Have you ever followed a direction of Google Mapsespecially to feet and in a urban environmentand realize that the arrow Was it oriented in the wrong direction? Google is aware of this situation, and has launched a new API to correct it, Fused Orientation Provider (FOP).
The basic problem is related to the reliability of the GPS and of compass digital in rather dense environments such as in cities, which entail, not only for Google Mapsuncertainties inorientation of your phone (by the way, do you know how to use Google Maps without the Internet?).
This is no small matter: the orientation of the device (also called attitude) is used as input signal for many use cases such as virtual reality or increased, the detection of gestures, the compass and, of course, navigation. Basically, any time an app needs a device’s orientation in relation to its surroundings.
To improve precision and implement consistent orientation detection, Google has therefore introduced a new API in the Google Play Services which, according to the release notes “provides more consistent behavior and high performance across all devices“.
THE “P Fused Orientation Provider is added to Android Rotation Vectorand, as the name suggests, melts the signals of the accelerometer, of the gyroscope he was born in magnetometer. Plus, since it’s integrated into Google Play Services, it provides a unified implementation across devices, regardless of manufacturer updates.
Furthermore, the instrument directly incorporates the local magnetic declination, if available, and compensates for any “lower quality sensors and OEM implementations“. Overall, the new FOP API performs a number of operations to provide accurate orientation:
- Sync the sensors running on different clocks and delays
- Make up for it the polarization of the magnetometer
- Melts accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer measurements to determine device orientation
- Make up for it the drift of the gyroscope when moving
- Produces one esteem realistic compass accuracy
Google notes that the FOP API indicates orientation by reference to true north, but in cases where the local magnetic declination is not known (for example, location is not available), the orientation will be relative to magnetic north.
The new API is available in Google Play Services available for Android phones updated to Lollipop (Android 5) and higher, and a tool that already uses it is Google Maps.
In this context, Google has also recently implemented some changes “to better cope with magnetic disturbances” And “improve the reliability of the cone“, in the app and in all those that use the API.
Finally, Google notes that no implementation variation between different manufacturers is necessary for the API, and that algorithm updates can be implemented quickly.
Android
