2009 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics

Suntec Convention and Exhibition Center

Singapore, July 14-17, 2009

Geospatial Information System for Tracking and Navigation of

Mobile Objects
A.U. Alahakone and Veera Ragavan, IEEE Member

Abstract- Geospatial Information System (GIS) is a tool for A comparable approach is presented in [4] in which RFID
manipulating, integrating and displaying geographically technology has been suggested in place of GPS devices as a
referenced information. It is a powerful system with high solution for non coverage instances. The framework is based
accuracy that is being used as the main backbone for a variety on ubiquitous sensor nodes deployed at known positions.
of path planning and navigation technologies widely used in the
RFID tags installed at each node identify the presence of a
industry today. Tracking, security management, fleet
management and industrial robot navigation are some regular vehicle which can be used to obtain the vehicle’s position.
applications. Similar approaches for navigation of mobile objects are
This paper presents the development of a Geospatial presented in [5] and [6].
information system for path planning and navigation of mobile Integration of GPS and GIS systems has also been proven
objects. The system involves a GIS implemented using Google to be a useful tool for the visually impaired and disabled
maps to visualize the routes of mobile objects acquired from individuals. In [7], a wireless pedestrian navigation system is
GPS receivers over a GPRS network. A spatial database built
into the system records the geographic information for later
presented which includes a GPS device, a compass and a
referencing. In addition, the GIS module is developed to head mounted display for the visually disabled. The
perform route assignments and display historical information navigation system computes the optimum route that’s
saved in the data repository. favorable based on the user’s destination, temporal
constraints and dynamic obstacles. A similar approach is
I. INTRODUCTION discussed in [8].

T HE Global Position System (GPS) is a widely used

system for various applications that require path
planning and navigation. GPS systems are integrated to
GPS-enabled LBS are a promising valuable revenue
generator for many Telecom companies and their extension
beyond emergency services and into the commercial arena
provide positional information (Latitude/Longitude) as well opens up an opportunity for wireless carriers to provide their
as additional data components such as time, speed, date, etc. subscribers with value-added applications and services using
which are helpful to further describe the location and location-based functionality.
behavior of mobile objects. The rapid development of However, most existing tracking and navigation systems
positioning technology, wireless communication and mobile are concentrated on specific targets and do not inherit the
devices have given rise to exciting Location Based Services flexibility to be diversified into a variety of applications. In
(LBS) thus significantly influencing existing navigational this regard, this paper proposes a generalized approach for
procedures [1]. In a more advanced sense, [2] describes an mobile object tracking and navigation with the use of a GPS
approach to learning personal maps customized for each device, a Mobile Object Database (MOD) and a GIS module
candidate that can in turn infer his/her daily activities and implemented using Google Maps. The approach is aimed at
movements from positional data gathered via GPS devices. providing a means to visualize logged GPS data of a mobile
Similarly, a supervisory traffic decision support system is object, and assign routes and Geo Fences (GF) to the object
presented in [3], which incorporates a GIS implemented in to be followed which can be transmitted and tracked by the
the city of Nottingham. The GIS component receives online system. GIS and MOD integration is implemented as part of
data about traffic conditions via GPS sensors or mobile a larger effort to develop a distributed general purpose
devices which are visualized on a map and used to obtain Telematics framework [9], [10]. As reviewed on [11], [12],
information on traffic patterns, impact on accidents and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) uses Route
critical traffic nodes. These data and estimations are used to Guidance Systems (RGSs) to inform the drivers of optimal
make convenient route travel times which are conveyed to routes, traffic jams, weather condition etc. RGSs [12] have
the end users via Short Message Service (SMS). been classified as static vs. dynamic systems, deterministic
vs. stochastic systems, reactive vs. predictive systems and
Aruni Upeksha Alahakone is with Monash University Sunway Campus, centralized vs. decentralized systems. The developed system
Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150 Bandar Sunway (e-mail: components when fully implemented as a service, can be
[email protected]). classified as a real-time dynamic, predictive, decentralized
Veera Ragavan is with Monash University Sunway Campus, Jalan Lagoon
Selatan, 46150 Bandar Sunway (DID - +603 55146236; e-mail: system which can be loosely coupled to a service Oriented
[email protected]). Architecture (SOA) [13] based tracking system.

