Realtime Tracking with Google Earth
Oct 11th, 2008 by EarthNC
As more boaters take EarthNC out on their boats, we’ve noted an increasing interest in ‘live tracking’ of recreational boating trips for friends and family. EarthNC has been building a simple system to support real-time tracking based on Google Earth and various low-cost and free components. Read on to learn more about our Google Earth tracking project and be sure to check out our recent featured trips - Captain Bill’s Michigan to Florida Cruise and EarthNC’s Sarasota Poker Run. For a more technical discussion of the EarthNC tracker, read our Sarasota Poker Run Tracking Case Study.
EarthNC Track Server Features
The goals for our tracking system are simple -
- Support multiple operating systems and GPS software options for Google Earth
- Have a webcam option
- Generate Google Earth and Google Maps compatible Map Output for sharing
End User Hardware and Software Requirements
- Mobile computer that can run Google Earth
- USB GPS
- Google Earth
- GPS to Google Earth software which supports active ‘following’ of the user position in Google Earth such as GooPs Pro for PC, Google Earth Plus, or gps2geX for Mac
- Air Card or other suitable wireless internet connection
- USB Webcam if photo capability is desired
Putting It All Together in Practice
From the end-user perspective, if you’re already using Google Earth with live GPS and have a cell air card - sharing your position via EarthNC is as simple as opening an EarthNC Tracking network link in Google Earth coded to a unique user ID. This link transmits the Google Earth view center to the EarthNC server whenever the link refreshes - usually every 30-60 seconds. With your Tracking network link, you also receive unique links to share with friends and family that display your most recent position in Google Earth and Google Maps. These can easily be embedded into a blog or website using our TakItWithMe Embedded Map generators for Google Maps and the Google Earth API.
To share webcam photos while tracking, EarthNC can set up an individual FTP account for photo upload. Most webcam software, including free utilities such as YAWCAM, supports periodic image uploads to the web via FTP. As images are uploaded, the EarthNC server will determine the most recent image and add it to your tracking maps. In the future we plan to also offer a historical track option which will include all uploaded photos.
Contact Us if you’re interested in beta-testing our tracking solutions.
