samcrow / jrbpsurvey

Navigation and data entry for the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (https://jrbp.stanford.edu/) ant survey

JRBP Survey

The Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve regularly surveys ant species found on the preserve. This Android application is intended to make the survey more efficient by allowing people to easily navigate and enter data.

Downloading and using

Download the application from the Google Play store

Where to get uploaded data

The current version uploads data to the spreadsheet at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TMBLRNYbcvIP5KG83BZ4NprRxCsfX6tXZJTD42ZnnHM/edit?usp=sharing .

Licensing

Documentation files (in the doc folder) are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.3 (GFDL.txt).

Other files in the project are licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3.0 or (at your option) any later version (GPL.txt).

The source code of this project is available at https://github.com/samcrow/JRBPSurvey.

Third-party components

OpenStreetMap map data (app/src/main/res/raw/jasper_ridge_map.map) is © OpenStreetMap contributors. It is licensed by the OpenStreetMap Foundation under the Open Data Commons Open Database License.

This software uses the Google Material icons, which are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

This software uses the Joda-Time library, which is licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0.

This software uses the Mapsforge library, which is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3.

This software uses the AndroidSVG library, which is licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0.

This software uses the Apache Commons IO library, which is licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0.

This software uses the Jcoord library, which is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2.

jrbpsurvey's Issues

Formica subpolita observations are not uploaded

2. Formica subpolita observations are not copied from the tablet to the google sheet. I verified this with some test observations.

Check the part that decides what to upload

Increase time before deleting uploaded observations

The application currently deletes observations that have been uploaded 2 days ago or earlier: https://github.com/samcrow/JRBPSurvey/blob/master/app/src/main/java/org/samcrow/ridgesurvey/data/UploadService.java#L78

That should be longer, like 2 months, to offer more time to investigate problems.

Timer sounds don't work

Because of an update to the target SDK version, the existing 2:30 and 5:00 timer sounds don't play.

Information about a fix: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45668079/notificationchannel-issue-in-android-o

Sensor placed and sensor picked up events should be labeled with a route

4. A few routes have “Sensor placed” and “Sensor picked up” events. These events are not tagged with a route. I currently ignore them but if we ever want to make use of them then they should be tagged with the correct route.

Add "None" to species list

"'None' should be added to ant list so that participants can choose when appropriate."

Notes: This does not need to affect observation storage. The none checkbox can simply uncheck all others when it is checked.

Map behavior encourages multiple observations for the same site

After a user records an observation, the previously selected site remains selected. If the user does not select a different site, their next observation will be another observation for the same site.

Solution (same as used in Colony Navigator): When an observation is saved, deselect the selected site.

Allow enabling/disabling of compass

The compass does not work correctly on all devices, and frequent sensor readings use some amount of extra energy.

Allowing the user to enable and disable the compass (and associated sensor readings) would be helpful.

Order for route lines

Each route has a sequence of sites connected by lines. Currently, these lines start at an arbitrary site and use a nearest neighbor heuristic to find a route. This sometimes performs poorly.

Instead, the sequence of visiting sites should be defined in a file based on the order (in time) of observations for the Spring 2020 census. This order should be used to draw the lines.

Add creek to map

The OpenStreetMap data contain the creek, which is important for navigation. We should put that on the map in this application, possibly using some OpenStreetMap data.

Allow correcting mistakes

The application currently has no way to correct mistakes in previously entered observations.

Such a feature would add a lot of user interface complexity if done carelessly. Some important considerations are:

• How to display previous observations
  • Should users only be able to modify the most recent observation?
• Whether to allow modifying observations that have already been uploaded
  • If allowed, how to control access
  • If not allowed, how to allow time before uploading

Change the color of a survey point on the map when data has been entered

Complexity:

Route line layers might need to access the observation database
Need a way to trigger updates

Allow manual uploading before 10 minutes pass

Currently, the system will not upload observations that were created or modified less than 10 minutes ago.
To do: Allow the system to upload all observations when the user presses the upload button

Add "Not observed" option

Application: Some kind of "Not observed" checkbox to indicate that the user was unable to access the site. When that is checked, the notes field can be used to explain the situation.

Upload spreadsheet: New column for "Not observed"

Add timer?

"Add timer for 5 Min (1 participant surveying) and 2.5 min (2 participants surveying)"

Thoughts: Might be better done in a separate application

Application sometimes fails to upload observations

Reported by GI:

b) Some tablets simply did not upload the survey data even after being connected to wifi.
I restarted these tablets, and they started to work again.
When the app is uploading data, the status bar at the top of the app should appear blue with white > dots.
So if the app is constantly showing green bar even after entering the data, one should restart the > tablet (i.e. turn power off and turn it on again).

To do: Identify the hardware where this happened, reproduce.

Add roads and trails to OpenStreetMap data

The current OpenStreetMap data does not have much detail in the preserve. Information on the roads and trails should be added to the OpenStreetMap data so that it will appear on the map.

Put "Formica Sp." back in

Contrary to the impression I got, "Formica Sp." means "Formica, but I don't know which species" and is not a duplicate of "Formica Subpoleta." Put that back in the data entry form.