Trimble GPS Integration with Pega Field Service - GPS accuracy issue
RuleTek has a Pega customer who requested a Proof of Concept on Field Data Capture. The client uses a Trimble R1 handheld GPS device to determine their physical location within one meter accuracy; they must have an accurate location due to Federal regulations. The Trimble R1 handheld device passes the GPS data to their iPhone via Bluetooth. The iPhone contains the Pega Field Service mobile app. Having their Field Inspectors record their pipeline inspection data in the Pega Field Service app replaces a manual, paper-based process. They also need offline capability hence the need for Pega Field Service. The value proposition of transforming this business process is very high however to date the challenge has been daunting.
The Pega customer uses the Trimble R1 device to record the GPS location at the start of a pipeline inspection and when they record the starting latitude/longitude, they also need to know the accuracy of the GPS coordinates. An iPhone's native capabilities related to GPS location and accuracy calculations are only accurate to about 10 meters. The RuleTek developer has attempted to use Trimble's 'GNSS Status' iPhone app to pass the GPS data through to the Pega mobile application but the accuracy calculations are showing accuracy only to 5 meters against a requirement of less than one meter. Outreaches to Trimble technical support have not been fruitful.
RuleTek has a Pega customer who requested a Proof of Concept on Field Data Capture. The client uses a Trimble R1 handheld GPS device to determine their physical location within one meter accuracy; they must have an accurate location due to Federal regulations. The Trimble R1 handheld device passes the GPS data to their iPhone via Bluetooth. The iPhone contains the Pega Field Service mobile app. Having their Field Inspectors record their pipeline inspection data in the Pega Field Service app replaces a manual, paper-based process. They also need offline capability hence the need for Pega Field Service. The value proposition of transforming this business process is very high however to date the challenge has been daunting.
The Pega customer uses the Trimble R1 device to record the GPS location at the start of a pipeline inspection and when they record the starting latitude/longitude, they also need to know the accuracy of the GPS coordinates. An iPhone's native capabilities related to GPS location and accuracy calculations are only accurate to about 10 meters. The RuleTek developer has attempted to use Trimble's 'GNSS Status' iPhone app to pass the GPS data through to the Pega mobile application but the accuracy calculations are showing accuracy only to 5 meters against a requirement of less than one meter. Outreaches to Trimble technical support have not been fruitful.
Has anyone in the Pega Community had experience with Pega Field Service and the challenge of obtaining GPS data and claculating the accuracy of this same GPS data? Does the integration of a mapping tool such as ESRI ArcGIS mapping help to solve this issue? Any suggestions re integrating accurate GPS data into Pega Field Serivce is much appreciated.
Thank you,
John Finta
RuleTek Client Services Manager
***Edited by Moderator Marissa to update Content Type from Discussion to Question***
Updated: 17 Jul 2020 9:52 EDT
Ruletek LLC
US
RuleTek Developer here. I wanted to add that we are using the Geolocation API to get the lat and long coordiantes. Which it seems to do just fine. The problem is when I try to grab the accuracy it only grabs it the first time and it seems like it never goes below five meters. We can run the API using a section which contains a javascript. I know that pega has OOTB features that allow maps and the postion of the device to be displayed. Does it have any activities or something that can calculate GPS Accuracy?
Pegasystems Inc.
PL
As of 8.4 Pega does not smooth tracks or perform any other calculations based on coordinates and/or accuracy returned by tracking device. Both coordinates and accuracy returned from Golocation API are passed as-is from mobile device integration APIs. When using the API make sure 'enableHighAccuracy' is checked which will make the device return the most accurate results (and increase battery usage). Geolocation APIs are designed that way they return best coordinates available at a moment even if their accuracy is below requested. Trimble R1 declares max precision of 0.5m which does not guarantee that all the results will be within 1m around the device.
Ruletek LLC
US
Thank you that helped. We have another avenue to take. Trimble has recently released an app called Trimble Mobile Manager which has the option to use websockets to pass packets. I however have been unable to use websockets in pega. Is there some sort of documentation on connecting websockets and using them?