brahm's Mileage Tracking Site

[brahmy 0]

/!\ UPDATE! Registration now open: see http://clubsmartcar.com/index.php?showtopi...st&p=229983 /!\

Hey Everyone,

I'm working on a little project that I am hoping the smart car community can help me develop - a new (better?) fuel mileage monitoring website. I've been using SpritMonitor for a little over a year, and while it's okay, I think it could be a lot better. So I am writing a new site myself :-)

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish:

[*]Thematic mapping of average mileage for the 10 provinces and 50 states of Canada and the USA (ie, a map that changes colours to reflect the most fuel efficient provinces and states).

[*]Per-user charts like average consumption per month, ranking against the top 10 most efficient users, frequency of fill-ups, etc.

[*]More informative forum signature icons/website banners - share more stats than just mileage.

[*]Ability to easily import CSV data from SpritMonitor.de.

[*]Not restricted to smart cars, but,

[*]Developed with a North American userbase in mind.

Since I'm (basically) starting from scratch, I can't promise the site will be up and running anytime soon. In very rough order, here's my timeline:

[*]Finish the back-end framework - signup system & security features, optimize some database stuff

[*]Polish the basic features - don't want anything to be sloppy for half-assed

[*]Make sure that the SpritMonitor import works without any flaws

[*]Beta test? I'm not yet sure if I'll just open registration to the public or get a handful of beta testers.

[*]Better forum signature images

[*]Once there are a handful of users generating some data there will be enough information to set up the really neat things like the maps and rankings.

So why do I need you? Over the next week or so I want to hack together the SpritMonitor import feature. I got it working with my data, but I can't say for sure (yet) that it will work with yours. If you can send me your data in CSV format (SpritMonitor->Vehicles->Fuelings->CSV-export).

Here's a sneak preview of how things are looking so far... simple & clean. The login system is done but I am still fixing a lot of permission-based stuff to make sure that users can't edit each others data.

Vehicle Manager

Add New Vehicle

Fuel Log (not done yet...)

^ One cool thing this is already set up to do is remember which gas stations you fuel up at; you can enter custom stations/stores. So if you fill up with Brent Butt's Corner Gas you can track your mileage with that exact location and compare it to your fill-ups at Shell. You're not limited to the ~10 options that SpritMonitor has (only a few of which are available in North America).

Import Utility

Graphs - I've been toying around with the Google Charts API for some other projects and it's pretty flexible and easy to use.

^ Anyone believe me yet that smarts are terrible in Saskatchewan winters?

Anyway, that's it for now, if you can send me your SpritMonitor data that would be awesome, and if you'd like to chime in about potentially useful features please do so! If there's some interest I'll keep this thread posted with updates.

Edited April 6, 2009 by brahmy

[MikeT 744]

cool, I will give it a shot later.

[ValgardForkbeard 2]

Ok, CSV file emailed. Have fun with it.MG

[mzeeb 0]

Do you want just smart car CSV data or can data from all my cars be submitted?

[smart65 28]

His introduction indicated the system is intended to be used for any car in Canada or USA, so go ahead and send data for other than your smart. My data has been sent.

Question:

I assume that going forward, data would have to be entered into your system and Spritmonitor if users didn't want to forgo further updating of Spritmonitor. Would it be possible to trigger an automatic update of your system each time Spritmonitor data is updated? It would be a shame to "steal" willing posters of data from Spritmonitor, which, over time, would degrade the value of its database.

[brahmy 0]

Do you want just smart car CSV data or can data from all my cars be submitted?

Any car is fine - I am trying to make sure the import process is glitch-free so I just want to throw four or five peoples' data at it and see how it behaves. I only had ~30 fills so it's hard to tell if the process was perfect, but the two people who sent in their data have between 150 and 180 so that's a good starting point for testing bigger import operations.

In fact, I just got that done, and it worked great! Here's ValgardForkbeard's per-month breakdown:

Here's smart65:

Both are much nicer looking than mine, haha.. damn those diesels. Still hoping for a few more test data sets, please see email in the first post.

I assume that going forward, data would have to be entered into your system and Spritmonitor if users didn't want to forgo further updating of Spritmonitor. Would it be possible to trigger an automatic update of your system each time Spritmonitor data is updated? It would be a shame to "steal" willing posters of data from Spritmonitor, which, over time, would degrade the value of its database.

