Software
software

Public Lab has developed a number of open source software platforms to assist in the collection, analysis, storage, sharing, and conversion of data from our open source tools. The data storage and sharing websites MapKnitter.org, SpectralWorkbench.org, and Infragram.org provide long-term storage for locally produced data, and convert and present that data in open, standard formats which are easy to use for the press, "scientists", and other advocacy groups while providing community researchers with a forum to discuss, interpret, and compare their data. For example, activists mapping oil contamination from the BP oil spill and those mapping water pollution in the Gowanus Canal have thoroughly documented their work on the Public Lab platform, publishing research notes as well as embeddable web maps at MapKnitter.org. They have also achieved widespread media attention for their work, as well as, in NYC , a place on the EPA community committee involved in the canal cleanup project. _For more detail, visit https://publiclab.org/software-overview. All codebases are available on Github as linked below; the main Public Lab Github account can be found at https://github.com/publiclab_ **** [![mapknitter.png](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/002/610/medium/mapknitter.png)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/002/610/original/mapknitter.png) ###MapKnitter [MapKnitter](https://mapknitter.org) is our oldest codebase, since 2014 has provided a free and open source means to place, rectify, and stitch aerial photographs together; in particular those collected using Public Lab's open hardware Balloon Mapping Kit. Users upload images one by one onto a base reference map, and align them in a web-based GIS system. Completed maps are exported into standard formats including TMS, GeoTiff and more. https://github.com/publiclab/mapknitter/ **** ![Spectral Workbench](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8480/8248338918_970cb463db.jpg) ###Spectral Workbench [SpectralWorkbench.org](http://SpectralWorkbench.org) hosts an archive of open source spectra collected with Public Lab's open source spectrometer. The website enables collaboration to refine and improve sample collection and analysis techniques to identify a growing number of materials. We imagine eventually hosting a comprehensive open library which can help to investigate chemical spills, diagnose crop diseases, and identify contaminants in household products. https://github.com/jywarren/spectral-workbench/ **** ![Infragram](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/002/495/medium/Screen_Shot_2014-01-07_at_12.43.22_PM.png) ###Infragram.org [Infragram.org](http://infragram.org), our newest open source codebase, provides real-time multispectral image compositing for crop and vegetation analysis, as well as hosting of resulting open source images for the Public Lab collaborative research community. Users can upload images for analysis or even directly connect modified multispectral cameras and composite live video. https://github.com/p-v-o-s/infragram-js/ **** ![PublicLab.org](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/085/medium/front.png) ###PublicLab.org The online research sharing platform we’ve created at [PublicLab.org](http://publiclab.org) provides a powerful -- and free -- means for local groups to publish and promote their work, and supports their advocacy by helping to organize events, coordinate data collection, storage, publication, and outreach. https://github.com/publiclab/plots2/ **High priority issues:** https://github.com/publiclab/plots2/issues?labels=priority&page=1&state=open ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
warren "Hi, this sounds well thought out and is an exciting project. A student named Bittu did some research I linked to from the ideas page that indicated..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Lalithr95 "Writing tests for javascript is really nice idea. I heard a lot about jasmine and getting familiar with it. UI is some thing we need to care a lot...." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "I also added some thoughts to the ideas page: https://publiclab.org/wiki/gsoc-ideas#Rich+Profile+Pages+on+PublicLab.org specifically with this new..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "I think it's a tough call. I see benefits to both -- how consistent can we make the interface between Ransack and Sunspot? Could we standardize it ..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Ujitha "Hi jeff, Thanks for your ideas and questions, it guides me to study deeper about these gems. For the test cases we have to write test cases for th..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "Hi, Lalith - sounds like a good plan. We might call the table UserTags to match the User model. Maybe there could be a section for designing a UI ..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
ZhanLiangUF " I think that is a good idea to use the geocoder API and by checking user's IP and setting the most suitable locale. "Another question -- how does ..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "Hi, ZhanLiangUF - thanks for your proposal! A few questions: geocoder what about doing this on the client side, using the geocoder API? See https..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "Hi, Ujitha - thanks, I just wanted to hear specifics on the different options. It sounds like Sunspot is a great option. A couple additional questi..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Ujitha "Hi Jeff, Above I expressed my ideas and findings about these gems. I'm completely ok to work using both ransack or sanspot gem. Since you have the ..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Franktank "Sure @warren, I will work on pushing something up this week. " | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "Hi, @franktank -- some other students have gone through some small bug fixes to demonstrate that they're comfortable with the Contributor Guideline..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
jiteshxyz "Right, having two separate models will be redundant. I'll make the necessary changes now. " | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "That's true, but we currently use DrupalNodes for wiki pages, events, research notes, and questions, and it's nice in that other infrastructure aro..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Ujitha "As far as I know, content based full text search with weighting facility is not available in ransack. when we prioritize tag field I think these fe..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
jiteshxyz "@warren The proposed Q&A site, I think, is primarily a FAQ-like introductory model, so associating a new question model to the users will be a ..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "That's a great argument for sunspot. Does ransack not support full text search? Thanks! " | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Ujitha "By the way thank you very much @Jitesh for sharing your idea in my proposal. " | Read more » almost 9 years ago
Ujitha "Yes Sunspot is running on top of solr search engine. And we have to install solr gem. But when we discuss with compared to ransack, very basic issu..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
stevie "You know I love emoticons... but on Public Lab? @Liz might really be into it thought. But yea! Thanks for sharing. " | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "Haha, we sound like old people -- "kids these days with their emoticons"... I think upvoting is fine, just wanted to link to another community whe..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
stevie "Interesting. My immediate reaction is just to have the "^" option for someone to bump up an answer, but other emotion options certainly have become..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
warren "Great points, stevie: also related to the new Reactions feature Github added: https://github.com/blog/2119-add-reactions-to-pull-requests-issues-an..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
stevie "Hi! Great work here. As for the voting up an answer, technically, I'm not much help, but in terms of looking at this from a user perspective, I rea..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago