BookIT Dashboard

Description

This dashboard helps to monitor the parcel deliveries in the selected time range. It is developed in Grafana, while the data are stored in InfluxDB that is a Time Series database.

This dashboard is composed of 7 graphs. Starting from the top-left position, they are:

• the number of scheduled parcels to be delivered during the selected time range;
• the number of delivered parcels during the selected time range;
• the ratio between the number of delivered and scheduled parcels during the selected time range;
• a histogram comparing, hour by hour, the number of scheduled and delivered parcels during the selected time range;
• a map showing, every 5 minutes, the average parcel delivery delay in every area of the city;
• a bar chart showing the principal motivations for the delay;
• a bar chart showing the principal motivations for failing to deliver a parcel;

Data Modeling

The data are stored in an InfluxDB database. Every single sample must have four components:

• measurement: description and namespace for the sample.
• tagset: key/value string pairs usually used to identify the sample.
• fieldset: key/value pairs that are typed and usually contain the sample data.
• timestamp: date and time associated with the fields.

The serialization format for samples is defined by the line protocol. An example point from the specification helps to explain the terminology:

measurement,tag1=tag1Value,tag2=tag2Value field1=field1Value,field2=field2Value timestamp

The timestamp has to be in UTC and unix format (nanosecond precision).

In our data, we have two measurements: live_tracking and schedule.

• live_tracking represents the data sent by each courier during the day. It has five tags and one field:

  • the courier tag represents the courier id;
  • the event tag represents what the courier is doing (in transit, arrived, parcel delivered, parcel not delivered);
  • the status tag indicates if the courier is in time or delay;
  • the location tag represents the name of the location where the courier is;
  • the motivation tag is the reason why the courier is in delay (optional).
  • The delay field is the number of minutes of delay.

• schedule represents the program of the day for every single courier. It has two tags and six fields:

  • the courier tag represents the courier id;
  • the location tag represents the name of the location where the courier must deliver the parcel;
  • the weight field is the weight in cm of the parcel to be delivered;
  • the volume field is the volume in cm³ of the parcel to be delivered;
  • the width field is the width in cm of the parcel to be delivered;
  • the height field is the height in cm of the parcel to be delivered;
  • the length field is the length in cm of the parcel to be delivered;
  • the packages field is the number of packages to be delivered;

  Note: additional fields could be the exact delivery location.

How to install

The entire dashboard is embedded in a docker file. All you have to do is clone or download this repository, open a terminal into its principal directory and type:

docker-compose up -d

Note: you must have installed docker before

Then open your browser and go here. The username and password required by Grafana are both admin. Then, in the Dashboard menù, click the manage option and you will find the bookit dashboard. Clicking on it, you will see the structure of all the graphs but without any data.

The data must be loaded in InfluxDB. We provide a set of synthetically generated data ready to be loaded into InfluxDB. To do that, open a terminal into the data directory and type:

sh populate.sh

Now, click the refresh button in the top-right position of the dashboard and you are done.