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Uploading INRIX trips data

Now that you understand the structure and content of an INRIX trips reports folder, we can upload the data to the xyzt.ai platform. The steps to follow are:

  • Initialize a new movement data set, by providing a name and description.

  • Define the waypoints data properties to be used. This for example includes the TripId and RawSpeed. We will provide a template for this.

  • Configure the desired spatial and temporal resolution.

  • Upload the waypoints .csv.gz files using drag’n’drop.

  • Define the trips metadata properties to be used. This for example includes the TripId and VehicleWeightClass. Also for this, there is a template.

  • Upload the trips .csv.gz files using drag’n’drop.

In this tutorial you will perform all actions through the web interface. In case your account supports REST API access, all these actions can be automated and scripted. Please refer to the REST API tutorial and the API reference.

Step 1: Initialize a new movement data set

Initialize a new movement data set by:

  • Navigating to the data sets page.

  • Clicking on the CREATE NEW DATA SET button in the top-right area of the data sets page.

  • Providing the following properties:

    • Name: My First INRIX Trips Data Set,

    • Description: Floating vehicle data set consisting of waypoints and trips from INRIX.

    • Describing what is moving: trips

      • This information is used in the graphical user interface, including the charts to provide the correct name of the assets/entities that you are analyzing. In the INRIX case, these are trips.

  • Finally, click on the CREATE DATA SET button.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing the navigation bar to navigate to the data sets
Figure 1. Navigate to the data sets page using the navigation bar on the left.
xyzt.ai screenshot showing button to initialize a new data set
Figure 2. Initialize a new data set.
xyzt.ai screenshot showing the page where to initialize the name and description of the data set
Figure 3. Defining the data set name, description, and more.

Step 2: Define the waypoints data properties

Now that you have initialized a new data set with its name and description, the next step is to define the structure of the waypoints files.

For the INRIX data, we are going to take a short-cut and upload a configuration file that defines the structure. Such configuration file can be created manually in a text editor, or through the wizard in the platform.

Define the structure of the waypoints files as follows:

xyzt.ai screenshot showing how to define the data (waypoints) properties to be used
Figure 4. Second step during data creation is defining the properties of the data (waypoints).

You should now see a table at the bottom of the page summarizing the defined properties. In the table you will also see which properties are enabled and disabled.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing the data (waypoints) properties being used
Figure 5. Table summarizing the data (waypoints) properties.

Now click on the WIZARD tab. Here you will only see the enabled properties. These are the properties that will be available in the platform after uploading the INRIX data.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing the data (waypoints) properties in the wizard view
Figure 6. Wizard view of the defined data (waypoints) properties.

You can expand each property, as shown below for the Speed (kmh) property. At this stage, before having uploaded any waypoints data, you can still further edit and configure the data set definition.

Note how for the Speed (kmh) property, we used:

  • An accuracy value of 1. This means that you will be able to analyze speeds up to 1 kmh accuracy.

  • A no data value of NaN. INRIX uses NaN when there is no known speed value.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing the Speed waypoint property as defined
Figure 7. Wizard view of the defined Speed (kmh) property.

Step 3: Configure the spatial and temporal resolution

During visual analysis the INRIX trips data will be visualized through aggregation to obtain a common view of the traffic flow.

You can use 1 for the spatial resolution and 5 for the temporal resolution for INRIX trips data:

  • The finest resolution at which this will be done is called the spatial resolution. A spatial resolution of 1 m should be sufficient. This is the finest cell size at which the data will be visualized and enables you to see traffic at distinct traffic lanes.

  • The temporal resolution relates to subsequent waypoints within a trip and only when waypoints fall within the same 1 m x 1 m cell. If set to 5 seconds, and if two waypoints are within a 5 seconds temporal distance, only one of the two will be retained.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing spatial and temporal configuration
Figure 8. Step 3 of the data creation process is defining the spatial and temporal resolution. Using 1m accuracy and 5 seconds temporal interval are good settings.

Step 4: Upload the waypoints .csv.gz files

You can now upload the waypoints files using drag’n’drop by going to to the 4th step of the data creation process. Select the files in your file browser/explorer and drop them on the drop box.

Make sure to keep the browser and the tab open while files are being uploaded.
xyzt.ai screenshot showing drag'n'drop of he INRIX waypoints files
Figure 9. Step 4 of the data creation wizard is uploading the waypoints .csv.gz files using drag’n’drop.

The uploaded files will be processed and stored in a highly optimized spatio-temporal database. For this a processing job will be scheduled and queued. Depending on the availability of cloud resources, this processing will start immediately or within a couple minutes.

You can follow the progress of the processing job at the top of the page. Processing might take from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours depending on the size of the data.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing processing progress
Figure 10. Processing progress is shown at the top of the page.

Step 5: Define the trips metadata properties

You have now uploaded the individual waypoints (GPS traces) for the trips. The next step is to upload the information about the trips themselves.

For the xyzt.ai platform, the trips information is the metadata. Similar to the data, you have to provide the information on the trips .csv.gz files and the columns in the file to the platform.

This can be done in step 5 through a wizard, or you can upload a pre-configured configuration file as follows:

  • Click on Configure Metadata Properties at the top of the page to go to step 5 of the data creation process.

  • Click on the UPLOAD PROPERTIES FILE tab

  • Download metadataproperties_trips_en.csv.

  • From your file browser/explorer drag’n’drop the downloaded file on the upload box

xyzt.ai screenshot showing how to define the metadata properties by uploading a metadata properties definition file
Figure 11. Step 5 is defining the metadata (trips) properties.
xyzt.ai screenshot showing the defined metadata properties
Figure 12. Table summary of the defined metatadata (trips) properties.

The uploaded configuration file is summarized in the table shown at the bottom of the page. As you can see, many properties are disabled, but for example, Weight Class is enabled.

xyzt.ai screenshot showing the defined metadata properties in the wizard view
Figure 13. Wizard view of the defined metatadata (trips) properties.

Step 6: Upload the trips .csv.gz files

Now that you have defined the structure of the trips .csv.gz files, you can upload the trips files themselves.

  • Navigate with your file browser/explorer to the trips folder.

  • Select all trips.csv.gz files and drop them on the drop box under step 6 Upload Metadata

xyzt.ai screenshot showing the upload of the trips files using drag'n'drop
Figure 14. Drag’n’drop upload in step 6 of the data creation wizard of the trips .csv.gz files.

Now wait until all files are uploaded and processed. If all goes well, you should see a Processing Status Processing done with a summary on the number of files and number of records processed.

Each data set has a limit on number of records

Your account has a limit on the number of records in a single data set. This limit can range from 100 million to over a billion of records. This limit is determined by your license. If you upload more records than the limit, the last records will not be processed and a warning message will appear.

Get in touch if you hit the limit and need to increase it.

In the next part of the tutorial, you will learn how to get started using the created data set.

Next part

Go to the next part: Getting started using INRIX trips data