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Animate a point along a route

Use Turf to smoothly animate a point along the distance of a line.

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Referencing images in a style's sprite

This example uses the Mapbox Streets style. The icon-image used in this example comes from the Mapbox Streets style's sprite.

To view all available images in a style's sprite or add additional images, open the style in Mapbox Studio and click the Images tab. To add a new image to the style at runtime see the Add an icon to the map example.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Animate a point along a route</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no">
<link href="https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/v3.3.0/mapbox-gl.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/v3.3.0/mapbox-gl.js"></script>
<style>
body { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
#map { position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; width: 100%; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<style>
.overlay {
position: absolute;
top: 10px;
left: 10px;
}

.overlay button {
font:
600 12px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',
Arial,
Helvetica,
sans-serif;
background-color: #3386c0;
color: #fff;
display: inline-block;
margin: 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
border: none;
cursor: pointer;
border-radius: 3px;
}

.overlay button:hover {
background-color: #4ea0da;
}

.overlay button:disabled {
background: #f5f5f5;
color: #c3c3c3;
}
</style>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/@turf/turf@6/turf.min.js"></script>

<div id="map"></div>
<div class="overlay">
<button id="replay">Replay</button>
</div>

<script>
// TO MAKE THE MAP APPEAR YOU MUST
// ADD YOUR ACCESS TOKEN FROM
// https://account.mapbox.com
mapboxgl.accessToken = 'YOUR_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN';
const map = new mapboxgl.Map({
container: 'map',
// Choose from Mapbox's core styles, or make your own style with Mapbox Studio,
style: 'mapbox://styles/mapbox/dark-v11',
center: [-96, 37.8],
zoom: 3,
pitch: 40
});

// San Francisco
const origin = [-122.414, 37.776];

// Washington DC
const destination = [-77.032, 38.913];

// A simple line from origin to destination.
const route = {
'type': 'FeatureCollection',
'features': [
{
'type': 'Feature',
'geometry': {
'type': 'LineString',
'coordinates': [origin, destination]
}
}
]
};

// A single point that animates along the route.
// Coordinates are initially set to origin.
const point = {
'type': 'FeatureCollection',
'features': [
{
'type': 'Feature',
'properties': {},
'geometry': {
'type': 'Point',
'coordinates': origin
}
}
]
};

// Calculate the distance in kilometers between route start/end point.
const lineDistance = turf.length(route.features[0]);

const arc = [];

// Number of steps to use in the arc and animation, more steps means
// a smoother arc and animation, but too many steps will result in a
// low frame rate
const steps = 500;

// Draw an arc between the `origin` & `destination` of the two points
for (let i = 0; i < lineDistance; i += lineDistance / steps) {
const segment = turf.along(route.features[0], i);
arc.push(segment.geometry.coordinates);
}

// Update the route with calculated arc coordinates
route.features[0].geometry.coordinates = arc;

// Used to increment the value of the point measurement against the route.
let counter = 0;

map.on('load', () => {
// Add a source and layer displaying a point which will be animated in a circle.
map.addSource('route', {
'type': 'geojson',
'data': route
});

map.addSource('point', {
'type': 'geojson',
'data': point
});

map.addLayer({
'id': 'route',
'source': 'route',
'type': 'line',
'paint': {
'line-width': 2,
'line-color': '#007cbf'
}
});

map.addLayer({
'id': 'point',
'source': 'point',
'type': 'symbol',
'layout': {
// This icon is a part of the Mapbox Streets style.
// To view all images available in a Mapbox style, open
// the style in Mapbox Studio and click the "Images" tab.
// To add a new image to the style at runtime see
// https://docs.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/example/add-image/
'icon-image': 'airport',
'icon-size': 1.5,
'icon-rotate': ['get', 'bearing'],
'icon-rotation-alignment': 'map',
'icon-allow-overlap': true,
'icon-ignore-placement': true
}
});
let running = false;
function animate() {
running = true;
document.getElementById('replay').disabled = true;
const start =
route.features[0].geometry.coordinates[
counter >= steps ? counter - 1 : counter
];
const end =
route.features[0].geometry.coordinates[
counter >= steps ? counter : counter + 1
];
if (!start || !end) {
running = false;
document.getElementById('replay').disabled = false;
return;
}
// Update point geometry to a new position based on counter denoting
// the index to access the arc
point.features[0].geometry.coordinates =
route.features[0].geometry.coordinates[counter];

// Calculate the bearing to ensure the icon is rotated to match the route arc
// The bearing is calculated between the current point and the next point, except
// at the end of the arc, which uses the previous point and the current point
point.features[0].properties.bearing = turf.bearing(
turf.point(start),
turf.point(end)
);

// Update the source with this new data
map.getSource('point').setData(point);

// Request the next frame of animation as long as the end has not been reached
if (counter < steps) {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}

counter = counter + 1;
}

document.getElementById('replay').addEventListener('click', () => {
if (running) {
void 0;
} else {
// Set the coordinates of the original point back to origin
point.features[0].geometry.coordinates = origin;

// Update the source layer
map.getSource('point').setData(point);

// Reset the counter
counter = 0;

// Restart the animation
animate(counter);
}
});

// Start the animation
animate(counter);
});
</script>

</body>
</html>
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