so that the user can find a specific location Attractions.

Display the map from the map server. You can view it directly from the server or save it to.

Mobile phones used offline. Displaying the map directly from the server has the following disadvantages:

Loading map tiles depends on the availability and speed of your Internet connection. In other words, there is no signal in some places, but the data rate is very high.

The level of detail of the map displayed by the application depends on the quality of the map. On the server, the quality of maps between servers varies greatly, even if they are the same.

1. Identify the user's location.

The mapping application allows users to find and locate destinations able to identify the location of the user. The required accuracy depends on the purpose.

This is an application, but for most applications, some precision is sufficient if the application allows it. Determine a sufficiently accurate location so that users can see their streets and buildings If so, this level of accuracy is good.

At the same time, the position accuracy provided by the application depends on the method. The accuracy and availability of the location and its method used to determine the specific area where the user is located.

Project Implementation Method

                        Project Implementation Method

The proposed application requires an internet connection and a centralized database (MySQL). This application is a client / server architecture. The Android phone acts as a client and the server consists of two parts: a MySQL database and a PHP API script. The PHP API script acts as a link between the mobile application and the MySQL database.

The main function of PHP API is to perform the following operations:

• Accept read and write requests from the customer.
• Execute and process requests based on the MySQL database.
• Format the output as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).

However, the database consists of a table and eight sections. The following are: (longitude, latitude, zoom level, location name, location data, location level and location category) used for each specific location on the map.

Operations

It consists of four operation:

• Adding a new location marker on the map

This function can be activated by long clicking on the map (event: onMapLongClick). These coordinates represent the location on the map.

• Deleting a location marker from the map

To remove a location marker from the map, the location marker is selected by clicking on it (Event: onMarkerClick) to display the coordinates of the location on the map.

• Displaying information of pre-specific place

When user click on (EventonMarkerClick), it would display the coordinates of the location on map and give the detailed information of a specific place.

• Drawing a path between two points

Many users must specify the optimal path between two points on the map, click on the map first and click to specify the original location and click the second to set the destination (Event: onMapClick).

Benefits of the Project

                       Benefits of the Project.

Any mapping application includes two main benefits:

• Displaying a map
• Determining the user's location.

1. Display a map.

The application should display a map that is detailed enough to allow the user to find a particular place of interest.

The map is displayed from a map server. It can be displayed directly from the server or stored in the handset for offline use. Displaying the map directly from the server has the disadvantage that the loading of the map tiles will be dependent on the availability and speed of the Internet connection i.e., in some places there is no signal, and in others there is signal, but the data rate is very small.

The level of details of the map displayed by the application will depend on the quality of the map on the server. Maps qualities vary greatly from one server to another, and even for the same server the level of detail varies for different regions.

Many map servers allow the community of users to edit maps and contribute additional details, and then they review the edits and display them in the server. After that the developers can access them by the application or download them.

To display maps from a particular server, developers use the application programing interface (API) provided by the server that provides classes needed to access the maps located in the server.

1. Determine user location.

To help users find a destination, or pinpoint their locations, mapping applications include the ability to determine the user's location. The required accuracy depends on the purpose of the application, but for most applications the degree of accuracy is sufficient if the application can determine the location accurate enough for the user to be able to know what street or building, he is in, this degree of accuracy will be fine.

At the same time the accuracy of the location provided by the application depends on the method used to determine the location, accuracy and the availability of that method in the particular region where the user is.

Android supports determining the user's location using global position system (GPS) that is built in the handset or using information from a nearby transmission tower. Moreover, if the user is connected to a Wi-Fi network, it can be used to determine the location. It must be mentioned that all these location providers are unreliable to some extent. For example, GPS signals do not reach inside buildings.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

                  Technical Details of Final Deliverable

As with any project, the first phase was to collect and analyse the information, trying to understand how the project can be carried out, what are the different methods, along with their merits. Any mapping application involves two parts:

• Part of the client
• Part of the server

The client side provides a user interface and accesses a map server. On the server-side developers prepare the maps in a well-defined format and provide an API to access the map located on the server, then developers can use the API to develop applications that access the maps and use additional features provided by the API.

Some servers publish their API for free access and public use, others require an API key, and some charge a fee for using the API. There are so many mapping APIs available, each belonging and accessing a specific server.

The most famous API is the Google mapping API, but there are many other mapping API’s i.e.

• MapQuest
• Nutiteq
• ArcGIS
• Decarta
• Guidbee
• Mapsfore
• OpenLayers
• Osmdroid.

Automatic location suggestions are very fast because they come directly from the Google Maps API. Location data is extracted in real time from Google Map location database, which means that location is stored in a google Map database.

Google Maps is the most popular SDK for embedding a map in an app. It is known for its huge location base and decent routing. It has all the features of The Google Maps app for mobile apps: geocoding, routing, images, street view, and place information. This application is actually based on the SDK available for public use. This means that your users are not in the Windows account will be absolutely comfortable using a map from Google, as they are most likely already familiar with it.

The Google Map API is a robust tool that can be used to create a custom map, searchable map, check-in functions, display live data synchronization with location, route planning.

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry TransportationOther Industries IT Core Technology OthersOther TechnologiesSustainable Development GoalsRequired Resources