The "Seeding" Run

The "Floating AP" Problem

Google's "Network Fusion" relies on a massive, crowdsourced database mapping WiFi BSSIDs (MAC addresses) to physical global coordinates. This works perfectly for permanent infrastructure like Starbucks or an airport.

However, event professionals often deploy Temporary Infrastructure—a Pelican case filled with Mesh Routers. When you first plug these in at a new stadium, Google's database either:

1. Doesn't know them: They are "Floating," offering no location data.
2. Remembers the old location: If you last used them in Las Vegas and now you are in New York, your drone might momentarily teleport across the country ("The Teleport Glitch").

To fly safely, you must perform a Seeding Run to "teach" Google the new physical location of your beacons.

The Heuristic: How Google Learns

Google's backend builds a confidence map based on correlation.

• Fact A: "I have a high-confidence GPS lock (Accuracy < 5m) at Lat/Lon X,Y."
• Fact B: "I can see BSSID aa:bb:cc:dd with a signal strength of -40dBm."
• Conclusion: "BSSID aa:bb:cc:dd must be within 10 meters of X,Y."

If 50 people walk past the router with GPS phones, the estimated position of that router converges to a precise point. As a venue operator, you must simulate this "crowd" manually.

The Seeding Protocol

Phase 1: Preparation

1. Phone Settings:
   • Enable Location (High Accuracy).
   • Enable WiFi Scanning and Bluetooth Scanning in Android Location Services.
   • Disable WiFi Scan Throttling in Developer Options (Critical).
2. The App: Open Google Maps. Do not use MAVLink GPS for seeding; use the native Maps app as it feeds data directly to the GMS backend.

Phase 2: The "Golden Path"

You need to drag the "Blue Dot" from the outdoors (GPS dominant) to the indoors (WiFi dominant) without breaking the chain of trust.

1. The Satellite Lock: Start outside the venue. Wait until Google Maps shows a small, precise blue circle (GPS Lock).
2. The Breach: Walk slowly through a large open door. Keep the phone held high (not in a pocket) to maintain GPS line-of-sight as long as possible.
3. The Perimeter: Walk the inside perimeter of the venue walls. This is where GPS signal bleeds in, and WiFi signal is strong. This overlapping zone is where the "hand-off" happens.
4. The Spiral: Slowly spiral inward toward the center of the venue.
5. Dwell Time: Do not run. Stop every 10 meters for 10-15 seconds. Android's scan cycle is not continuous; it scans in bursts. Giving it time ensures it captures multiple "snapshots" of the radio environment.

Phase 3: Validation

1. Wait: It typically takes 24 to 48 hours for these updates to propagate to the global database.
2. The Test: Return to the venue (or turn off mobile data to force offline mode). Open Maps. If the blue dot snaps to your location instantly without GPS access, the seeding was successful.
3. Accuracy Check: The horiz_accuracy circle should be under 20 meters. If it is huge (>50m), the seeding failed or the database is conflicted.