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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 6:53 am Post subject: Predefined Waypoints Mod Or App?
I am searching for a full featured GPS App to be used primarily for mapping offroad trails I am also looking for a GPS App that can be modified or allows plugins or addons.
In my searching I am having a hard time finding a GPS App that supports adding waypoints quickly or easily, I have come to the conclusion that what I am looking for does not exists yet, it seems every GPS App wants you to stop take a break and manually create then label each and every waypoint this is ok if your only adding a few waypoints per day and like to take a bunch of breaks.
Predefined Waypoints : Let me explain in more detail exactly what I am looking for and why... My idea is to allow the user to predefine way points so all you have to do is hit a Pre Defined Button on the screen and with one touch it will drop a Pre Defined way point on the screen.
For example your driving down a trail and to the right you see another trail going off in the distance, you could simply touch the screen button labeled TR and it would set a waypoint TR on the current track, the waypoint would be named TR1 meaning Trail Right the 1 would mean its the first one you marked on the current track, the next time you hit the TR button it would be TR2 and so on .
How is this useful? I like to document the trails I ride on and think of myself as a Trail Verifier since most the trails I ride out West I have already mapped out before my trip using Google Earth. Many trails have other connecting trails you do not always know about before hand they are discovered during the ride, some trails are easily forgot or missed on the return trip or next trip if its a loop trail, I want to document new trail locations on the fly quickly and easily.
Dropping the TR1 way point on your GPS screen would remind a user and allow the user to take the GPS data and load it into Google Earth or similar programs and see where TR1 goes in relation to where they were. Manually adding waypoints just takes up way too much time out of the ride trip and is why I would like to automate the whole process.
Other Pre Defined Way Points I would like to have available to me on my screen would be.
TR = Trail Right
TL = Trail Left
F = Fast Section Of The Trail
S = Slow Section
TH =Trail Hazard (marks a hazard on the trail)
SU = Steep Up Hill
SD = Steep Down
B = Brake Normal
BH = Brake Hard (TH and BH might be located right next to each other on the map)
C = Coast
START = Start of a trail section
END = End of a trail section
H = Hide all the predefined buttons with one touch so you can clear the screen of clutter and see your map if more map detail is needed, the H button would not be hidden so you could tap the H again to restore all the buttons you previously hid.
By being user definable / configurable each user can configure each button to suit their needs.
All the buttons would be ghost buttons or translucent buttons (not sure of the correct terminology) so you could still see your map on the screen, once you got use to tapping the buttons the time spent looking for a button will diminish greatly.
Will this modification encourage distracted driving YES for those who are dumb enough to attempt it whilst in motion, my goal is to greatly reduce the amount of time spent on adding way points to a track, try adding 50 way points a day manually it sucks, time yourself how long it takes to manually add a way point.
If you imagine yourself going down a trail you can see the usefulness especially for someone that was pre-running a off-road race course or laying out some other off road event. You could add M = Mud W = Water Crossing etc. anything you might find useful and advantageous to the racer, it would be like putting up signs on the trails.
Suggestions, thoughts ?
Thanks in advance, sorry for the long read forgive me if this has already been asked not sure what to search for, I have a TomTom GO 730 I could mod if software is available, Currently using a Garmin Nuvi 500 for recording my offroad trails. Also have available to use a Garmin GPS12, Garmin Dakota 10, Garmin eTrex Legend H , Garmin Nuvi 200.
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14901 Location: Keynsham
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 8:07 am Post subject:
Rally driving comes to mind. The drivers have somebody called a Co-Driver to do all that stuff - maybe get in touch with those people and ask how they do it? _________________ Dennis
Let me start by saying that I am not aware of an app such as you describe. So, if you are looking for a one app fits all solution, please don't bother reading further.
I have used several apps to plot tracks and features whilst out walking or cycling. The easiest app for Android I have found is OSMTracker for Android by Nicolas Guillaumin.
It is very easy to add waypoints, features and juntions BUT, as far as I know, it is not possible to customise the icons you drop. You would have to use your own code or alias for each icon you select from the menu and then edit them later. Perhaps it may be worth contacting the developer to see if he has any suggestions.
Also, your modifications would be made directly onto the freely available OpenStreetMaps and I doubt that they would be happy for you inputting the depth of detail that you are intending to. Especially if you do decide to use aliases.
The easiest way I use to denote a junction or track is to just navigate the spur for a few metres, it then appears on the track log.
It may be possible to only modify the maps stored on your device, but you would need to read the FAQ's for the app to be sure.
OPtion 2
BAck in the day, I used to use TripMaster on my TOMTOM Go730
to plot new routes and tracks. From memory, once set up, it was a two or three click operation to drop features onto the map from the main TT map navigation page. I used to create a POI group with nine or ten different features/types with bespoke Icons. TripMaster recorded the track behind scenes and it was possible to turn off the default "Snap to Road" feature in TT.
Option 3.
I have at times used the CamerAlert app from this website. Again its a two three click operation. I use different camera types to refer to different features as an alias, and MaFt definately doesn't want to wade through any spurious submissions for speed cams at the top of mountains.
Option 4
Although I'm not a Garmin person, I'm sure that I have read that you can load OSM maps onto some of the Garmins you mention. They certainly record your track and you can easily drop different marker types.
.....
Admittedly, none of the above fit your purpose straight out of the box. Sorry.
More information would possibly help. i.e. is this just for your maps or are you planing to share with friends/ group/community/world and if you all need to edit and share.
Are you planning on doing any editing at all once back home?
However, my initial thoughts are that your annotations shall be directional. TR would be TL coming from the other direction. Likewise M would be the end of the mud on the way home so you probably shall have to edit later. But I guess you have this covered.
I'm rambling now, so I shall just post this reply as the ideas of someone who would like to help but who has probably missed something important.
Rally driving comes to mind. The drivers have somebody called a Co-Driver to do all that stuff - maybe get in touch with those people and ask how they do it?
Thanks I will look into what the rally drivers as well as what other off road racers do to build their own maps when they prerun courses I always assumed they use specialized equipment that is cost prohibitive, I have seen Lowrance equipment $$$ used by many I wanted to keep it simple and inexpensive by finding a addon or modification that would work on a existing full featured GPS system.
I had considered tracking down a open source full featured GPS App then learning how to modify the existing App to fit my needs, Using the MIT App Inventor 2 would probably be my first choice.
I would like to use a TomTom as the hardware because they are plentiful and inexpensive, every time I have tried to use a cell phone or tablet outdoors their is always the sun issue on the screen, a TomTom or Garmin is far better in the sun I could make a cell phone or tablet work but it would be more painful.
I plan on sharing the maps I create and raw GPS data with the world I assume many will want to modify or edit the GPS files I want to share and or build off of the data.
Let me describe in more detail, at the end of each days ride I transfer the data from my GPS to my laptop computer in my RV, I collect the data from my Garmin by importing into EasyGPS, then I save that data as a GPX file and its stored in a folder where I store and organize all my GPS data, when I have a internet connection I then import the days riding data (GPX file) into Google Earth and retrace my steps looking for more trails in the area I have been riding, sometimes I add placemarks and add paths to the days riding then save the paths and placemarks and upload them to my GPS so I can find the marked locations on the next days ride.
I feel the placement of TR TL would not be a issue you will know the direction of travel because of the number sequencing if their was intersection its doubtful I would be marking more than one trail, the cool part is users can configure the Predefined Waypoints any way they like and configure them to make sense to the individual, some users might not even want to Left and Right and just identify "T" indicating another trail direction could be decided when they arrived at the "T" location.
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