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 II. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION on the current position of the device, etc. The general format
The system architecture of the implemented system is of PFAL commands used for this device is shown in Figure.
illustrated in Figure.1. A Falcom GPS sensor was utilized to 2.
record positional information of mobile objects. In order to
process and extract the relevant data received from the GPS
sensor, a user interface was developed in Visual Basic.NET.
The data sent were received over a TCP/IP connection and Fig. 2 Falcom GPS device Middleware configuration Scripts
extracted components were stored in a Mobile Object
Database developed using MySQL. The Spatial extensions B. User Interface Implementation
[16] provided by MySQL were used as the structure of the The Graphical User Interface of the system was developed
Mobile Object Database created. With the use of Google in Visual Basic.NET. The interface was implemented to
Maps API, the GIS module was implemented as a web operate as the remote server application to acquire the
application. Visualization of recorded routes and the logged positional data from the GPS device. The GPS device
assignment of new paths are performed via this module. To operating on the GPRS platform was configured as a client
transmit the assigned routes and boundaries, a previously device specifying the server PC’s IP address for data
developed DRTM module was utilized, which facilitates the transmission.
transmission of the defined information as SMS messages. The positional information transmitted from the GPS
device adhered to National Marine Electronics Association
Data Acquisition and Transmission (NMEA) format, a standard protocol used by most GPS
GPS Device systems in existence today [14]. Each string of data
consisted of a prefix under the NMEA specifications, and the
GPRS Network GSM Network data as comma separated components.
In order to ensure the validity of the received data, each
Data Processing Software NMEA strings recorded were validated by verifying the
prefix of each string ($GPRMC) and the third component of
Data Acquisition
the string which should be the character “A” for a valid
DRTM Module record.
Validation and Once validated, each NMEA string was structured into
extraction separate components using SensorBridge. SensorBridge is a
component suite developed for Visual Studio 2005 to
incorporate data from different types of sensors and actuators
Mobile Object [15]. It consists of a hierarchy of class structures designed to
Database MOD
manipulate raw sensor data. Once structured, the required
GIS Module
information that includes Latitude, Longitude, date, time and
speed of motion was extracted to be saved in the database.
Query Processing Web Interface Figure. 3 illustrates a structured dataset.
Module

Fig. 1. System Architecture

The development of each module involved is described in

detail in the following sections.
A. Data Acquisition
A Falcom Stepp II GPS Device was utilized for mobile Fig. 3 Structured NMEA dataset
object tracking. It is a plug-and-play device providing C. Database Management System
powerful state-of-the-art technologies such as GPS, GSM
The database management system acts as the bridge
and GPRS which can be used in many applications. The
between the server module and the web application. The
compact design on the GPS/GSM/GPRS terminal integration
main objective of creating the database management system
and the internally embedded software enables the device to
for this application was to achieve the following
be used for a range of applications such as Tracking, fleet
requirements.
management, Navigation, Emergency Calling and many
1. Store acquired positional data in the system
other location based services.
2. Store paths assigned in the GIS module for route
For commands and configurations, the device uses PFAL
planning
commands, a middleware used to dynamically configure
3. Store virtual boundary information to restrict the access
services and systems. PFAL commands can be used to
areas of mobile objects
perform necessary configurations on the device such as
configuring a remote server for data transfer, transmit alerts

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 MySQL was selected as the database repository for the Data Table Structure for incoming data from the GPS
implementation of the Mobile Object Database (MOD) as it device:
is reliable, Flexible Open Source Software that is freely Field Type
available in the Internet. Interfacing VB.NET with MySQL AsText<LATLON> POINT geometry
was established using a .NET connector component provided Time Time
by MySQL. MySQL provided spatial extensions specified by Date Date
the Open Geospatial Consortium. The Spatial extensions Speed float
supported refer to an SQL environment that has been Data table structure for saving assigned routes and
extended with a set of geometry types. The geometry types boundaries from the Web Application:
include POINT, LINESTRING, POLYGON, etc to describe Field Type
spatial information [16]. These geometry types belong to a AsText<Routes> LINESTRING geometry
Name varchar
Geometry class hierarchy, which is depicted in Figure.4.
Data Table containing positional information received from
Geometry the GPS device:

Curve Surface Point Geometry

Collection

LineString Polygon Fig. 5.Database table structure

MultiPoint MultiCurve MultiSurface D. Geographic Information System (GIS)

