I see the occasional odd posting on boards asking about free GPS fleet tracking software; stumbled across this, and thought it worth posting about. OpenGTS, which stands for “Open GPS Tracking System”, allows web tracking on Google Maps for a fleet of vehicles. It’s written in Java, and uses MySQL, so it should run on any platform that supports those. Current version is available at the SourgeForce page for the project. The software is labeled “alpha”, and I have no way of trying it out, so you’re on your own on this one. If you do use it, please post your experiences in the comments section.
Archive for the 'GPS' Category Page 21 of 25
A reader from New Zealand writes, “I’m looking for a tool that will assist in the production of 3d terrain models from GPS elevation and track data. Ideally I would be able to walk over the land and generate continuous track data that could then be used to build a 3d mesh with the ability to refine it over time, fill in areas with higher detail. What is the best tool (in your opinion) for achieving something like this?” Can’t think of a single tool off the top of my head, but several ideas for possible approaches to handling this kind of data come to mind. But while this might be a good idea conceptually, it relies on the assumption that you can get accurate, consistent, repeatable position and altitude data from a GPS. And that’s not a good assumption.
DigiPoint is a great site for selecting points in Google Maps, and then exporting them as a CSV file for import into a GPS as waypoints using GPSBabel. Once loaded into the GPS, you can create a route using those waypoints, but it would be easier and more convenient if you could create both the points and the route in Google Maps, and then create a GPX route file automatically. And there’s a website that lets you do that.
A reader from Canada asks, “Is it possible to load an AutoCAD file (dxf?) into my Garmin GPSMAP 60csx?”. I don’t know of a free one-step solution, and if any reader knows of one, I’d appreciate. However, using some of the procedures described in previous posts on this blog, it can be done fairly easily.
1. Convert the DXF file to a shapefile using the MapWindow DXF To Shape Converter. Points, lines and areas will have to be converted into separate shapefiles.2. If the coordinates of the DXF are not in the native coordinate system for most GPS units (latitude/longitude, WGS84), you’ll need to re-project the new shapefiles from their current coordinate system (e.g. UTM) to the GPS native system using MapWindow.
3. Load the shapefile into the GPS using one of several programs available. Points and lines will be imported as waypoints and tracks, respectively, while areas will be imported as tracks that describe the perimeter of the area.
It’s even less painful than it sounds; should take no more than about five minutes to put a DXF file into a GPS, once you have all the software you need installed.
Addendum: You would also follow the same basic procedure if you wanted to display a DXF file in Google Earth, but instead of step 3 above, you would convert the shapefile created in step 2 into a Google Earth KML file using one of the converters I’ve posted about previously.
Many of Garmin’s mid-level handheld GPS units support auto-routing: automatic determination of the shortest distance or fastest time route to a destination, with turn-by-turn instructions (check your owner’s manual to see if your unit supports auto-routing). However, it was necessary to buy the City Navigator map disks to do turn-by-turn routing on-the-fly on your GPS. The cheaper MetroGuide map disks were able to do this in Version 4, but starting in MetroGuide Version 5 you could only do MetroGuide routing in the MapSource or nRoute programs on your PC, not on-the-fly on your GPS. MetroGuide is not only cheaper than City Navigator, it’s also unlocked, meaning you can use it on multiple GPS units; City Navigator is locked for use on a single GPS unit. But there’s a free piece of software that enables auto-routing on your GPS unit using MetroGuide maps.
Continue reading ‘Free Garmin GPS Unit Auto-Routing With MetroGuide Maps + Free European Basemap’
3DEM ostensibly comes with a number of GPS interface capabilities, including the ability to download waypoints, routes, and tracks, and upload waypoints created in the program. I say ostensibly because I could only get one of the features to work with my Garmin 60Cx, downloading tracks; maybe you might be able to get more to work with your GPS model. But even that one feature allows you to do something more than just display the track on top of a terrain image: it lets you see the elevation profile for the entire track.
Vector One blogs about a solar-powered GPS data logger with Bluetooth, SIRFStar III chipset, 100,000 point capacity and rechargeable battery (100-hour battery life before recharging). Cost in Europe: about 70 euros (roughly $100). I want one.
Addendum: This application has been removed, apparently because the author is working on something similar for commercial purposes. See this post at the Google Earth Blog for another application that does something similar.
From the GeoDatum blog comes a link to an application that displays satellite positions and visibility cones in Google Earth. 31 different categories of satellites are available, including weather and communications, but probably of greatest interest here is GPS.