Leica integration

[3nids]

When digitizing, it would be interesting to know the location source: in-built GPS vs external precision system.

PositionSource offers the name property
but it displays android both when using in-built and Leica bluetooth app (zeno connect).

I wonder if the issue is because:

• Leica app does not overwrite the source name
• on Qt side

Or if there is maybe more info that we could get on Java side, in Android Location Manager

[3nids]

mail sent to Leica support

[m-kuhn]

One possibility would be to directly connect to the nmea channel instead of relying on the mock source. This would have other advantages like having rtk status available too.

[3nids]

in our case, I am not sure the Leica app offers such functionality.
@gcarillor can you check this? in the documentation, it is quite unclear because it's the same for Android app or the device embedded one.

[m-kuhn]

From previous contact with Leica I remember that this should be possible. Technical specs sent by mail.

[3nids]

ok, it's just unclear to me if this will be done while still using Zeno Connect or not.
This would require quite some work (handling bluetooth from QField, supporting 2 sources of locations).

[m-kuhn]

Yes, if there's a short term solution for this, go ahead.

But in the long run, the additional value this adds will make QField attractive for a whole new range of users who require full access to precise positioning information.

[3nids]

@gacarrillor what is your preferred approach? Do you want to investigate the NMEA one? Or live with the idea of using the precision?
I had no reply from Leica yet.

[gacarrillor]

@3nids, @m-kuhn After an internal discussion with the team, we consider that the whole project (Modernization of the Land Administration in Colombia) would benefit much more from the NMEA approach.

We think the user could indicate QField two inputs: first, a setting specifying a threshold to consider a coordinate to be high-precision (or 'acceptable'); and second when to start receiving/analyzing the NMEA trace for a point. QField will get the NMEA and once the coordinate is precise enough (hence the setting), it would notify the user that a precise coordinate is available. The user would then confirm to capture the coordinate and it would get stored in the DB.

Does that make sense for you?

Still, the user should be able to tell the device to use an external GPS instead of the smartphone one. That should be clear for the user, which currently is not.

[label-actions]

This has been accepted as an enhancement request. Good job 👍 Enhancement requests are very valuable to make QField better. They sometimes attract others and just happen magically. More often however they need someone to jump in and make them come true.

[m-kuhn]

@signedav @nirvn do you see any potential improvements in this area after the nmea developments on 1.8?

[m-kuhn]

All information is now available through expression variables, is there anything missing still?

[github-actions]

The QField project highly values your report and would love to see it addressed. However, this issue has been left in feedback mode for the last 14 days and is being automatically marked as "stale". If you would like to continue with this issue, please provide any missing information or answer any open questions. If you could resolve the issue yourself meanwhile, please leave a note for future readers with the same problem and close the issue.
In case you should have any uncertainty, please leave a comment and we will be happy to help you proceed with this issue.
If there is no further activity on this issue, it will be closed in a week.

[github-actions]

The QField project highly values your report and would love to see it addressed. However, this issue has been left in feedback mode for the last 14 days and is being automatically marked as "stale". If you would like to continue with this issue, please provide any missing information or answer any open questions. If you could resolve the issue yourself meanwhile, please leave a note for future readers with the same problem and close the issue.
In case you should have any uncertainty, please leave a comment and we will be happy to help you proceed with this issue.
If there is no further activity on this issue, it will be closed in a week.

[w0pr]

@m-kuhn
Has there been any resolution to this? I seem to have a related issue on iOS in combination with ZenoConnect and an external antennae: #4739 & #4756
Can you send me the technical specs you mentioned?

[m-kuhn]

This issue was mostly about an expression variable internal vs external in the end which is now available.
On android systems, leica devices work well now. On ios this is much more complicated as the system is much more restrictive by design. The easiest would be if leica would offer a tcp stream with NMEA. Did you contact leica support?

[w0pr]

This issue was mostly about an expression variable internal vs external in the end which is now available. On android systems, leica devices work well now. On ios this is much more complicated as the system is much more restrictive by design. The easiest would be if leica would offer a tcp stream with NMEA. Did you contact leica support?

Yes, I did. However, they always stated that it would "just work":

Trotzdem schonmal kurz zu Ihrer Frage: Zeno Connect leitet die Korrekturdaten als NMEA in die Drittsoftware.
Welche NMEA-Messages rausgehen sollen, kann in Zeno Connect unter Einstellungen -> NMEA-Messages definiert werden.
Weitere Informationen finden Sie im angehängten Dokument ab S. 18.

And attached this document, but the section regarding "streaming NMEA messages" seems to only deal with output to COM ports, no mention of how (TCP/UDP ports?) the third party app (QField in this case) would have access to the stream and no mention of iOS specifics:
Zeno_Quick_Start_Tutorial_-_Zeno_Connect_and_Zeno_Tools_en.pdf

In the ZenoConnect datasheet, it is simply stated that "On Android and iOS3, the accurate position will be provided via the location manager with no further setup required."; I interpreted that as ZenoConnect substituting its high-precision location data for the datat given by internal device receiver, but it does not seem to work.

Leica_Zeno_Connect_DS.pdf

On Android I know how to configure Developer mode to make ZenoConnect the source for LocationData.