[OSM-newbies] robotics project

[Richard Weait]

On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 10:16 AM, Elisabet Rovira
<elisabet.rovira at ee.oulu.fi> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> i'm a student doing my master thesis and I would like to use osm for
> it.

Welcome, Elisabet.

The data and software licenses used in the OpenStreetMap tool chain
should make it very easy for you to use OSM in your project.  [1]

> i use an outdoor mobile robot equipped with a camera, gps and
> laser sensors, and i would like to use the osm maps, some kind of gps
> tracking, and create new paths and routes in the maps.

I can see that adding obstacles, paths and routes to your local map
will be important to you.  You could certainly use the OSM tools to
collect this information and use it locally.

Please be aware that general practice in OpenStreetMap is to include
data that is observable, verifiable and permanent.  Adding a new path
to OSM that is "this is the route my robot followed on Monday" would
not be appropriate.

> i was taking a look at josm, because it allows me to do all of this
> offline, but i need to also detect obstacles with the laser sensors,
> save pictures, change the route and add new nodes and edges while the
> robot is moving,  and i dont know how can i do that.
>
> I am a little bit lost, so if someone could help me i would really
> appreciate it.

You have a lot of options in front of you.  And you are beginning a
fascinating and ambitious project.  I don't know all of the details of
your project, or your thesis requirements but that won't stop me from
offering advice.  ;-)

I expect that the vast majority of the data that you will collect will
be inappropriate for contributing to the OpenStreetMap data set.  So I
suggest that you consider collecting and hosting the data locally.
You can then use tools to display that data on top of an OSM basemap
layer.

I'll presume that you are interested in small features and high
resolution.  Consumer-grade GPS will be a challenge as it is typically
no more accurate than 3-5m.  You'll want to look in to dgps and / or
an augmentation system. [2]  This is not an OSM problem, but it is a
problem.  Good luck.

You'll want to display your data on a map.  Here is an example of a
gps track [3] displayed on the OSM mapnik layer.  OpenLayers [4][5]
makes this easy to do.  OpenLayers can display many different types of
things on many different maps in many ways.  There are many more
examples of how to display local data on a map with OpenLayers. [4]
You will want to become familiar with OpenLayers so that you can show
your results as a map, and not only as columns of numbers.

While you may use the OpenStreetMap servers to provide a base map,
every user must be cautious to not overuse the OSM tile server [6].
Overuse by a few users can negatively impact other users.  OpenLayers
also makes it easy to change the underlying base map layer on which
you display your data.  So you can switch from using OSM default tiles
to using your own tile server, or another service quite easily.

I'll presume that your area of interest is relatively small compared
to the OSM database.  Perhaps you are  interested in an area about the
size of a small town.  This suggests to me that you will want to view
maps at greater zoom levels (lower scales) than we typically use in
OSM.  And this is an excellent reason for you to consider using your
own tile server.  If you set up your own mapnik [7][8] tile server you
will be able to choose the items to render, and how to render them and
also adjust the zoom range to meet the requirements of your project.
Mapnik will also allow you to create very high resolution images
suitable for large maps, posters, high resolution printing and just
showing off your excellent project to others.

I'll be interested to hear how your project goes.

[1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/License
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNSS_Augmentation
[3] http://weait.com/content/easy-osm-your-gpx-tracks
[4] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Openlayers
[5] http://www.openlayers.org
[6] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tile_usage_policy
[7] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapnik
[8] http://mapnik.org