Mapping and GIS Solutions Community

I have Trimble Mobile Manager installed.

Catalyst is connected and displaying a position fix.

I would like to record a simple 1Hz or 5Hz log of time, position and accuracy (e.g. to a .CSV file).

Does Trimble Mobile Manager have a basic data logging function?
Is there another app that will do this?

Trimble Mobile Manager (TMM) does not log any data.

You'll need a Catalyst enabled app for this or if you are a developer, how about using the Trimble Catalyst Developer Portal to create your own Catalyst solution

TMM's primary functions are to install the Catalyst components, to enable and validate your subscription via your TID and to act as a tool to view and configure your Catalyst position (even sharing it for use with 3rd party apps - via mock locations)

Hi Tom, I am developer for Mapit GIS - is there any piece of documentation what exactly is being passed over via Mock location? Is this only position details or some other GNSS stats can be accessed via location extras? Any information would be very much appreciated. 

Good question Andrzej

I'd encourage you to visit the..

• Trimble Catalyst Developer Portal  
• And the Trimble Precision SDK for Trimble Catalyst Community page 

The information and resources here will be able to help with developer-centric questions like this

Thanks Tom, I have been there already but could not find answer to the question. It would be good if details of Mock location is published as kind of PDF resource, so developers can easily implement Catalyst support via Mock Location Extras in opposite to full SDK integration which requires extensive development and testing.

Hi,

right now we do not publish any additional information via the Mock Location Extras - so its basically the pure position and thats it.

The Mock Location Extras would lead to another SDK-ish thing - which gives you sort of granular one-way access.

If you need additional meta data our thinking was to go for the SDK (and especially Facade) directly as you can add a log file in there pretty quickly (actually already exists). 

So I would suggest looking into the Facade sample plus source.

I'll also make a jira so we add some details on what we publish to Mock Locations. Thats something we haven't documented anywhere indeed.

Thanks

Nico

Hi Nico, thanks for the reply - it's clear now. I will get the Facade checked in more details, to see if I can get it incorporated in my current product. Anyway, populating location extras with some important for users GNSS metadata will be very handy anyway and much appreciated as developers can get access to it immediately - from your perspective it will be just few lines of code to be added and it could greatly improve the Mock location details.

Thanks anyway,

Andrzej

Hi Andrzej,

just out of curiosity - what kind of details would you like to see via the Extras?

So our thought right now is that for 'lightweight' applications the mock locations (without extras) are good enough. Those apps are typically only interested in a position stream - so don't configure the receiver or anything.

More 'heavy' applications are not only interested in the pure stream but also meta data like DOPs and elevation mask. For that purpose you mostly need a two-way communication (to set e.g. an elevation mask or to tell the RTK engine to receive correction data). If two way config is needed the path would be the SDK route - starting with the Facade as wrapper layer around TPSDK SSI.

If you have a list of things that would be useful for your application and we see this more often we might be able to fine tune here. We are also in a learning process here I believe... 

Cheers

Nico

Hi Nico, I am updating my app (live tomorrow) - as we speak to support Extras provided via MOCK location by EOS http://www.eos-gnss.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Using-Android-Location-Extras-with-Eos-Tools-Pro_rev1.0.pdf 

Beta version of mapit with the above implementation can be accessed now: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.osedok.gisdatacollector 

I have got a switch in settings allowing users to listen to Mock Locations provided by EOS and I am processing the extras provided in onLocationChange method and can display them in my GPSinfo screen and log them to the survey as well - that's what majority of people needs.

So basically the idea would be to get the Position with extras from Trimble Manager where all the connection settings to the RTK service are done and allow people access to some data so they can save them during the survey - see the images below.

Of course the great SDK you have will be excellent to use and I have a plan to deploy completely new app dedicated for Trimble Catalyst itself.

Kind Regards,

Andrzej

Hi Nico, regarding the below:

"!If you have a list of things that would be useful for your application and we see this more often we might be able to fine tune here. We are also in a learning process here I believe... " - Mapit is very popular app on Google Play and seen by many surveyors as an alternative route to Esri's Collector MapIt GIS - GPS Map Surveys & Measurements - Android Apps on Google Play  - see the stats.

