LOL, I thought this was going to be some sort Angular/React/Etc routing as a service thing!!
Ha, I thought it was packet switched network routing as a service.
Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
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Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#12TSPaaS?
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#13I understand it's a beta, but no pages on pricing? This would be an API I would build my business around. No way I would touch it without an idea of how much it will cost me once it exits beta.
Likely they are working out the bugs before discussing pricing.
Routinely in my job I will produce a free of charge beta for testing purposes before we have price discussions.
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey Cameron, I understand your concern. At this point, we have no plans to charge for Pathfinder. Furthermore, if you're concerned about future viability of the API, all of our code is MIT-licensed at https://github.com/csse497 so it can be self hosted.
What is your plan for long term profitability if you have no plans to charge for this? I am nervous building tech around a free service that may either transition to a deal-breaking price (google app engine) or may disappear entirely due to the business going under.
It looks like it's open source with an MIT License, so at least you should have the option to self host.
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#15Genuine candid question : why use this when we have more established solutions like Graphhopper[0], the OSRM Project[1] or Open Trip Planner[2] among others ? [0] https://graphhopper.com/ [1] http://project-osrm.org/ [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenTripPlanner
Another option to consider: Valhalla, the only open-source routing engine that can plan multimodal journeys (car, transit, walk, cycle) around the world. It can, for example, plan a journey on foot, rail, and bus that crosses multiple metro regions.
- all code at https://github.com/valhalla
- also available as a hosted service for free at https://mapzen.com/projects/turn-by-turn/
(N.B. I'm employed by Mapzen.)
You can also try out Mapzen's routing service along with many others, like OSRM and GraphHopper, on the OpenStreetMap site. For example: http://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=mapzen_bicycl...
Each routing engine has its strengths and weaknesses. Great that all share their code as open-source.
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#16TSPaaS?
As catchy as that is, KVRPaaS would be more appropriate.
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#17Genuine candid question : why use this when we have more established solutions like Graphhopper[0], the OSRM Project[1] or Open Trip Planner[2] among others ? [0] https://graphhopper.com/ [1] http://project-osrm.org/ [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenTripPlanner
Thanks for the question! I'll admit I have limited knowledge about those services, but I believe they solve a slightly different problem. Pathfinder's primary use is services that have N drivers that can service any of M transportation requests.
The GraphHopper and OSRM Matrix APIs are closer to what Pathfinder does, however they do not assign route segments to vehicles. Pathfinder is perhaps one abstraction layer over them.
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#18I haven't dug around the code much but I assume this is using "As the Crow Flies" distances between points? I don't see any references to OSM or street network data.
We tried out "as the crow flies", OSM with the OSRM Distance Matrix API, and the Google Maps Distance Matrix API. We're currently using Google API although we may switch back to OSRM for scaling purposes.
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#19Genuine candid question : why use this when we have more established solutions like Graphhopper[0], the OSRM Project[1] or Open Trip Planner[2] among others ? [0] https://graphhopper.com/ [1] http://project-osrm.org/ [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenTripPlanner
Thanks for the question! I'll admit I have limited knowledge about those services, but I believe they solve a slightly different problem. Pathfinder's primary use is services that have N drivers that can service any of M transportation requests. The GraphHopper and OSRM Matrix APIs are closer to what Pathfinder does, however they do not assign route segments to vehicles. Pathfinder is perhaps one abstraction layer ov…
What are you using for calculating the time or distances between the services? (Edit: okay, saw another comment stating you are using Google Matrix API)
Basically you need a distance matrix for your vehicle routing problem.
BTW: the GraphHopper Directions API uses jsprit to solve VRP etc problems: https://graphhopper.com/#os-comparison
Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
#20A bit unfair ... they stole our phrase "routing as a service" !1! ;)