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Posted by on December 24, 2005, 12:04 am
GPS navigators such as TomTom, NavMan, Garmin, Magellan etc. become
increasingly popular.
Is there a common standard for the digital map data to be used on these type
of small embedded devices in which optimal route calculation can be
calculated?
Is it possible to access this data through some API, to use it in a PC
application?
Ray
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Posted by blueeyedpop on December 26, 2005, 1:06 pm
saving up my nickles and dimes to get one, been doing the research.
NO, there is no common format. Far from it.
There is the GPX format which is meant to be a common ground.
There is a program called GPSBabel which is meant to translate most
manufactures to/from GPX and to each other.
AFAIK, most if not all can stream NEMA GPS data to their serial port which
can be read and translated. I had an old magellen that was meant to do this,
and did, however it was exceeding faulty, registering my Los Angeles home as
a moving target at some 700 mph...
I have been cosnidering Trails.com as a source of hiking trails, and had
hoped to join them and generate nice maps to follow. As it turns out, you
can trace a map, and export a GPX format route. I D/L'd Babel and converted
my route to CSV format, so it does function in that respect...
<Ray> wrote in message
> GPS navigators such as TomTom, NavMan, Garmin, Magellan etc. become
> increasingly popular.
> Is there a common standard for the digital map data to be used on these
type
> of small embedded devices in which optimal route calculation can be
> calculated?
> Is it possible to access this data through some API, to use it in a PC
> application?
> Ray
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Posted by Mark Moulding on December 28, 2005, 6:56 pm
You might take a look at the US Census Bureau's Tiger/Line database. These
files are freely available, and contain the basic source data that all of
the (US, anyway) GPS mapping companies use for their products. Look at:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/
These files contain information on all streets, geographic boundaries
(lakes, rivers, etc.) zip codes, railways, governmental boundaries (city,
count, state, military, parks, etc.) address information (including
left/right side and one-way) for all the streets. In short, it's all you'd
need to write your own mapping software (along with a bit of work, of
course).
The GPS and mapping companies (deLorme, Microsoft, AAA, MapQuest, etc.) then
supplement this information with phone-book databases to add points of
interest, freeway exit information, etc. They also invest quite a bit of
effort in producing routing algorithms to make use of this raw data, and
user interfaces to (hopefully) make it easy to use. Invariably, the raw
data is massaged into their own proprietary format for speed of access.
--
Mark
"I prefer heaven for climate, hell for company."
<Ray> wrote in message
> GPS navigators such as TomTom, NavMan, Garmin, Magellan etc. become
> increasingly popular.
> Is there a common standard for the digital map data to be used on these
> type of small embedded devices in which optimal route calculation can be
> calculated?
> Is it possible to access this data through some API, to use it in a PC
> application?
> Ray
>
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Posted by on December 29, 2005, 8:37 am
> You might take a look at the US Census Bureau's Tiger/Line database.
> These files are freely available, and contain the basic source data that
> all of the (US, anyway) GPS mapping companies use for their products.
> Look at:
> http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/
> These files contain information on all streets, geographic boundaries
> (lakes, rivers, etc.) zip codes, railways, governmental boundaries (city,
> count, state, military, parks, etc.) address information (including
> left/right side and one-way) for all the streets. In short, it's all
> you'd need to write your own mapping software (along with a bit of work,
> of course).
> The GPS and mapping companies (deLorme, Microsoft, AAA, MapQuest, etc.)
> then supplement this information with phone-book databases to add points
> of interest, freeway exit information, etc. They also invest quite a bit
> of effort in producing routing algorithms to make use of this raw data,
> and user interfaces to (hopefully) make it easy to use. Invariably, the
> raw data is massaged into their own proprietary format for speed of
> access.
> --
> Mark
> "I prefer heaven for climate, hell for company."
Dear Mark,
Thank you for your informative reply.
(I think your posting was the only relevant reply to the original question.)
Ray
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Posted by on December 29, 2005, 8:39 am
> You might take a look at the US Census Bureau's Tiger/Line database.
> These files are freely available, and contain the basic source data that
> all of the (US, anyway) GPS mapping companies use for their products.
> Look at:
> http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/
> These files contain information on all streets, geographic boundaries
> (lakes, rivers, etc.) zip codes, railways, governmental boundaries (city,
> count, state, military, parks, etc.) address information (including
> left/right side and one-way) for all the streets. In short, it's all
> you'd need to write your own mapping software (along with a bit of work,
> of course).
> The GPS and mapping companies (deLorme, Microsoft, AAA, MapQuest, etc.)
> then supplement this information with phone-book databases to add points
> of interest, freeway exit information, etc. They also invest quite a bit
> of effort in producing routing algorithms to make use of this raw data,
> and user interfaces to (hopefully) make it easy to use. Invariably, the
> raw data is massaged into their own proprietary format for speed of
> access.
> --
> Mark
> "I prefer heaven for climate, hell for company."
Does anyone know if there is an equivalent to "US Census Bureau's Tiger/Line
database" in Australia?
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> GPS navigators such as TomTom, NavMan, Garmin, Magellan etc. become
> increasingly popular.
> Is there a common standard for the digital map data to be used on these