Author Topic: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?  (Read 1872 times)

Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« on: 18 August, 2009, 06:31:25 pm »
Just a thought. If Open source GPS can overlay a new set of image tiles onto the GPS display, could it be used to display a scrolling set of route sheet prompts on the screen?

Does this make sense?
Instead of just displaying a standard trace over a map, could you have the screen switch at the defined turn point to display route sheet information?
Imagine being guided to your turn point and then seeing the promt, "turn left at pillar box". A nice fusion of trad audax-style navigation with all the security of map-based route finding.
For true usability, it should only display at a set zoom level and disappear at lower zoom levels.

Possible, or am I dreaming?

simonp

Re: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« Reply #1 on: 18 August, 2009, 06:39:33 pm »
If you had the trace, and routesheet distances were accurate then you could have an algorithm to work out given where you were on the trace the next instruction.

It would probably be better to use the jwo/Greenbank method of manually named waypoints which tell you turn left here etc.


andygates

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Re: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« Reply #2 on: 18 August, 2009, 07:13:06 pm »
Possible but only where you could write your own routing engine.

The OSM maps are "just" Garmin-format map data.  They don't have any special powers, and anything that looks like they do is just canny exploitation of the Garmin format (which is pretty broad). 

A routing engine that gives directions relative to immediate POI is interesting.  Look for a thingy nearby, then work out an instruction like "Turn left onto Scrottlebury Road just before Red Lion".  That's certainly possible (it would have to be an option in case there was nothing there, which is usually the case).

IIRC, most of the current open routing development is being done with PyRoute.  Not delved deeper as routing is dark, dark magick. 
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
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Panoramix

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Re: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« Reply #3 on: 18 August, 2009, 07:16:38 pm »
Just a thought. If Open source GPS can overlay a new set of image tiles onto the GPS display, could it be used to display a scrolling set of route sheet prompts on the screen?

Does this make sense?
Instead of just displaying a standard trace over a map, could you have the screen switch at the defined turn point to display route sheet information?
Imagine being guided to your turn point and then seeing the promt, "turn left at pillar box". A nice fusion of trad audax-style navigation with all the security of map-based route finding.
For true usability, it should only display at a set zoom level and disappear at lower zoom levels.

Possible, or am I dreaming?

My understanding is that "Open source GPS" is just opensource maps. Somebody clever understood how garmin does the coding of its map and then wrote an application to code OSM data into the garmin format tricking the GPS.

I think that what you are suggesting requires access to the code of the GPS. GPS are proprietary stuff as far as I am aware, so you will need to be very clever to do this or may be somebody could manage to install so form of Linux on a GPS and then it would be possible to script.

There is a truly opensource GPS but I wouldn't trust it yet! openmoko.com

It would be cool as the gpx and the routesheet would become one!

Edit: Andy has beaten me!
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red marley

Re: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« Reply #4 on: 18 August, 2009, 07:26:43 pm »
The GPX standard has a <desc> field for adding descriptions to waypoints and routepoints. I have used this in the past to put full routesheet instructions in (e.g. see the GPX file at my Dunwich Dynamo 2006 page). I can't remember what GPS I tested it with, but it was certainly possible to get the description field displayed somewhere, but I don't think I could get it to pop up by itself as you approached a waypoint.

In the end though, it was more hassle than it was worth transcribing the full routesheet. I'd rather use the jwo method.

simonp

Re: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« Reply #5 on: 18 August, 2009, 10:27:29 pm »
Well, I have thought about creating routesheets as gpx files then outputting a textual routesheet from the gpx (automatically) with distances generated as required.  But it sounds like more work than it's worth right now.

Re: Open source GPS, can it display routesheets?
« Reply #6 on: 19 August, 2009, 09:44:14 am »
Thanks all. Interesting replies. For what it's worth I do use the JWO method, but just wondered if open source takes us beyond this.

Alex