Mapit of course can access the basic location from Mock right now from TMM - but having possibility to get a bit more would be very much appreciated, especially that it can be done with very little change in TMM code.

Regards,

Andrzej

Hi @Andrzej Bieniek,

It's great to hear that you're working on a new app dedicated for Trimble Catalyst.

My use case is very simple. I want to log position and accuracy to a .CSV file at the highest possible rate.

I've had a quick look at the MapIt GIS website, and I get the impression that it is a very sophisticated and capable app, but I'm not sure if it supports the simple track logging feature I need. If it is possible, can you explain the steps to use this feature?

Also, for you dedicated app, a great feature would be to log all the available data from the Catalyst to a .CSV file.

Thankyou,

Sam O'Connor

Hi @Sam O'Connor, yes Mapit is capable of saving tracked data - please email us directly (via website) - I will provide more details. 

Regards,

Andrzej

Hi Andrzej,

quick update on the topic. The recently published version of Trimble Mobile Manager (1.2.155) does not only handle time dependent datum transformations but also adds meta data to location extras.

The docu on this is beta - Trimble Precision SDK for Trimble Catalyst (TMM_Developer.zip) - but we added a table with all information relevant for you. The data is a mix of information we have internally, your proposal plus what other Trimble applications do. Hope that works for MapIt.

Regards

Nico

#catalyst #mapitgis #mocklocations #mock 

TMM - Mock Location not populated due to an error.

Hi @Nico Becke, I am the developer of Mapit GIS and I made the app compatible with location extras provided by TMM. It works occasionally great but at some point TMM is getting into the error:

04-05 20:00:32.286 14770-14783/? E/JavaBinder: *** Uncaught remote exception! (Exceptions are not yet supported across processes.)
 java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index: 0, Size: 0
 at java.util.ArrayList.get(ArrayList.java:411)
 at o.VO.ॱ(:6492)
 at o.VS.ˊ(:94)
 at o.VO.ˏ(:209)
 at o.WJ.onPostitionObservation(:362)
 at trimble.jssi.drivercommon.interfaces.gnss.positioning.SsiPositioningBase.d(:104)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.features.ssipositioning.SsiPositioning.d(:5346)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.e(BlueBottleCallBack.java:99)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.d(BlueBottleCallBack.java:306)
 at com.trimble.bluebottle.remoteapi.b$b.onTransact(:50)
 at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:573)
04-05 20:00:33.291 14770-14782/? E/JavaBinder: *** Uncaught remote exception! (Exceptions are not yet supported across processes.)
 java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index: 0, Size: 0
 at java.util.ArrayList.get(ArrayList.java:411)
 at o.VO.ॱ(:6492)
 at o.VS.ˊ(:94)
 at o.VO.ˏ(:209)
 at o.WJ.onPostitionObservation(:362)
 at trimble.jssi.drivercommon.interfaces.gnss.positioning.SsiPositioningBase.d(:104)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.features.ssipositioning.SsiPositioning.d(:5346)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.e(BlueBottleCallBack.java:99)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.d(BlueBottleCallBack.java:306)
 at com.trimble.bluebottle.remoteapi.b$b.onTransact(:50)
 at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:573)
04-05 20:00:34.296 14770-14929/? E/JavaBinder: *** Uncaught remote exception! (Exceptions are not yet supported across processes.)
 java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index: 0, Size: 0
 at java.util.ArrayList.get(ArrayList.java:411)
 at o.VO.ॱ(:6492)
 at o.VS.ˊ(:94)
 at o.VO.ˏ(:209)
 at o.WJ.onPostitionObservation(:362)
 at trimble.jssi.drivercommon.interfaces.gnss.positioning.SsiPositioningBase.d(:104)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.features.ssipositioning.SsiPositioning.d(:5346)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.e(BlueBottleCallBack.java:99)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.d(BlueBottleCallBack.java:306)
 at com.trimble.bluebottle.remoteapi.b$b.onTransact(:50)
 at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:573)
04-05 20:00:35.306 14770-14834/? E/JavaBinder: *** Uncaught remote exception! (Exceptions are not yet supported across processes.)
 java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index: 0, Size: 0
 at java.util.ArrayList.get(ArrayList.java:411)
 at o.VO.ॱ(:6492)
 at o.VS.ˊ(:94)
 at o.VO.ˏ(:209)
 at o.WJ.onPostitionObservation(:362)
 at trimble.jssi.drivercommon.interfaces.gnss.positioning.SsiPositioningBase.d(:104)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.features.ssipositioning.SsiPositioning.d(:5346)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.e(BlueBottleCallBack.java:99)
 at trimble.jssi.driver.androidservice.catalyst.a.d(BlueBottleCallBack.java:306)
 at com.trimble.bluebottle.remoteapi.b$b.onTransact(:50)
 at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:573)

