Live data from Hacker News

Switch to OpenStreetMap

switch2osm.org

131–140 of 210 posts

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#131

I've been using OSM data for a side project I've been working on (an app to find "green" running routes, avoiding busy roads and preferring trails/rivers/parks, and optionally meeting some minimum target distance). It just would not have been possible without OSM's data, full stop. The tag data associated with each road ("way" in OSM parlance) is invaluable, as is the ability to work with all of this information on a…

Not sure if you already know this, but you could also use data on whether the streets are lit or not. OSMAnd uses this for example

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#133
post #114
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have, a few years ago. Unless things have changed dramatically, I would plan to have one full-time person work for a couple weeks to set this up, and a few weeks more if you want to set it up in a way that the map updates automatically over time. Doc is often out of date, some of the tools are unstable, the amount of data to wrangle is not trivial, and checking that your map is ok is actually not that easy, eg you…

Still, judging by the parent comment, it sounds like setting up a tile server in OSM isn't exactly trivial. Rather than editing, In my comment above, I meant PostGIS, not OpenGIS. Anyway, I was interested in this at the time for a hobby project and (rightly) decided the effort would not be worth it. Thanks for the insight!

Depends on the level of effort you want to put into it. I've been working on a hobby project with PostGIS recently, and I've found it very easy to get started (a few hours to get PostGIS running + import just the UK's dataset using osm2pgsql). But it's taken me months to get to a point where I'd say I'm pretty experienced with it.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#134

I've been using OSM data for a side project I've been working on (an app to find "green" running routes, avoiding busy roads and preferring trails/rivers/parks, and optionally meeting some minimum target distance). It just would not have been possible without OSM's data, full stop. The tag data associated with each road ("way" in OSM parlance) is invaluable, as is the ability to work with all of this information on a…

Not sure if you already know this, but you could also use data on whether the streets are lit or not. OSMAnd uses this for example

Funnily enough, that is one of the features it already supports (avoiding unlit streets). Another one is avoiding especially hilly routes.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#135
post #34

Has bug-correcting editing improved over the years? We use OSM quite a bit in the public sector because they aren’t snooping. Three years ago one of our internal routing systems broke because someone had reported the street leading up to our administration center as a one-way street in the wrong direction. This meant our 7000 employees couldn’t get compensation for any work related driving, and we couldn’t submit the…

It sounds like some kind of checkpoint/release system for the map could have saved you there. For example, you set your system to use the 2019-01 epoch of the map or whatever, you'll be guaranteed to not have any surprise changes until next time you update checkpoint.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#136

Timely. Just started a project to document Bosnia and Hercegovina's remaining minefields on OSM. The build system consumes PDFs from the European Union Force as they are updated, georeferences them and pushes the features to OSM. Many tile sets on live maps are updated within the week!

Do you mind sharing how you became interested in/got started on such a project?

I do map-related consulting full-time and use OSM heavily, both for work and for mountaineering. Currently living remotely in the Balkans and saw the need.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#137

Timely. Just started a project to document Bosnia and Hercegovina's remaining minefields on OSM. The build system consumes PDFs from the European Union Force as they are updated, georeferences them and pushes the features to OSM. Many tile sets on live maps are updated within the week!

Would it be possible to have the European Union Force update OSM directly?

I have a meeting with them tomorrow to ask them, but I'm not hopeful. The current setup is fairly low-tech on their end.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maps.me is what finally has allowed me to mostly switch with offline maps, good routing, and support for all modes of transit I use consistently. https://maps.me/

OSMand+~ is a much faster smartphone client, that cares about your privacy and doesn't spam you with ads. You can find it on osmand.net, the F-Droid repository and the Play/ios store.

I actually switched to Maps.me (F-Droid's "Maps", technically) for most uses because OsmAnd's renderer is a lot slower, what did you mean by "much faster"?

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#139
post #126

Ok how do I use OSM to calculate routes?

You need a routing engine on top of the OSM data. Common projects that do this are GraphHopper, Openrouteservice, OSRM and pgRouting.

I use Graphhopper and Openrouteservice - both are very actively maintained.

Post reply on HN