[OSM-dev] creating OSM-based tactile maps

Rich Morin rdm at cfcl.com
Wed Dec 2 03:22:30 UTC 2015


I'm hoping for some suggestions on how to get from OpenStreetMap
data to tactile maps for use by blind or visually impaired users.
See below for a bit of background information and some qustions.

-r


Background

I'm involved in a project to generate tactile maps for use by blind
or visually impaired users.  Currently, these are being fabricated
by laser engraving from acrylic plastic, but I'm considering other
options for reduced-cost duplication, etc.

As an exploratory exercise, I used SketchUp's Pencil tool to trace
some floor plans of a building, then used its 3D Fonts tool to add
Braille annotations.  I then exported a set of PDF files, imported
them into Adobe Illustrator, and used them to drive the engraver.

This produces reasonable results, but I'd like a more mechanized
approach.  I'd also like to take advantage of OSM's infrastructure
and data, wherever appropriate.  Ideally, I'd like to put together
a mostly automated way to go from OSM's XML-based data format to
engravable images.

FWIW, I have skimmed a couple of books on OpenStreetMap:

  OpenStreetMap: Be your own Cartographer
  Bennett; Packt, 2010

  OpenStreetMap: Using and Enhancing the Free Map of the World
  Ramm, Topf, and Chilton; UIT, 2011

However, as these books are a bit dated, the tools they mention
(eg, Mapnik, Osmarender) may have been supplanted.  So, I'm open
to other suggestions!


Questions

What tool(s) would you suggest for:

  extracting all of the nodes (etc) within a polygon?

  rotating the map data (eg, to make a given street vertical)?

  rendering a map in PDF (eg, for use by Illustrator)?

More generally, are web-based tools (eg, CSS, SVG, XSLT) still
recommended as infrastructure for mechanically processing OSM
data into rendered images?

 -- 
http://www.cfcl.com/rdm           Rich Morin           rdm at cfcl.com
http://www.cfcl.com/rdm/resume    San Bruno, CA, USA   +1 650-873-7841

Software system design, development, and documentation





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