Which is causing that Mock Location is not being populated at all - the errors above starts running in the loop (onLocationChange like) immediately after you start "SHARE LOCATION" in TMM and stops when you switch it off.

I would appreciate if this can be fixed in TMM as is causing Location Sharing via Mock Location very unstable.

Kind Regards,

Andrzej

Hi,

thanks for the trace. We also see this in the Google Developer Console.
So its on the todo list for engineering now (actually was already). Do you have a fix workflow on how to reproduce this? We have heard about issues with mock locations before but have a hard time reproducing them as it seems also related to the system load.
In other words testing with a small sample developed just for this purpose hasn't shown anything - but if you use 'bigger application' with bigger memory footprints on mid-range devices it seems to make issues more likely.

So any additional information - device, workflow in MapIt, other apps running in parallel that might affect this - would be greatly appreciated. 

Nico

Hi Nico, I am testing it on Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and other high end products, so there is definitely no problems with lack of resources like RAM etc. There is no specific logic for it e.g. I got it working fine yesterday with Catalyst connected  to TMM and Mapit as the mapping software for about 30 min. I do remember changing the correction source to local caster at some point, but it was also working fine.

Then I got the antenna disconnected and afterwards I was not able to see Mock location populated any more. Checked the trace and this was included above.

It is definitely happening somewhere in the thread where you are populating the Mock location details or receiving solution as this error is running in the loop until you STOP SHARING position. You press SHARE POSITION again and is starting again.

You are building couple of Arrays for Satellites information snr, rpn, azi, ele - maybe is somewhere there??? as the problem is java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index: 0, Size: 0 . 

This error is very common and I am having lots of customers having this problem.

1. Start TMM and share position (TMM set as mock location app in Android>Developers Settings)

2. If you install Mapit (no extension needed to test this, but I am happy to provide unlock codes if needed - I will send you some from home tonight over email) - then in Mapit Settings->External GNSS switch on Trimble switch:

3. Get back to the map if GPSInfo is saying "Waiting for Location" - you may need to restart Mapit.

4. In normal circumstance you will get the GPS Info populated like this:

5. If you still see nothing - please check TMM Log and you will definitely see the error quoted above.

I will try to replicate the error over weekend and if I spot anything will post here.

This is very inconsistent and sometimes work sometimes not.

Kind Regards,

Andrzej

I think I'm one of the first Catalyst users in Florida after the release, and I've had to solve a few problems before being able to use it.  Map-It was the only app that would work at that time (Penmap had several major flaws), and I've found that it suits my needs for most any project.  New Catalyst users are very likely to seek out quality 3rd-party apps that satisfy their needs easily and inexpensively.

I locate and map underground utilities and map geological hazards with Map-It.  Key benefits of Map-It for new Catalyst users: 1) Map-It does not require a Hauwei USB-C to micro USB adapter, any will do (Penmap requires that particular adapter, at least it does for Samsung Tab S3 tablets), 2) Map-It syntax is very GIS friendly and therefore very intuitive for new users to get up and running, 3) Map-It allows uploading of collected data to Dropbox, and 4) Map-It is very inexpensive.#mappingandgis

UAV Ground Control is a great application that does data logging with Catalyst.

UAV Ground Control - Android Apps on Google Play 

Hi @Stuart Ralston,

Thanks for the suggestion.

The exact capabilities of this app are not clear to me from the information on the Google Play Store.

Can you confirm that this app is capable of continuous recording of points? at 1Hz or 5Hz?

i.e. can I leave it running for a few hours and record a track file that has a location point every 1-second or more?

