WebOwl, quick tutorial (version 1.5):

First off:

Make sure you read the WebOwl Start Page, to check your computer meets the requirements.
If you need more assistance, or would like to send us some feedback (we appreciate that), check the end of this page for the contact info.

Live monitoring:

1) If you haven't already done so, click this button to start WebOwl:

The WebOwl control-panel opens up.
2)Let's try and see if there are any trucks on the road right now...
  • Click the "Live" button
  • Wait a few seconds as the map window, and truck-bar open.
 WebOwl control-panel
  • If any trucks are online, the truck-animation will be loaded in the truck-bar:
    • The color of the cab reflects the speed of travel, red is stopped, green is fastest.
    • The Main-plow, Wing-plow and Sander will animate to mirror what the truck is doing.
    • If more than one truck is being shown, you can click the truck animation to select the "active truck"
  • Check the section on "Zooming" for the options of the map window.
  • If no trucks are online, the following message will be displayed:
  • At this point you can wait for trucks to come online, or click the "Restart" button, and continue with the "Playback" section.

Playback - Classic mode:

1) If WebOwl is not yet running, click this button to start:

The WebOwl control-panel will open.
2) We use the Classic Playback lookup to replay a specific truck, during a specific period.
This could be used to see where, say, truck 3002 was on a specific afternoon.
It is not advised to load periods longer than one day, as this might return to much data
  • Click the "Playback - Classic" button
  • Wait a few seconds as the map window, and truck-bar open.
 WebOwl control-panel
  • The form has default data preset for testing.
  • Note that we us the US date format, MM/DD/YY
  • Click "Go" to replay the chosen truck and period.
  • If the chosen truck has no data to replay, for that period, the following message will be displayed:
  • Note: v1.5 contains an error, where this message is sometimes shown when data IS available, this happens on the first try only. After retrying, it should work normally.

Playback - Wizard mode:

1) If WebOwl is not yet running, click this button to start:

The WebOwl control-panel will open.
2) The Wizard lookup makes it easy to see when a truck was online, and to choose 1 hour segments for replay.
  • Click the "Playback - Wizard" button
 WebOwl control-panel
  • Click on a truck ID button, let's say "3003"
  • Click on a "Month" button, let's say "February 2002"
  • Click on a "Day" button, let's say "21"
  • Each button represents a one hour segment
  • The red parts show where there was truck-activity during that hour.
  • Depending on the time-zone you are in, this screen might look a little different.
  • The clicked button becomes "disabled", to prevent the same period being loaded multiple times
  • Click on an "Hour" button, try the first one with red content. The truck should load, and replay the segment.

Playback controls:

Once we have loaded a replay sequence, we can control the way we want to view it.
Note that these instructions do not apply to live monitoring, this panel is also likely to change substantially in future versions.
  • The first line shows us which truck this panel will control - if there are more than one trucks loaded, you can choose the "active truck" by clicking it's ID on the map, or in the truck-bar.
  • Then we see the date and time of the last-loaded replay segment.
  • The "% completed" number represents how far we are into the replay segment
  • The "Timeout" number will count down to the next move, so you can see if a long wait should be expected.
  • The progress-bar shows us how far the replay has advanced. You can also click in it, or drag the cursor to a new position. This is especially helpful when quickly scanning a replay segment, to see where the vehicle was driving.
  • then we have the replay controls:
    • <<<   Rewinds to the start
    • ||   Pauses the replay (handy when taking screen-shots)
    • >   Starts the replay at normal speed
    • >>   Starts the replay at increased speed (uses more memory though - not for slow machines)
    • >>>   Advances the replay to the end, and sets "pause"
  • The "Statistical feedback" is still very much experimental at this stage.
    • The "Total distance" reflects the length of the colored trail left by a truck. If you set "Trail length:" to anything but "full" in the User Settings (say 200), the "Total distance" will be shorter than in reality.
    • The "Sanded distance", and "Sand used" values have not been compared to real usage levels yet.
  • The "Telemetric feedback" shows the exact time, date, Longitude, Latitude and speed of the vehicle, and can be regarded as being accurate.
 WebOwl control-panel
  • The "Back" button will always take you back to the previous screen. During replay you can use this to return to the "hour panel", or the "Classic playback panel" so you can load another replay segment, or even another vehicle all together. WebOwl supports replaying multiple vehicles simultaneously.

Zoom and Pan controls:

zoom controls


It is also possible to zoom and pan using keyboard/mouse: Note that these features are experimental in this version, and you may accidentally pan the vehicle off-screen. In that case you have to click "Restart" to reset the interface.
These features will be implemented properly in future versions.

If you need any assistance, contact us here:

GRI Technologies:
Bob Basques
e-mail: bob.b@gritechnologies.com
© Copyright 2001 - 2002, GRI Technologies LLC, all rights reserved.