Ably Asset Tracking SDK for JavaScript

Overview

Ably Asset Tracking SDKs provide an easy way to track multiple assets with realtime location updates powered by Ably realtime network and Mapbox Navigation SDK with location enhancement.

Status: this is a preview version of the SDK. That means that it contains a subset of the final SDK functionality, and the APIs are subject to change. The latest release of this SDK is available in the Released section of this repository.

Ably Asset Tracking is:

• easy to integrate - comprising two complementary SDKs with easy to use APIs, available for multiple platforms:
  • Asset Publishing SDK, for embedding in apps running on the courier's device
  • Asset Subscribing SDK, for embedding in apps runnong on the customer's observing device
• extensible - as Ably is used as the underlying transport, you have direct access to your data and can use Ably integrations for a wide range of applications in addition to direct realtime subscriptions - examples include:
  • passing to a 3rd party system
  • persistence for later retrieval
• built for purpose - the APIs and underlying functionality are designed specifically to meet the requirements of a range of common asset tracking use-cases

This repository contains the Asset Subscribing SDK for Web.

Documentation

Visit the Ably Asset Tracking documentation for a complete API reference and code examples.

Useful Resources

• Introducing Ably Asset Tracking - public beta now available
• Accurate Delivery Tracking with Navigation SDK + Ably Realtime Network

Installation

To use Ably Asset Tracking in your app, install it as a dependency:

# If you are using NPM:
npm install @ably/asset-tracking

# If you are using Yarn:
yarn add @ably/asset-tracking

Usage

Subscribing to location updates

import { Subscriber } from '@ably/asset-tracking';

// Client options passed to the underling ably-js instance.
// You must provide some way for the client to authenticate with Ably.
// In this example we're using basic authentication which means we must also provide a clientId.
// See: https://ably.com/docs/core-features/authentication
const ablyOptions = {
  key: ABLY_API_KEY,
  clientId: CLIENT_ID,
};

// Create a Subscriber instance.
const subscriber = new Subscriber({
  ablyOptions,
});

// Get an asset.
const asset = subscriber.get('my_tracking_id');

// Define a callback to be notified when a location update is recieved.
asset.addLocationListener((locationUpdate) => {
  console.log(`Location update recieved. Coordinates: ${locationUpdate.location.geometry.coordinates}`);
});

// Start tracking the asset. This will attach to the Ably realtime channel and enter presence.
await asset.start();

// Stop tracking the asset, at some point later on when you no longer need to receive location updates.
await asset.stop();

Subscribing to driver status

// Register a callback to be notified when the asset online status is updated.
asset.addStatusListener((isOnline) => {
  console.log(`Status update: Publisher is now ${isOnline ? 'online' : 'offline'}`);
});

Requesting publisher resolution

import { Accuracy } from '@ably/asset-tracking';

// You can request a specific resolution to be considered by the publisher when you create an asset instance...
const resolution = {
  accuracy: Accuracy.High,
  desiredInterval: 1000,
  minimumDisplacement: 1,
};

const asset = subscriber.get('my_tracking_id', resolution);

// ...And you can send a request to change the resolution when the asset is already started
await asset.sendChangeRequest({
  accuracy: Accuracy.Low,
  desiredInterval: 3000,
  minimumDisplacement: 5,
});

Example App

This repository also contains an example app that showcases how the Ably Asset Tracking SDK can be used:

• the Asset Subscribing example app

Development

see Contributing.