Android Application for Tracking Pedestrian Movements in Realtime with Firebase

Abstract

In this paper we present an Android mobile platform application for tracking pedestrian movements in realtime using the Android Fused Location Provider API and the Firebase Realtime Database. Two significant barriers in developing accurate and efficient realtime path tracking systems are the limitations inherent to utilizing raw GPS data and the overhead involved in developing backend components. Data from satellite based systems is subject to a number of factors limiting their effective use in generating movement track paths. Previous work to mitigate these concerns involved using additional sensors to supplement and modify the erroneous raw GPS teleme-try. Google has incorporated and expanded upon these methods, making them available through the Fused Location Provider API. Firebase, a set of Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) tools developed by google, streamlines the development process. Together, the Fused Location Provider and the Firebase Realtime Database make the foundation of a system that accurately and efficiently maps user movements in realtime.