I even dusted off my APUE book and made the application a Linux daemon process. #GOLDENCHEETAH PAIR BLUETOOTH DOWNLOAD#The sync protocol was documented by Garmin (it was called ANT-FS) and I could easily write an application, fit-sync-ant, to download the files from my FR310. This required an ANT+ dongle, which is plugged into a USB port on the computer. #GOLDENCHEETAH PAIR BLUETOOTH BLUETOOTH#The first Garmin device I owned was a FR310 XT, this was before Bluetooth connectivity was common on computers, so the device used to sync using the ANT+ protocol, the same one that the device is used to communicate with sensors, such as Heart Rate monitors or Speed sensors on a bike. The PiFitSync project contains all the files for setting up the download application, and as I updated it for the latest generation of Garmin Watches, I looked back on the different strategies I used to implement the download mechanism. The downloaded FIT files are available over a network share from laptop and can be imported into ActivityLog2 or GoldenCheetah.When a Garmin Device is connected to the cradle for charging, all the FIT files are copied off the device onto a local folder.The USB charging cradle for the Garmin Watch is connected to the Raspberry Pi.The Raspberry Pi is connected to the local home network, accessible over the local WiFi connection.As an alternative, I decided to use a Raspberry Pi to download the data while recharging the device: the Pi is connected to the home network and the data is accessible over Wifi as a network drive, making it easy to import the data. However, the above process is inconvenient, since the user has to connect the device to the laptop using a USB cable. This is useful for applications such as ActivityLog2 and GoldenCheetah as they keep the training data on the users computer only. Garmin devices also allow the user to download the data directly off the device via USB: connecting the device to a computer with a USB cable will show all files on the device in the file explorer and the user can copy the files to the local computer. This is an opaque process - data goes from the device directly to the cloud provider, and usually there is little documentation on how things work, which prevents creation of alternative data download applications. This process is convenient and happens automatically, with no user intervention. These days, all Garmin devices (and any other fitness device) will connect to the users phone and automatically upload the data to a clould service, where the user can analyze it. The result is the PiFitSync project which I had running for several years now, evolving to download data from three generations of Garmin devices. I wrote the ActivityLog2 as an application to analyze training data on the local computer, to avoid using a cloud service, and I also wanted a convenient way to download data off my Garmin watch without having to hook up USB cables to my laptop. Synchronizing FIT files using a Raspberry Pi
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