Thanks,

Sam

I am using RTKLib app which is the most complete (and difficult to set up of course app available) but there are several features not supported by Catalyst so it would be great if the Catalyst team check it out and provide a feedback or user guide of this RTKLib app.     RTKGPS+ - Android Apps on Google Play 

Hi,

out of curiosity - what features are missing in Trimble Catalyst from your point of view .

So RTKLib has some parallels with Trimble Catalyst - better: RTKLib is a subset of Trimble Catalyst.

To calculate a 'good' position aka apply correction data you need some sort of RTK engine; RTKLib is one such engine, the Catalyst Engine another.

But while the RTKLib is 'a component' the Trimble Catalyst solution is a (eco)system.

So the goal of Trimble Catalyst is being easy to use, to automatically switch between available correction types at your position while providing a constant coordinate stream in the same datum. On top of this are other system like the subscription model and the Trimble Correction Hub - things that help making the setup easy. 

The whole system is about 'making smart decisions to provide the best available output at the given location'. 

Trimble Mobile Manager (TMM) - as one of the 'front ends' of Trimble Catalyst - tries to be as simple as possible while not hiding any important information.

So we currently try to walk the thin line between: what makes sense in TMM and what is too much. 

The SDK below Trimble Catalyst does expose quite a bit of advanced information - but those information do not belong into TMM.

So the goal of Trimble Catalyst is to be easy - its not supposed to compete with say Trimble Access and a Trimble R10.

What is missing from your point of view while having this goal in mind?

Regards

Nico

Thanks Nico for your response  it is truly appreciated     Catalyst needs to be able to log and export raw data since surveyors are liable in their profession including GNSS date/time stamping, SV used, vectors and residuals so that its metadata supports the basic surveying/GIS practice.   It is very easy to change by mistake or intentionally a CSV position file.

Hi Nico, excellent and quick work guys. Really appreciated. That change will allow quick integration of the location details provided by TMM via Mock Location into existing apps including Mapit GIS. 

Thanks,

Kind Regards,

Andrzej

I just started using the Catalyst and the first app I got was Map-It. I looked at many others, but in the end paid for the advanced version of Map-it. The layering and coding of point positions to be stored is difficult to do on the fly, but maybe I just need to review the instructions. it seems like you have to set up all your codes/descriptions ahead of time, which is not particularly useful. As a Land Surveyor, my main complaint about this (and all of the apps I tried) is the ability to set the needed coordinate system. Map-it did let me set it to my desired NAD-83 system, but only after google searching around and figuring out which EPSG corresponded. I had never had occasion to use a EPSG previously. So that works for horizontal, and is beyond what any of the other apps I tried offered, but what I also really need is to be able to set my vertical, or at least know what numbers I am getting. Most all of the time, I want elevations related to NAVD-88. It would be best if the app could be configured to provide that, but as an alternative, at least have some indication as to what datum or system the collected point elevation are on so they can be converted if need be.

I am going to try Trimble's PenMap app, but so far they cannot seem to be able to figure out how to turn on a subscription for  me even though I paid for it several days ago.

Gary Proctor

Hi Gary, Thanks for your comment. Mapit is being improved constantly and we are listening to our customers in terms of their needs. Please have a look at this article in terms of vertical measurements: Geoid Height - mapitGIS  -  Geoid 12B is supported in Mapit now, but you can apply your own grid if you need (see article for more details).

In terms of Trimble Catalyst - I will support TMM Mock location in a better way using Location extras mentioned by @Nico Becke above possibly by Newy Year, so GNSS metadata will be saved together with the point features.

Regards,

Andrzej

Thank You Andrzej. I looked and I did have that set. I guess when I went through that I set so many things at the start that that slipped my memory. Great work on the App!

Hi Andrzej   does Mapit supports EM2008 and EIGEN-6C4 global geoid models??

Hi Alexander, EM2008 yes,  EIGEN-6C4 Not out of the box, but you can use your own grid - please see the details here: Geoid Height - mapitGIS 

Regards,

Andrzej

Hi Andrzej  the local users are not allowed by law to use their own grid, so they need original EIGEN-6C4 geoid model support

Hi Alexander, I looked at the EIGEN-6C4 geoid model and it would require some development from us to get this supported in it's native format. If you manage to convert eigen-6c4.gfc file to Trimble *.ggf file please let me know and I will be happy to pick it up from there and give you further advice how to use it in Mapit GIS. 