If users wanted to use both services, then yes, data would have to be entered on both sites.

What I am trying to create is an alternative or replacement service, not a complimentary one. I'm not trying to be competitive (SpritMonitor has 150,000 users, I can't support that ) but I am trying to design a service that I am happy with. I'm assuming that if it will make me happy, some other people will probably be interested as well!

That said, I wouldn't want to implement any sort of parasitic auto-updater. You make a good point about the integrity of both databases being degraded if users are split across them, but at the same time, alternatives are never a bad thing! Let's put it this way - I'm more interested in a few selfish features (charts, signature images, etc) than I am contributing to the international average. Thanks for the post!

[MikeT 744]

I just sent you my B 200 data. Also, I noticed that you have erroneously entered your car's HP as 84 on spritmonitor (62 kW).

[bilgladstone 13]

CSV sent

[brahmy 0]

Mike - Thanks for catching that error Shows how much I actually know about cars! Bil & Mike - thanks for the CSV fueling info! The import feature seems to be behaving properly so far. I wrote a really neat script today, one that auto-generates better (in my opinion) and more informative "badges" or signature graphics from your mileage date and other stats. Here is what they look like so far: It shouldn't be too hard to build in a few options - different colors and fonts, different sized badges, and maybe a tiny pic of your own car inside the badge. These also aren't final, I am trying to figure out other useful information to pack in. I think I'm about a week away from feeling comfortable enough to open up the site to users - still lots of back-end stuff to do and tweak!

[Doozy 0]

csv data sent. cheers, Mark

[Onyx11 0]

CSV file sent. Are you sure you want them ALL ! ! ! ;-))))))Have fun.

[brahmy 0]

Hey everyone! I'm happy to share that I've opened registrations for this service at gas.brahm.ca! I should have been studying... but projects like this really get me going!

Here are some of the really cool features so far:

[*]Custom per-vehicle badges, with the ability to change fonts and colours to customize what you share with the world: http://gas.brahm.ca/badges.php?vid=1

[*]Fuel consumption by month charts: http://gas.brahm.ca/charts.php?vid=1

[*]Familiar fueling system: http://gas.brahm.ca/fueling.php?vid=1

[*]Easily import existing fuelings from SpritMonitor.de

There are some other cool features that I can't write (well) until there is a fair-sized userbase:

[*]Charts that compare your mileage to that of other users with the same vehicle make & model

[*]Thematic mapping of average mileage for the 10 provinces and 50 states of Canada and the USA (ie, a map that changes colours to reflect the most fuel efficient provinces and states).

[*]Total miles/km driven by users, average fuel economy, etc

[*]Search features to look at the mileage of individual users, vehicle types, or geographic regions.

Also, one feature that is still missing is a public vehicle stats page where you can share a summary of your vehicle with the world. That is in the works!

Thanks to Mike_T, ValgardForkbeard, mzeeb, smart65, bilgladstone, Doozy, and Onyx11 for sending in test data for me to play with!

If you encounter any bugs or find things you don't like, feel free to post them here or email me at gas@brahm.ca.

Enjoy the site! Feel free to share it with friends.

-Brahm

[bilgladstone 13]

Very cool, Brahm

I've created an account!

Does the analysis chart report averages for each month as taken over the three years of spritmonitor.de data, or is it for the most recent calendar year, 2008?

B

[brahmy 0]

Very cool, Brahm :thumbup:I've created an account!Does the analysis chart report averages for each month as taken over the three years of spritmonitor.de data, or is it for the most recent calendar year, 2008?B

Thanks Bil! The chart queries all of your fueling data, not just the most recent calendar year. I figure that's the best way to see if there is a seasonal trend (or lack thereof) for most users. I've added a note to the charts page so that's clear to all users.

[plaincorgi 0]

awesome! The carts really show the difference between winter and summer

[FlossyTheSmart 81]

Looks really good! I especially like the ability to enter what gas station you filled up at.An interesting chart to be able to generate would be average fuel economy for each gas station that you have filled up at, so you could see who has the best stuff.

