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mozilla / MozStumbler

Android Stumbler for Mozilla
http://location.services.mozilla.com
Mozilla Public License 2.0
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Collect and submit indoor positioning data #1791

Open Mathnerd314 opened 8 years ago

Mathnerd314 commented 8 years ago

Currently MozStumbler only records data if it has a recent anchoring GPS position, has moved 30 meters or more, and a minimum time interval has passed.

But for indoor positioning, much finer data is needed. MozStumbler should detect when it is indoors (e.g. by the lack of GPS) and, as an option, switch to a WiFi-only scanning mode.

lua86 commented 8 years ago

Is there really backend for sumbitting networks without podition and being useful?

hannosch commented 8 years ago

@lua86 Right now ichnaea / Mozilla Location Service would treat this data the same it does geolocation queries from any other source. If it gets a list of WiFi networks where some of the networks have a known position in its internal database, it either confirms that the networks are still roughly at the same place, have moved to a different place or for previously unknown networks records them as being near the known networks.

If data is submitted to ichnaea and none of the WiFi networks are known, it currently discards that data.

Djfe commented 8 years ago

The thing about indoor location is: You usually want to have more than just lat/lon you want to know height above the sea (to get a floor level for example)

some interesting article about indoor location I found today http://nfarina.com/post/134386695359/indoor-location

MrPeteH commented 7 years ago

*If data is submitted to ichnaea and none of the WiFi networks are known, it currently discards that data."

Is that literally true? I would hope it GPS is valid it will accept completely new WiFi info. I live near many large rural areas that have never been scanned.

hannosch commented 7 years ago

*If data is submitted to ichnaea and none of the WiFi networks are known, it currently discards that data."

Is that literally true? I would hope it GPS is valid it will accept completely new WiFi info. I live near many large rural areas that have never been scanned.

You missed the context of that sentence.

If ichnaea gets data about WiFi networks and those contain GPS based positions, it of course accepts that data and uses it.

This issue report is about indoor positioning and what happens if none of the WiFi networks have GPS positions attached to them. In that case it would use the data to validate existing positions and add new WiFi networks near those it already knows about. Only if WiFi networks without GPS positions and without any of them being known is submitted, than that data is discarded.

Agno94 commented 7 years ago

Only if WiFi networks without GPS positions and without any of them being known is submitted, than that data is discarded.

Is there the possibility to add a mode to Mozstumbler in which I can select my position on the map (approximately) in order to provide information about wifi networks even when GPS are not available and cellular connection is weak ?

MrPeteH commented 7 years ago

Agno94, it makes little sense to add data if there is no GPS. GPS does not depend on availability of cell, wifi or internet... and in fact the GPS technology in smart phones (given sufficient "listening" time) is able to detect GPS inside buildings, urban canyons, even many parking garages.

It's true that GPS is not always available... but I can't think of a reason to add public geolocation records that don't contain it.

Agno94 commented 7 years ago

My own phone(and not only mine) cannot give my a gps location in every building. Especially big or old one with thick walls.

Mathnerd314 commented 7 years ago

@MrPeteH See https://github.com/mozilla/ichnaea/issues/78 for the related issue of using the data, this one is just about collecting it. I linked some academic papers, and Google/Apple/etc. all do indoor positioning too.

MrPeteH commented 7 years ago

OK, let's return to basics for a moment. Mathnerd314 gave a nice pointer to the VERY different suggestion of adding significant functionality for IPS (Indoor Positioning Systems.)

MozStumbler and its database are for GeoPositioning. In other words, a mostly-outdoor (and honestly, pretty-rough) location based on a grid of a few dozen meters. Since points are filtered at 30 meters, we're not going to get even semi-reasonable accuracy at sub-building level within this product architecture.

The alternative, IPS, is a very different architecture. Generally, the location of the various types of beacons is manually recorded on a much more detailed map (yes potentially including vertical.) The database and UI are designed for that purpose.

(And then there are even more advanced applications, such as product-and-human-position-sensing, e.g. the Amazon Go store in Seattle :) ... a friend helped make that a reality. https://www.amazon.com/b?node=16008589011# )