Instalog

Instalog is an intuitive and user-friendly offline data-logging app designed to efficiently capture and manage real-time data primarily for aerial surveys of marine birds and mammals.

Features

• Real-time data logging from serial GPS devices
• Customizable species shortcuts allow for fast and efficient entry
• Generates CSVs and Shapefiles for observations and recorded track
• Easily continue projects by loading an observation CSV
• Simple and clean user interface
• Windows and macOS support

Notes

• Pyinstaller was used to bundle the app into a single executable for end users
• See InstaLog's executables, user guide, and settings file here: (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11lNMJhH1kuCFg-K_dro7AFz68LBna3g-?usp=sharing)

Installation

1. Clone the repo

• Clone the "main" branch for macOS:

  git clone https://github.com/carsonmdd/InstaLog.git

• Clone the "windows" branch for Windows:

  git clone -b windows https://github.com/carsonmdd/InstaLog.git

2. Navigate to project directory

   cd InstaLog

3. (Optional) Use a virtual environment to avoid installing dependencies globally.

• Create a virtual environment:

  python -m venv .venv

• Activate the virutal environment:
  • macOS:

    source .venv/bin/activate

  • Windows:

    .venv/Scripts/activate

4. Install the required dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Running the app

Settings

• InstaLog's settings can be configured in the settings.json file
• There are two settings in this file:
  • baud_rate: baud rate for the app to use with the GPS
  • shortcuts: a list of key-value pairs that represent species shortcuts

Windows

1. Install USB-to-Serial Driver
   • If you are using a UBS-to-serial cable, you may need to install a driver for it to work properly. You can download the driver from the manufacturer's website (e.g., CP210x USB to UART Bridge VCP Drivers for Silicon Labs chips).
2. Turn on your serial GPS device.
3. In the settings.json file, ensure the baud_rate setting matches your GPS's baud rate.
4. Connect the GPS to your computer via USB.
5. Run the app:

   python main.py

macOS:

1. Turn on your serial GPS device.
2. In the settings.json file, ensure the baud_rate setting matches your GPS's baud rate.
3. Connect the GPS to your computer via USB.
4. Run the app:

   python main.py

Navigating the GUI

• Create a new observations (obs) CSV with the "New CSV" button
• Load an existing obs CSV with the "Load CSV" button
• Delete the last row of the table with the "Delete last row" button
• Revert the most recent add/delete row action with the "Undo" button
• Log data by entering data in the Entry Viewer following the general format of a species name (or shortcut) followed by the count observed
• The "Error Log" displays an error when coordinates cannot be read from the GPS
• Data can be directly edited in the table as well

Output

Instalog outputs an observations CSV, track CSV, observations shapefile, and a track shapefile. Observations are for the user-recorded data entered into the app. The track is created by a background thread continuously reading coordinates from the GPS every 2-3 seconds.