When I thought I’d be taking the train north last week I decided I wanted to know where I was. Since I no longer have Windows on my laptop, my Microsoft Streets and Trips software wasn’t an option. That’s when I remembered a sweet Linux mapping application called Roadmap.
Roadmap is a GPL mapping program which uses mapping info from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Tiger maps (as does nearly every commercial mapping product). In conjunction with the gpsd package (which provides your position, duh), Roadmap accurately tracks where you are, rotating the map as you go. Street names are provided so you know what’s what. It can even announce the upcoming streets using the GPL’d text-to-speech app, festival.
It turns out that Roadmap is more accurate than the factory-installed Honda Navigation system in our Odyssey. It uses a mapping DVD from 1998, thus our car thinks I-540 ends at Leesville Road, for one example. At $175 a pop, we’ve been putting off an upgrade. Instead, I may see what it would take to port Roadmap to this SA-4-based system.
I consider Roadmap one of those hidden gems of GPL software. It could use some good packages to make it easy to install. It could also use some smarts to help plot a course from point A to point B. At this stage, though, its entirely usable and worth a look.
MT.Net says check it out!
I guess I will have to check it out.
I’ve been wondering what it might take to put a computer in my car and this would be a good application for it.
Yeah, I figured you’d enjoy checking it out, Tanner. I’ve been impressed with the bike computer tracking you’ve been doing. This seems like a natural fit.
Roadmap has been compiled for PDAs, too. I’ve run one on my Zaurus for a little while now. Those PDA versions would be a good starting point for a car computer. It’s where I hope to start if I decide to port it to the Honda Navigation system, since the PDA versions already work well with touch screens.