GIS is a technique that manipulates, integrates and maps
Line LineRing
MultiLinstring MultiPolygon
geographical information based on positional coordinates
(Lat/Lon). Many GIS software have been developed and
Fig.4 Geometry Class Hierarchy
integrated to precisely plot and display positional
information, such as ArcGIS, MapPoint, Google Maps, etc.
The geometries fall into the category of “Vector” GIS for this project was developed as a web application
representation in spatial models. Vector coordinates are embedding Google Maps APIs. Google APIs are freely
usually represented with a Cartesian coordinate system, in available and accessible on the internet and provide both
the form of single points or lists of points for a line [17]. satellite and street maps.
From the available geometry types, POINT and GIS systems incorporate several layers, each providing a
LINESTRING types were used in the creation of the mobile different set of information to represent positional data.
object database content. Positional information (Latitude and Google APIs provides the ability to embed many types of
Longitude) of the mobile objects were stored as X and Y layers to enhance the quality of the data representation of the
coordinates using the POINT geometry type, along with the GIS system. The layers appended for the application of this
corresponding spatial information. Similarly, assigned routes project are as follows.
and Geo Fence information from the GIS application were 1. Markers - To pinpoint the location of the mobile objects
stored as a collection of coordinates using the LINESTRING based on Latitude and Longitude.
geometry type. 2. Polylines -To display the paths followed by the mobile
The MOD incorporated separate database tables for objects as a complete route and to mark the specified
storing positional information from the GPS device, saving routes to be followed by the robots.
routes assigned from the GIS module and storing predefined 3. Polygons -To mark and display a Geo Fence for the
Geo Fence information. Two tables were maintained for the mobile objects and to alert in the case of a boundary
storage of GPS information in the MOD, with one table crossing.
storing temporary information corresponding to the current 4. Info Windows -To display the information such as marker
GPS session, and the other storing all the information of all number, location, speed, date and time for each marker
GPS sessions. The mobile object paths were plotted in the mapped onto the map.
GIS system by retrieving information from the temporary 5. Landmarks and States -Popular landmarks and states of
table, so that only the information corresponding to the Malaysia.
current session is plotted. The reason behind this Positional information of landmarks and states of
implementation was that retrieving positional information Malaysia were gathered to be displayed on the web
from a rather small database table can result in high speed application for the ease of recognizing locations. JavaScript
data access due to the simplicity in processing queries. was used to construct the web page application to implement
The following (Figure. 5) illustrates the table structure for necessary functions for tracking and navigation
each table in the database and a populated table containing requirements. As the structured GPS data was stored in a
positional data in POINT geometry type. MySQL server, PHP, a database driven scripting language,

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was used to retrieve the positional information from the 5) Historical data Display
database repository into the GIS system constantly at a Retrieves positional information stored in the database
specified time interval. The procedure of database based on a user specified date. If no data is saved for a
connection establishment and the retrieval of positional requested date, the user will be informed through a
information via PHP are depicted in the following flowchart. message popup display.
Connect to Database

Connection
Established?
Yes No

Execute DB query to retrieve Display Error Message

positional information

Obtain Lat, Lon, Time, Date and Speed

Rearrange records to Call function for Marker Fig. 7. GIS system

required display formats point creation

The routes assigned on the system were saved to the

Display Marker on the Map
database to be retrieved later for transmission to the GPS
device. The following source code illustrates saving the
created route information to the Save_Routes table as
No
“LINESTRING” geometry along with the specified route
Reached End of name. Prior to inserting the data into the spatial database
records?
table, the positional information recorded is rearranged to the
Yes format required.