Kind Regards,

Andrzej

Thanks Andrzej I have contact GFZ to see if they come up with a .ggf version but they indicated that they have over 30 geoid models all in .gfc format (which they say it is more compact and better than Trimble "old" ,ggf format), ICGEM International Center for Global Gravity Field Models  so unless Trimble TBC and ACCESS teams program a conversion utility in their CSM to convert from .gfc to .ggf   there is no hope to use new geoid models.    

See differences between EGM08 and EIGEN-6C4 for the Dominican Republic:

ICGEM International Center for Global Gravity Field Models 

Hi Alexander,

If you find anyone or tool who can convert GFC to any of the formats below

I will be able to convert it than to the *.bin format supported by Mapit.

Regards,

Andrzej

Andrzej Bieniek

MapIt GIS

On Mon, Dec 11, 2017 at 11:53 AM, aholsteinson@geomatica.biz <

Lets see if Trimble TBC CSM can be enhanced to do this conversion from .gzc to .ggf

Hello Gary,

sorry to hear from your subscription problems with Penmap Android.

Please give a short information to penmap_support@trimble.com if it's still not working. Would be nice to have your Trimble Connect ID-Mail address to check the state.

Then we will figure out, how we can help you on a quick way.

Regards 

Cornelia

With the latest update to Trimble TMM (1.2.155 Trimble Catalyst | Releases ) - Android Mapit GIS application (version 5.8.4 published on 14-12-2017) is now able to consume the Mock Location and Location Extras provided by TMM.

Please follow the steps below to enable the Trimble MM connection in Mapit:

1. Make sure the Trimble Mobile Manager is selected as Mock Location app in the  Android developer settings

2. Connect your Trimble Catalyst Antenna via Trimble Mobile Manager app and enable Mock Location inside the app - make sure you are getting the RTK corrections correctly.

3. When you get accurate location in TMM - switch on Mapit and go to External GNSS Settings->Switch Trimble TMM switch.

4. You can enable GNSS metadata for export in Survey Settings as well if you need.

 

Hi

I too want to just capture a RTK computed position log @ 1 Hz.

I am interesting in purchasing Mapit, but I'm unable to find a simple/clear workflow to start and stop a trace/log and then export it. Could you also send the format and content of the log?

Hi Srikanth,

With Trimble Penmap for Android you have a really easy to use software to measure with GNSS.

Penmap for Android is supporting Trimble Catalyst and Trimble survey receivers out of the box.

You can measure automatically by time or distance. If you have a configured GIS schema, you can directly measure a GIS feature with this function also.

After the measurement, you can export your data to a csv file. If you have measured GIS features, you are also able to export the data to shape.

Please let me know if you need more information.

Best regards, Martin

Hi

I have a Catalyst unit and have a very simple requirement:

- A continuous log recording of GPS location @ 1 point a second for an extended period, ie 6-8 hours continuously.

- I would like to then be able to export this log as csv/txt

Is this possible in Penmap and if so, what's the workflow.

No raw data logging is posible with Catalyst or PenMap regretfully   

Hi Srikanth,

I think you can easily get the result you want to have with Penmap for Android and Catalyst.

Please check out the following short video Continuous point measurement with Penmap for Android.

The video shows how to measure points continuously with 1 Hz with Penmap for Android connected to Trimble Catalyst and how to create the csv out of the project with Penmap Project Manager.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best regards, Martin

Thank you for this solution. I will try it on my device soon.

Quick question:

Is there any restriction on the no of points, duration of capture, length of capture?

For instance, can I do extended (~8+ hr) duration captures with this method?

Thanks

I think this will work but there are dependencies I cannot assess. Performance of your Android device, RAM, power, …

To get a first impression just take the free version start the data collection over night with the internal GNSS. If this is working, you can check it out with Trimble Catalyst, which produce additional usage to your phone. RTK engine, correction data, …

Please let me know what you find out.

Best regards,

Martin