GPS Map Visualizer

Overview

This project provides a Python script that reads GPS coordinates from a CSV file, plots them on an interactive map, and saves the result as both an interactive HTML file and a static PNG screenshot. It uses pandas for data manipulation, folium for map generation, and selenium for automated screenshot capture.

Features

• CSV Data Input: Reads latitude and longitude data from a CSV file.
• Data Cleaning: Automatically handles non-numeric values, drops entries with missing coordinates, and removes duplicate points.
• Interactive Map Generation: Creates a beautiful, interactive map using Folium with clustered markers for better readability when dealing with many points.
• Auto-fit Bounds: The map automatically zooms and centers to fit all plotted data points.
• Automated Screenshot: Uses a headless Chrome browser via Selenium to capture a high-resolution screenshot of the map.

Demo / Output

The script generates two primary output files:

• gps_map.html: An interactive map. You can zoom, pan, and click on marker clusters to explore the data points.
• gps_map_screenshot_... .png: A static image of the map, perfect for embedding in reports, presentations, or sharing.

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• pip (Python package installer)
• Google Chrome browser installed
• ChromeDriver: Must match your installed Chrome browser version
• Python packages: pandas, folium, selenium

Installation

Option A: Manual Git Clone

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Sharan-Kumar-R/GPS-Map-Visualizer.git
cd GPS-Map-Visualizer

2. Install the required Python packages:

pip install pandas folium selenium

3. Download ChromeDriver:
   • Visit ChromeDriver Downloads
   • Download the version matching your Chrome browser
   • Add chromedriver.exe to your system PATH or place in project directory

Option B: Using VS Code Git Integration

1. Open Visual Studio Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac)
3. Type "Git: Clone" and select it
4. Paste the repository URL: https://github.com/Sharan-Kumar-R/GPS-Map-Visualizer.git
5. Choose a folder location and click "Select Repository Location"
6. Click "Open" when prompted
7. Follow steps 2-3 from Option A above

Usage

1. Prepare your data:

Ensure you have a CSV file named cities.csv in the same directory as the script. The CSV file must contain at least the following columns: latitude, longitude, state_name, and country_name.

Dataset Source: This project works great with the Geolocation Dataset from Kaggle which contains comprehensive GPS coordinates for cities worldwide.

Example cities.csv format:

id,name,state_id,state_code,state_name,country_id,country_code,country_name,latitude,longitude,wikiDataId
52,Ashkasham,3901,BDS,Badakhshan,1,AF,Afghanistan,36.68333000,71.53333000,Q4805192
68,Fayzabad,3901,BDS,Badakhshan,1,AF,Afghanistan,37.11660000,70.58002000,Q156558
78,Jurm,3901,BDS,Badakhshan,1,AF,Afghanistan,36.86477000,70.83421000,Q10308323
84,Khandud,3901,BDS,Badakhshan,1,AF,Afghanistan,36.95127000,72.31800000,Q3290334

2. Run the script:

Open your terminal or command prompt, navigate to the project directory, and execute the script.

python GPS.py

3. Console Output Example

When you run the script, you'll see output similar to this:

📂 Reading CSV from: C:\Users\shana\OneDrive\Desktop\GitHub\cities.csv
✅ 147209 unique valid points processed.
✅ Map saved to: C:\Users\shana\OneDrive\Desktop\GitHub\gps_map.html
📸 Capturing map screenshot...

DevTools listening on ws://127.0.0.1:58090/devtools/browser/1bf5a2e-80c8-4329-a3ed-0f1ee550916a
✅ Screenshot saved to: C:\Users\shana\OneDrive\Desktop\GitHub\gps_map_screenshot_20250616_210420.png
✅ Browser closed.

4. Check the output:

• The script will print its progress to the console.
• Upon completion, you will find gps_map.html and gps_map_screenshot_... .png in the project directory.
• The interactive map (gps_map.html) will automatically open in your default web browser.

Configuration

You can easily modify the script's behavior by changing the configuration variables at the top of the GPS.py file:

# --- Configuration ---
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
CSV_PATH = BASE_DIR / "cities.csv"
HTML_MAP_PATH = BASE_DIR / "gps_map.html"
SCREENSHOT_PATH = BASE_DIR / f"gps_map_screenshot_{datetime.now().strftime('%Y%m%d_%H%M%S')}.png"
WINDOW_WIDTH = 1500
WINDOW_HEIGHT = 800

Configuration Options:

• CSV_PATH: Path to your input data file
• HTML_MAP_PATH: Path where the HTML map will be saved
• WINDOW_WIDTH / WINDOW_HEIGHT: Screenshot dimensions in pixels

Project Structure

GPS-Map-Visualizer/
├── GPS.py                      # The main Python script
├── cities.csv                  # Input data file with GPS coordinates
├── gps_map_screenshot_... .png # Output: Generated map screenshot
├── Map_Plotted.png             # Output: Generated map screenshot
└── README.md                   # This file

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

ChromeDriver not found

selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: 'chromedriver' executable needs to be in PATH

Solution: Download ChromeDriver matching your Chrome version and add to your system PATH or place in project directory.

CSV reading errors

❌ Error reading CSV: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'cities.csv'

Solution: Ensure cities.csv exists in the project directory with proper formatting.

No valid GPS data

⚠ No valid GPS data points found.

Solution: Check your CSV format and ensure coordinates are valid numbers (latitude: -90 to 90, longitude: -180 to 180).

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

In case of any queries, please leave a message or contact me via the email provided in my profile.

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