SportsDo Technology Requirements

SportsDo requires a mobile phone (or pda) with either built-in GPS or an external cabled or Bluetooth GPS to operate.

 

Bluetooth GPS receiver are highly available and can be purchased from about $50 upwards.

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=Bluetooth+GPS

We would specifically recommend either of the following hardware providers:

Clove Technology - http://www.clove.co.uk/
Expansys - http://www.expansys.com/

We currently recommend buying SiRF III based GPS receivers.

GPS technology

GPS (Global Positioning System) is a world-wide, space-based navigation system, operated by the U.S. Air Force. Initially introduced on June 26, 1993, GPS consists of a constellation of 24 satellites.

The system works by each satellite broadcasting a very precise time signal and using triangulation the GPS device can determine, based on knowledge of where the satellites are (Ephemeris), its location.

The accuracy of GPS can vary widely depending on the type of GPS receiver, local landscape (eg. tall buildings) and atmospheric effects. The generally accepted accuracy range is between 1cm and 15m.

Mapping Technology

During the development of SportsDo we have evaluated each of the current mapping technology solutions including Google Map, Virtual Earth, Yahoo Maps and MapPoint.

Our original design decision was to use Google Maps however with the release of Virtual Earth 3.0 we investigated switching due to VE’s superior map data but technical problems with VE meant this became impractical.

The route thumbnails which appear within each Sportlog entry are currently being generated via MapPoint however we are investigating alternative options which avoids us paying a transactional charge per route created.

As mapping technology evolves, SportsDo will evolve too.

Data Correction

SportsDo incorporates advanced technology to proactively improve the data being uploaded to the Web Portal.

Using data supplied by NASA we are able to provide a “corrected” (black) altitude overcoming the unreliability of GPS altitude (purple) information.

Additionally, we can filter the GPS trace data recalculating any “unlikely” data points within the data. This is especially useful when using older GPS devices which have a habit of throwing out spurious locations occasionally.