6 September, 2017

flespi test-drive: connecting WiaTag to Wialon Hosting and GPS Trace [UPD: Aug 6, 2018]

A practical case showing basic functionality of the flespi platform from connecting devices to using streams for sending data across multiple applications

flespi is a pipeline accepting messages from GPS tracking devices working over multiple protocols and forwarding them in the unified format to multiple platforms. Today we want to show how this pipeline fits in the real telematics landscape and what specific steps will make it tick. The testing environment includes:

Tracking device: WiaTag mobile app (soft tracker)
Middleware: flespi
Business apps: Wialon Hosting, GPS Trace

Let's have a ride now.

1. Configuring Wialon Hosting

  • On the receiving side we need to create a unit that will reflect the device position on the map.
  • Click Units -> New to create a unit in Wialon Hosting
  • Give it a descriptive name, set Device type to flespi gateway, and specify the unique ident within the platform.

wialon hosting flespi gateway

2. Configuring GPS Trace

  • Log in or sign up with GPS Trace.
  • Click on the car icon in the bottom-right corner to create unit in GPS Trace.
  • Give it a name, set Device type to Wialon Retranslator, and specify the unique ident within the platform.

gps trace unit create

3. Setting up WiaTag

  • Navigate to Google Play or App Store and install WiaTag on your smartphone.
  • Log in with your Wialon Hosting account. If you don’t have one, request it here.
  • Select WiaTag data sending mode — it will mostly affect the frequency of outgoing messages, and, consequently, the accuracy of tracking.

wiatag mode select

4. Connecting device to flespi

  • Login to the flespi panel using any of your social media accounts or an email.
  • Navigate to Telematics hub -> Channels and click on the "+" sign to create a connection from the WiaTag device to flespi. Give it a name and select WiaTag protocol from the drop-down list.
  • Now copy the URI of the newly created channel:
    copy channel ipinto WiaTag app -> Settings -> Server
    wiatag server ip
  • Then on the WiaTag main screen click the “+” sign and tap Send position:
    wiatag send position
  • To check that the message arrived at the flespi channel click on the channel card and switch to the Toolbox tab; then switch to the history mode:
    flespi channel log
  • Now that we have the message in flespi, we will transmit it to the aforementioned business platforms.
  • Click Telematics hub -> Devices -> "+" button to create a flespi device that will aggregate all messages from the smartphone into a dedicated buffer. Give it a name, specify the ident value (you can find it in WiaTag settings -> Unit properties -> Unique ID), and select a device type from the drop-down list:
    create flespi device
  • Next, we will create an outgoing stream to feed the data into Wialon Hosting. Navigate to Telematics hub -> Streams -> "+" button to create a new stream. Then:
    • give it a name
    • specify the protocol to transfer data into the business application — in our case it’s HTTP
    • specify the URI: Wialon Hosting receives data via flespi gateway at 193.193.165.165:21548
      flespi stream to wialon
  • Similarly, let’s set up another stream to GPS Trace:
    • give it a name
    • select Wialon Retranslator protocol from the drop-down list
    • insert the URI where GPS trace will listen to Wialon Retranslator: 193.193.165.166:20163 flespi stream gps trace wialon retranslator
  • Subscribe both streams to the "new_dev" device we created above to forward its data into the chosen platforms:

5. Checking operability

  • In WiaTag click the plus sign (“+”) and select Send position.
  • The icon of the unit should appear in the location you and your phone is currently at:
    in Wialon Hosting wialon hosting unit location
    and in GPS Trace
    gps trace unit location

Summary

This brief demo shows how straightforward it is to connect GPS tracking devices to fleet management platforms and how flespi facilitates forking communication to multiple business applications over multiple protocols.

Try flespi to unify your tracking infrastructure and contact us with any questions you may have.