driveTrek: The Story Behind the App and its Creator
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This post is about an app I created for mobile phones (iPhone only right now) called driveTrek. Version 1.1 was just released on the App Store (November 2023) but the app will continue to evolve rapidy (lots of cool features coming).
If you find my story interesting and like to go on adventures with your vehicle, you can try out the app using the link below:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1644563531
(more on the app itself: https://w.drivetrek.app/public/qs.html).
Once you have installed the app, you’ll need an invite code (from the person inviting you… or just get one from me). You can trial the app without an invite code for 30 days…
driveTrek began in September 2022. Slowly.
I left my job at Rivian late summer of ’22 after 6 awesome years and was looking for something to do. I wanted to spend a few months just going on adventures. Going places. Mostly in my Rivian R1T. But I wanted to catalog my adventures, share my adventures, and interact with others on similar journeys either contemporaneously or after the fact.
A month after I got my Rivian R1T (November ’21 — one of the first 100 vehicles released from the factory) I took a roadtrip to Arizona, it was awesome. It was my first time really using this amazing vehicle that I helped create. Just being on the road and seeing the landscapes of Southern California and Arizona was breathtaking. Inspiring.
And between that trip and now, this vehicle and this author has about 55,000 miles of adventures under our belt (tires).
My adventure at Rivian too was awesome too. I was fortunate enough to join this company in the early days, about 50 employees in (one of the founding members of the tech team). My first job was to lead the technical team responsible for creating the user-interface of the car — two large screens known as the instrument cluster and center console display (the latter being a touch screen interface). Later I founded the Cloud team, responsible for vehicle data (aka big data) and the interface between the outside world and the vehicles (e.g., mobile app). In my last year, I founded a Futures team focused on future innovations.
I was very fortunate to be part of the early Rivian. What a ride!
Ever since I was a young boy I liked to code. And to think of clever ideas that I could code. Those who know me, know the ideas flow constantly, unceasingly.
I also love problems that involve a lot of data. It wasn’t an accident that I founded the Cloud team at Rivian. I realized that the modern vehicle — certainly the one we built at Rivian — is perhaps one of the most data rich electronic devices ever created. Imagine the possibilities of bringing some of that data to the cloud for analysis — for just one vehicle over time — let alone the fleet of vehicles! (And imagine a few ideas I did!)
I also love maps. I could stare at maps all day. Sometimes I will just goto map.google.com and retrace my steps from a past adventure. When I was younger, reading a map was essential (but it was also fun). A few years back I got a chance to visit the David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford. What an inspiring place — almost like an art museum to me.
So I wanted to do something that combined my love of adventure, love of coding, love of data, and love of maps. And driveTrek was born!
driveTrek Facebook beta group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/249036064527037
Getting Started
https://tinyurl.com/driveTrekGO