Close Database connection <?php

//Get Route name and Route points sent from
the GIS module
Fig. 6 Flow chart displaying retrieval of positional data stored in $ss = $_POST['arv'];
$PP = $_POST['RN'];
the MOD $db = new mysqli("localhost", "root",
"password", "un");
Each recorded coordinate is illustrated with a marker // Check for errors in the connection
if (mysqli_connect_errno(){
point, and the corresponding Location, Speed, Date and die('Unable to connect to database.'); }
Time for each marker were displayed on a separate //Modify the Route information to the format
information panel on the web page as each marker was required for Spatial data, to be saved in a Spatial
database
clicked. To indicate the navigation in a realizable manner, $s1 = str_replace("," ," ",$ss);
the coordinate points were linked in order to display the $s2 = str_replace(") (" ,",",$s1);
//Pass a database query to save the Route name and
overall view of the route followed by the mobile object. points in the database table as a 'LINESTRING'
Figure.7 depicts the web application of the GIS system. $query = $db->query("INSERT INTO `Save_Routes`
In addition to data visualization, several map control tools (NAME,ROUTES) VALUES ('$PP' ,
GeomFromText('LINESTRING $s2 '))");
were implemented in the application for route planning and $db->close();
navigation tasks. Each function is briefly described below. ?>
1) Route Recording Function
E. Transmission of Routes and Virtual Boundaries
Creates routes based on the points selected by user on
the map. As described under section A, the Falcom GPS device
2) Display Recorded Routes employs PFAL (Device middleware) commands that can be
Displays the routes created and saved in the system on used to configure predefined routes and boundaries in the
the map by retrieving records from the database system. The device also supports the transmission of alerts
3) Save Route over a GPRS/GSM network if a configured boundary has
Enables saving a user created route with a user defined been crossed or a predefined route has not been followed. In
route name in the database using PHP scripting. order to employ this capability to the developed system, the
4) Display Geo-fence user interface was further improved to retrieve the routes and
Illustrates on the map the predefined boundaries saved boundaries assigned on the GIS application to be transmitted
in the system. to the GPS device. Based on the PFAL configuration

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requirements, the route configurations required The developed system was tested with a set of route
representation of each point in a route as a virtual boundary records logged in the Falcom GPS device. Figure.9 depicts
with approximately a 30m tolerance for accurate the display of a mobile object route and the corresponding
identification. The following (Figure.8) depicts the spatial information recorded for the selected waypoint.
configuration of a route to be transmitted to a GPS device.
Each virtual boundary (GF1, GF2…) in the Figure
corresponds to a waypoint in the specified route.

Fig. 10 Assignment of a new route to be saved

Fig. 8. Route Transmission Figure.10 illustrates the assignment of a new route on the
system to be saved and transmitted to the GPS device for
The transmission of the defined routes and boundaries navigation.
were performed with the use of a data In addition, the GIS application supports the visualization
Receiving/Transmitting module (DRTM) previously of historical data saved in the database and the display of
developed [18]. The module utilized a GSM terminal to defined virtual boundaries (Figure. 11).
broadcast the commands as SMS messages to the device.
The route and Geo Fence allocation in the devices can be
specified by unique naming configurations included in the
middleware commands. Unlike most existing approaches, the
route and GF assignments can be configured into a variety of
classifications such as a permanent boundary referring to a
historic landmark, a temporary boundary identifying a
construction site or a dynamic boundary indicating a traffic
congested area. It should also be highlighted that route and
GF configurations are not bounded by any area limitations or
number of categorizations. (a)
Once the defined routes and boundary information are
transmitted to the GPS device, SMS alerts can be received
regarding the current position of the device, and whether a
predefined route or boundary limit has been exceeded. The
route planning and GF configurations can also be used to
avoid a specific route or a boundary, in which boundary
algorithms will avoid the detection of GPS devices passing
through the configured regions.

III. RESULTS
(b)
Fig. 11. (a) Visualization of Historical Data saved in the system,
(b) Display of predefined virtual boundaries

Fig. 12 SMS alert for a defined boundary

Fig. 9 Visualization of Mobile Object Route

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 With the use of the DRTM module, the assigned routes plotted point, creation of new routes and editing and saving
and boundary information were transmitted to the GPS created routes in the system. Furthermore, historical routes
device to test for SMS alerting. The device was configured saved in the system can be retrieved and viewed if required.
to send SMS alerts when the device was positioned within The system is also integrated with an SMS module
the defined boundary. Figure.12 illustrates an SMS alert developed for the GPS devices used, which is incorporated
received when the device was within the boundary limits to receive SMS alerts about the object’s location based on
along with the corresponding positional and spatial the defined configurations. With regard to the developed
information. functionalities, the system can be utilized for mobile object
The developed prototype is a fully functional tracking and tracking applications, in which the object navigation can be
navigation system, in which, the demonstrated functionalities visualized and necessary route planning can be performed.
are summarized below. Apart from traffic and route guidance services, the
1. Successful development of a Server application to acquire, applicability of this framework is foreseen in service robot
validate and process GPS data in soft real time. applications as well.
2. Continuously update the mobile object database as data
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