GPS Mapping Project

Goal:

For this project, I was interested in analyzing the efficiency of the shopping trip route taken by myself and family members in Appleton, WI.  Many people wish to spend the least time possible when out on the town and hope to eliminate as much backtracking as possible.  My Grandpa is one of those people.  The goal utilizing the GPS unit was to track the route proposed by my Grandpa given the list of places I needed to visit. 

Methods:

To map the route taken and the places visited, I used a Garmin E-Trex GPS unit’s tracking function to map a route of the trip with points taken every second.  I also plotted waypoints of the buildings visited: Kohls, Rogan’s Shoes, Payless Shoe Source, Home, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Woodman’s, Home, and finally the Valley Grand Cinema.  Both of these data series were collected over one day from approximately 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. 

 

Results:

After analyzing the data, I found that the route was indeed efficient for the places visited.  The only backtracking was a trip made back home to each lunch.  The order of visiting the three stores the left-hand side of the map was in a clockwise fashion because Barnes and Noble was more difficult to get into from the left and groceries would then be purchased last and thus put into the fridge sooner.  These are considerations that would only be possible with extensive knowledge of the area and traffic tendencies.  Overall the trip was successful and done in a timely and efficient manner due to my Grandfather's knowledge of the Appleton area.  Figure 1 shows the final map produced of the route taken in Appleton, WI.

Figure 1. Map of a shopping route taken in Appleton, WI.

Sources:

Garmin E-Trex