PacePal

A running coach that tracks your pace and helps you visualize your run using IoT, Ardiuno, Firebase,and Python.

Background

Over this past summer, I have taken up running as a hobby and my main form of cardio. I quickly realized the importance of maintaining pace for distance running, and started looking to buy a pace tracking watch (Apple Watch, FitBit, or other). Instead, I thought I could make something myself. Using an Arduino board with IoT support and FireBase, I created this project to track my pace while I run and used Python to plot my run data with the granularity and metrics I desired. This project was inspired by Strava.

Technologies

• Arduino Nano 33 IoT
• Beitian BN-220 (GPS Module)
• >= Python 3.10
• Firebase

Other GPS Modules may suffice as the code doesn't expect a specific module, this happens to be the one I used

Setup

Begin by cloning the repository, then this README will go over setting up each individual component.

Arduino

Required Libraries

All of the following libraries are required to run the Arduino sketch and can be downloaded through the Ardiuno IDE.

• TinyGPSPlus by Mikal Hart
• Firebase Arduino based on WiFiNINA by Mobizt
• WiFiNINA by Arduino

You'll also need to fill in the config.h file and replace the xxxs :

// config.h
#ifndef CONFIG_H
#define CONFIG_H

// wifi name and password
#define WIFI_SSID "xxx" 
#define WIFI_PASSWORD "xxx" 

// Firebase info
#define API_KEY "xxx"
#define DATABASE_URL "xxx" // e.g. your-database-name.firebaseio.com
#define DB_SECRET "xxx"

// The Google login used to create your Firebase Project
#define USER_EMAIL "xxx"
#define USER_PASSWORD "xxx"

#endif // CONFIG_H

Most of these fields you'll be able fillout after reading over the Firebase set up section.

Schema: ....

Firebase

This project uses Firebase's realtime database to store the run metrics. To set it up, start by going to Firebase, logging in with your Google Account, then create a new project. Then, select your project so you can see the project overview screen. We need a few key items: a Web API Key , Database URL, Database Secret, and a Credential Key. You'll need these fields for the config.h file for the Arduino sketch and the .env file for the Python visualizer.

Web API Key

Click the gear icon on the left beside Project Overview and go to Project Settings. Under General, scroll down to Your Apps and create a Web app (button with <\> icon) and add a Firebase SDK. In SDK config you'll see several fields, but the value labelled apiKey will be your Web API Key.

Database URL

You may have to create your Realtime Database first. To do so, cick Build > Realtime Database. The Realtime Database menu should come up under project shortcuts, click it and click Create Database and create it in Test Mode. You should now be able to see your Database URL with the format https://name-1234-default-rtdb.firebaseio.com/

Database Secret

Go back to Project Settings as when you were getting the Web API Key, and go to Service Accounts. Under Database secret, you can get the secret to your data base.

Credential Key

In the same Service Accounts menu as the previous step, select Firebase Admin SDK and click Generate new private key. This will download a JSON file that will serve as your credential key. Copy this file into the directory of this project.

Visualizer

Start by creating a .env file of the format below, and fill in the fields with the fields you got from the previous Firebase setup step:

FIREBASE_CRED_PATH = 'firebase-credential-filename.json'
FIREBASE_DB_URL = 'https://name-1234-default-rtdb.firebaseio.com/'

Virtual Environment (Optional)

Running the project in a virtual environment may be ideal to avoid conflicts.

To create an environment, clone the repo and inside the directory run the following:

python -m venv .venv

.venv can be replaced with whatever you would like to name the environment.

After creating the environment run either of the following to activate the environment:

For Windows

.venv\Scripts\activate

For Unix or Mac OS

source .venv/bin/activate

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Install Dependencies

To install the required dependencies run the following either in the project directory or in a virtual environment:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Run

To run the visualizer, run the following either in the project directory or in a virtual environment:

python visualize.py

Or:

python3 visualize.py

Inside the visualize.py script, change the date at the bottom of the script to fetch the data from your desired day