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Sanura Kethmira Gamage
Sanura Kethmira Gamage

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How Google Maps Tracks Your Real-Time Speed While Driving

1. Gets GPS Data From Your Device

  • Location Tracking: Your Smartphone's GPS receive communication with satellite to pinpoint your location(latitude , longitude and attitude)multiple times per second

  • Speed Calculation: By Tracking how your location changes over time Google Maps Calculate Your Speed using this formula
    Speed = Distance / Time **
    -Accuracy : GPS is **Highly Accurate
    for speed calculation . often more precise than a vehicle's speedometer

2.Collect Crowdsourced Data

What is Crowdsourced Data : information collected from a large group of people, often through online platforms, to be used for a specific purpose like research or improving a product or service
More About Crowdsourced Data

Aggregate data related Maps : Google Maps collects anonymized location data from millions of users (with location services enabled) to estimate real-time traffic conditions.

Recognize Pattern from the Data :By analyzing the speeds of multiple vehicles on a road segment, Google Maps can infer traffic conditions (e.g., free-flowing, slow, or congested) and display your speed in context with others.

3. Collect Data From your Device

Accelerometer and Gyroscope: Your smartphone's sensors can detect motion and orientation, providing additional data to refine speed and direction calculations, especially in areas with weaker GPS signals

Signal Corrections: If GPS signals are temporarily lost, these sensors help estimate your movement until the signal is restored.

How It All Comes Together

Data Fusion: Google Maps combines GPS data from your device, crowdsourced user data, sensor inputs, and third-party traffic information to provide a real-time estimate of your speed and traffic conditions.
Processing: The app processes this data in real-time, using algorithms to filter noise (e.g., GPS drift) and provide smooth, accurate speed readings.
Cloud Support: Some calculations may occur on Google's servers, especially for aggregating traffic data or refining estimates in complex environments.

Google Maps combines powerful technologies—GPS, sensors, AI, and crowdsourced data—to bring you real-time driving speed with impressive accuracy. Next time you're on the road, you’ll know exactly how it works!


Have thoughts or questions? Drop a comment below or share your experience using GPS speed tracking!

Want to dive deeper? Here are a few resources:

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