Workarounds for CoPilot's problems.

[PONDEROUS]

alix776

I think that you didn't finish editing your most recent post before submitting it. I often find myself in the same position; however, could I ask you to clarify a couple of points, please?

You said:

[KenS]

[alix776]

to be honest its a bit hit and miss the routing on both is about same you just need to check your route very carefully and set a few way points

and i had finished editing it
_________________
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .

Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl

[PONDEROUS]

Thanks Alix776.

Unfortunately, that produces other problems.

Putting in one waypoint only will often cause CP 5 to produce a route that may be three times the original route or worse. One is then faced with sitting in a layby panning and scrolling to find the best route and putting in more waypoints until, finally, CP 5 "gets the idea".

CP5's panning and scrolling is itself poor and after it recalculates the route after each waypoint, the scrolling has to start again.

I would add that Route Optimization, which is meant to find the Shortest or Quickest routes given any number of stops, does not work properly either.

While inserting a few waypoints might be just about tolerable for the occasional journey, it is not much of an answer where a user makes dozens of journeys per day.

[alix776]

work for me though and im out all day everyday of the week
_________________
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .

Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl

[PONDEROUS]

That's fine Alix.

I'm sure why you would not experience these problems, although I believe that you did imply that you drive a large truck. If so, perhaps you don't want routes down country lanes very often? I need to take them all of the time.

If you are interested, I'll PM you some routes with waypoints inserted so that you can feed the results back to the forum.

Interested?

[PONDEROUS]

Correction

In my most recent post, I meant to say that I am NOT sure why Alix776 would not have experienced the probolems caused by waypoints.

[topgazza]

Some of the work rounds suggested did not remove another problemet with waypoints. If I plan a route from Bramley, Hants to Coventry it takes me all the way to the M25 and then up the M40 (?)

By setting a waypoint at the M4/A34 you would think it would send me up the A34 to the M40 but no. It insists on making me carry on the M4 to Hungerford then up some country A road to the M40 at Banbury and another 20 miles. So it wasn't faster or shorter I played around for a good 30 mins and in the end started again using more cunning than a cunning fox attending a degree course in cunning at the cunning course branch at Oxford.. Now, I know the route but as an example of how basically flawed co pilot can be at times thats a pretty good one. Interestingly TT3 takes me the perfect route without the use of waypoints.
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TomTom 720

Nokia Lumia 800 with Nokia Maps, iPhone 4S with Apple Maps (sigh)

[Ako]

I too haven't been here for a while. Thought the discussion had finished.

I did the trip that Skippy suggested from the tourist information centre in Waterford to the woodlands hotel.

Waterford Tourist Information, Waterford, EI

Go east on N25 (Merchants Quay)
Drive 0.5 miles
Turn left on Lombard Street (R683)
Drive 0.9 miles (~3 min)
Stay on Dunmore Road (R683) as it turns left
Drive 0.5 miles
At Roundabout take second exit on Dunmore Road (R683)
Drive less than 0.1 miles on Roundabout
Drive 0.2 miles
At Roundabout take second exit on Dunmore Road (R683)
Drive less than 0.1 miles on Roundabout
Drive 0.7 miles
At Roundabout take second exit on Dunmore Road (R683)
Drive less than 0.1 miles on Roundabout
Drive 0.2 miles
Turn left
Drive less than 0.1 miles
Turn left
Drive less than 0.1 miles
Woodlands Hotel And Leisure Centre, Waterford, EI 3.1 0:09

Not sure where the 15 mile detour comes in (assuming I have got the correct start and end points of course)

Thanks for the tips Alix. I have already done my trip and it seems ok.

Dave

[PONDEROUS]

While listing a previous route to send to Alix776 following his or her apparent suggestion that all is well with waypoints, I ran across a workaround that, so far, does seem to make them work, using Optimize Stops.