[MikeT 744]

I brought my smart data over.Two issues:1. it's too bad that the comments entered into spritmonitor don't come over, and it's also too bad that the OBC data can't be entered (scangauge).2. only three pages of data are displayed at a time on the car page, even if - as in my case - there are 9 or more.Otherwise, a very good start!

[brahmy 0]

I brought my smart data over.

Two issues:

1. it's too bad that the comments entered into spritmonitor don't come over, and it's also too bad that the OBC data can't be entered (scangauge).

2. only three pages of data are displayed at a time on the car page, even if - as in my case - there are 9 or more.

Otherwise, a very good start!

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the feedback! Actually, I just used the test data you had sent me previous to catch a bug I didn't notice before.

1. Importing comments is actually a feature, but for some reason the data you were importing was not behaving! I think was due to the fact that OBC data that was also present in your CSV file - I didn't notice it before because most of the test data didn't come from people who recorded OBC data. In any case, I fixed that bug, thanks for catching it. If you want to import your comments, you'll actually have to delete your current vehicle, re-create it, and re-import the data. Sorry for the hassle, but I just tested it with your B200 data and it should work. Everyone else should be fine, I think.

2. I will add it to my todo list! The fuelings page that is visible to the public is not near complete yet.. it needs a lot more stats about mileage, emissions, fuel types used, etc. I am working on it

Edit: @FlossyTheSmart, good idea. I was thinking of adding something like that to the charts and analysis page. I will keep this thread posted on new features that pop up!

Edited April 6, 2009 by brahmy

[bilgladstone 13]

I would be interested in an emissions report that can break out ordinary diesel versus biodiesel at various percentages. 5/20/40/50/100That is something I asked for at spritmonitor and they said they may look at it in future but is not a priority for them.The 119g/100km (or whatever the CDI is rated at) is MUCH reduced with biodiesel!

[brahmy 0]

@Mike_T: I tackled your suggestion about page numbers, you can see that in action here: http://gas.brahm.ca/fueling.php?vid=7

@bilgladstone: Can you send me some info on what information I'd need to collect from users to do an emissions report? That is pretty far from my field of expertise. If it looks feasible I don't see why I can't implement it.

@Mark M: Thanks for the three emails. I got a lot of little issues sorted out based on your feedback.

New for Today:

* Mileage by gas station & fuel type: http://gas.brahm.ca/charts.php?vid=1, http://gas.brahm.ca/charts.php?vid=21 (scroll down to the bottom)

This is an optional feature, but if you get into the habit of recording where you get gas and what type it is, you can monitor consumption by gas station! There's a lot of room for error, but that's all explained above the chart. These charts only become meaningful if you fill up at each location like.. 25 times under the similar driving conditions.

I'm very open to suggestions for features.. the way I see it, users should be able to do lots of cool things with their data!

A request for a moderator - could you please remove the "Under Development" and the request for SpritMonitor data from the topic title? Thanks!

[Duck 16]

I get this error if I try to click on anybody's links to their data:

error looking up admin user You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 1

-Iain

[brahmy 0]

I get this error if I try to click on anybody's links to their data:

error looking up admin user You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 1

-Iain

Oops, fixed. Thanks.

[brahmy 0]

New for Today: Thematic "heat map" for North American fuel economy!

http://gas.brahm.ca/maps.php

I need more users and fueling data for that map to fill itself out.. and I've explained some of the downfalls of that map on the map page. A few improvements are coming, like the ability for people to see what the per-province/state average fuel economy is, and the number of users/vehicles contributing to the average on the map.

I should have been studying for exams... but I was too excited about the idea of the thematic map to do anything else

Cheers for now!

[mcdnjim 0]

Very nice. Set up a new account today. I like the ability to put in the gas stations you use. Could you put imperial MPG on there as well.Well done!!

[brahmy 0]

@mcdnjim - Thanks!

I added some support for Imperial Miles Per Gallon - you can see it on the badges page as well as the my vehicles page (must be logged in). I'll add additional flexibility in units as I have the time for the updates!

Another quick update: There are now chart titles to make saving and sharing charts easier: http://gas.brahm.ca/charts.php?vid=1

There are also a bunch of little fixes and additions that don't really matter too much to the average user, people can check out the changelog here if they want to.