[Freegis-list] Project: Street mapping using GPS data

[Nils Faerber]

Hello all!
I am new to the list so please excuse if this already became an FAQ... I
read the FAQs, HowTos and docs I was able to find on the net but did not
come to any conclusion, so I am asking here now.

What I want to do is to start an open project to create street maps. I
intended to use GPS data as base for the maps since GPS devices have
become such cheap and many users can afford one - subsequently there are
many potential contributors out there.

What I am looking for are software tools to create decent maps from
those GPS tracks. What is needed is a quite comfortable tool to first
import the GPE/NMEA data into some GIS application. From my research I
found that maybe GRASS could be a potential target - though GRASS seems
quite complex to use. The next thing that needs to be done is editing
and annotation, maybe Thuban can be used for parts of this. The tracks
have to be split into seperate streets and the streets have to be
identified and annotated. And last but not least the resulting data has
to be pretty-printed so that a user can finally use those resulting
maps.

Lot of stuff!
And above all a colaborative method has to be found so that users can
contribute GPS recorded tracks in a manner so that an already recorded
street is not added twice to the resulting database - the second
reconrding could be used to achieve a higher accuracy?

I would like to start the whole project by making myself more familiar
with the whole GIS and mapping system. I have to admit that I know how
to operate my GPS but know almost nothing about GIS. What I do know
quite a bit about is (system) programming. I could offer to create the
data aquisition application, i.e. a nice user friendly frontend
application that records GPS tracks in a certain format for various
devices - PDAs, notebooks, etc.
What I need help with, at least in form of hints, is the GIS system,
i.e. how to import the GPS data in a system like GRASS, how to
postprocess it and how to generate some form of map from it.

The result could become a community effort and project. I do intend
(take this as my word and promise) to make this like an opensource
project, i.e. have users contribute GPS data, help annotate, etc. and
make the result available to the community again. All software sources
and all intermediate data should also be open to all interested users
under a free license.
In some years we might be able to have a decent street map set for
several countries and maybe one day an opensource navigation software. I
am willing to spend my spare time on writing software for the areas I
have some expertise with and to contribute my GPS data.
But I need help for the GIS part.

At the moment I want to investigate the feasability of such a project.
If anyone here on the list is interested in such a project you are
absolutely welcome to contact me by personal email or, if the others of
the list agree, discuss such a project here on the list. I am open to
any suggestion!

If this idea has already been discussed, please excuse my ignorance and
point me to some archive of that discussion.

Having said all this (already too much :) thanks for reading that far!
Looking forward to your suggestions, ideas and comments!

CU
  nils faerber

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