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Taxi Cab Confessions – we did it with Drupal! @prometsource @akucharski
| Date post: | 18-Jan-2015 |
| Category: |
Technology |
| Upload: | promet-source |
| View: | 2,767 times |
| Download: | 7 times |
Taxi Cab Confessions – we did it with Drupal!
@prometsource
@akucharski
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Agenda
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Objectives
How Drupal was leveraged for rapid development of the base dispatch application
Why Drupal was the right choice for integrating with native and hybrid mobile apps
Where Drupal can be used for enterprise mobile application development
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Promet Source background
Company Background Founded in 2003
30 + employees
Offices in Chicago IL, Sunnyvale, CA
Company Offerings Promet Source
Web Development
Mobile Application Development
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Promet Mobile Work
M.DOT sites (Drupal)
Responsive Design and Theming (Drupal)
Mobile Application Development Native development for:
IOS
Android
Hybrid development with Phonegap
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About Me
Presenter:Andrew Kucharski
Co-PresentersChris Bartlett
Rachel Jaro
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Mobile Application Opportunities
By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most-common Web access device worldwide
Transportation CIO’s made Mobility one of their top priorities for next two years
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Project Background
Green cab of Madison is an eco-friendly taxicab service with a hybrid vehicle taxi fleet and shared ride service
Green cab needed a dispatch solution for their new fleet of cars equipped with iPads
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Requirements and Challenges
Build a Dispatch system to establish two way ride request communication with iPads in cars
Month and a half timeline before launch
Zone based ride calculation
Cars to provide up to date location to dispatch
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Proprietary Technology Options
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Green Cab business choices
Option 1 – go with proprietary hardware solution
Option 2 – build a custom code application
Option 3 – build the application using Drupal
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Our Approach
Use Drupal as Dispatch Center
Use iPads as mobile dispatch unit
Use PhoneGap as application development platform
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Benefits of Using Drupal
Fast development cycle
Services Module
Security built in
Immediate prototyping
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Mobile SDK – to go native or Hybrid
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Use Hybrid Development Platform – we chose PhoneGap
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Application Functionality
Save Ride Request
Schedule a Ride Request for future time and date
Zone based ride cost calculation
Dispatch Taxi for Pick up
Drivers to Receive and Accept or Decline request
Update Driver during request with new information or cancel request
Display location of fleet on a map
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Call Screen
Pull down menu allows Users to assign calls to drivers.
User can click on any call to view in entirety & make revisions.
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Dispatch's Driver map
Hold curser over orange dot to display cab number.
All iPads have GPS tracking to manage cab’s location.
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Implementation
Dispatchers running GreenLightDispatch
*Photo by WrielessWeek™
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Zones and Open Layers
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Receiving calls on ipad
When Driver arrives to the pick up location, they will touch ‘Load’ or ‘No Load’
based on whether Rider gets into cab.
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Additional Benefits
Data Plan only – use skype for voice communication
Credit Card Processing via Little Square
Accept Credit Card information
Receive communication from dispatch
Vehicle Fleet management
Driver management
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Architecture
Drupal Services
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The solution – Green Light Dispatch
Notable Modules http://drupal.org/project/openlayers
http://drupal.org/project/services
http://drupal.org/project/cck
http://drupal.org/project/views
http://drupal.org/project/date
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Services to the rescue!
3 components of Services module
server modules – receive and render request
authenticatation modules – authentication Extended authentication model to use both key and drupal authentication
services modules – process and return data Extended the services module to minimize data transfer
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Challenges
Google Maps API limit Oversight during development
Limit Wireless Traffic Extended services module to make our own calls
Testing
Performance Issues Performance improvement of 500% by limiting views
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Code distribution to iPads
Three ways to get code to your Apple device IOS SDK
App Store
Enterprise Program
Enterprise program allows for over the air updates to devices
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Next Steps
Native Client App for iPhone and Android Uses location to populate ride request
Ability track you taxi once ride is assigned
Ability to SMS customers
Automatic Driver routing
In-app navigation (fastest route, traffic avoidance)
Simulate metered functionality via GPS tracking
Financial Reporting
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iPad Application Case Study
Dispatch software built on open source technology running on iPad applications instead of proprietary hardware. Featured by Apple and AT&T
iPad powered location and fleet tracking system - running the fleet of cabs in Madison
Product featured in Wireless week magazine: http://www.wirelessweek.com/Articles/2011/04/Devices-Green-Cab-iPad-Dispatch-System-Computers/
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Upcoming Consumer App
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Drupal as a multiplatform CMS