Optimize Stops continues to produce confused and elongated routes when attempting to calculate the optimum itinerary for many stops, at least in relatively small urban areas, so I am not sure that it will prove universally reliable. However, at least for my example route, it caused CP 5 to follow a simple route between start and end points through a single waypoint. Previously, inserting waypoints fouled up this route completely, as I have already described. In Shortest Routing mode, the route should have been around 6 miles but CP 5 produced 10 miles. The first waypoint made it 8 miles, the second 12.6, the third 17.8, the fourth 18.4 and the fifth 16.4. This is typical of CP 5's performance using waypoints.

So, this discussion may have produced a useful workaround while ALK consider what they are going to do – if it works universally.

I'll post again when I have tested this on more routes.

[PONDEROUS]

I thought I should give the details of the previous route to which I referred in my most recent post, above. They are as follows:

ROUTING TYPE: Shortest
START POINT: Station Lane, Scraptoft, Leicester (52deg 38’ 31.5” N; 1deg 2’ 42.1” W)
END POINT: Mill Road, Rearsby, Leicestershire (52deg 43’ 26.7” N; 1deg 2’ 23.0” W)
CP 5 MILEAGE WITHOUT WAYPOINTS: 10.3 miles

1st waypoint: on Queniborough Road, South East of Syston/ North East of Thurmaston (52deg 41’ 13.6”; 1deg 3’ 30.4” W). CP 5 mileage: 8 miles, still through built-up areas.

2nd waypoint: on unnamed road, immediately North of Hamilton (52deg 39’ 39.3”; 1deg 2’ 54.7” W). CP 5 mileage 12.6 miles. Route includes about turn.

3rd waypoint: on Hamilton Lane, North of Scraptoft (52deg 39’ 3.1”; 1deg 2’ 54.0” W). CP 5 mileage 7.8 miles. Route even more strange.

4th waypoint: on Hamilton Lane further towards Scraptoft (52deg 38’ 49”; 1deg 2’ 54.5” W). CP 5 mileage 18.4 miles. Even more ridiculous route.

5th waypoint: on Scraptoft Rise, Scraptoft (52deg 38’ 40.1”; 1deg 2’ 49.3” W). CP 5 mileage 16.4 miles. Abandonment of any further attempt to produce route.

Notes:

1. Previous waypoints were not removed; i.e. a total of 5 waypoints existed by the time waypoint 5 was inserted.

2. Results on PC and PPC versions were identical.

[PONDEROUS]

It seems that I spoke too soon. Further experimentation shows that whether Optimize Stops acts as a workaround depends on where the waypoints are on the route. It does not work with Waypoint 1 only on my example route. Onthe other hand, a single waypoint at Waypoint 2 on my example route will work without Optimize Stops.

Thus, it's a case of back to square 1. CP 5 will occasionally produce a reasonable route if you are lucky, or are able to sit and fiddle around for as long as it takes to find Waypoints that work.

[Skippy]

[PONDEROUS]

Thanks Skippy, but I'd be grateful if you, and others, could try it on CP 5 and feed back the results. Perhaps you could also try some other rural routes to confirm that this is not a one-off.

What I would like to do, for the sake of everyone concerned, is to try to curtail the recurring argument that because someone has found the occasional route that seems OK, then it can be taken as disproving the existence of any problem with CP 5's routing.

As Darren rightly suggests, all that seems to have been achieved so far is confusion as to the nature of the problems with CP 5. On the other hand, Darren incorrectly suggests, that the existence of these problems is a matter of opinion, and it seems this is the basis on which he defends the retention of the original review in it original form. These faults are matters OF FACT (unlike the question of whether we should just put up with them), and until that is established, this argument is likely to be interminable.

[PONDEROUS]

I'm sorry to increase the volume of postings, but I incorrectly asked Skippy and others to try out some rural routes. I don't know why, as the problem is not exclusively rural.

For example, I could not get CP 5 to take me away from the ring roads around Middlesbrough the other day. However many waypoints I inserted, it took me all the way round the ring round from the South to the North of the town then all the way back South through the centre to reach an address that was only a street or two away from the Southernmost junction on the ringroad.

I apologise for this, but I suppose I am striving too hard to try to make concessions to those who defend CP 5.

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