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Free Map Repositories?

Posted by Cliff on from the digital-ortho-quad dept.

mapless asks: "I have recently begun working on a car-based computer for music and other tasks. I thought that it would be a good idea to include mapping software. The problem is that I do not want to be tied to specific commercial packages (which are mostly Windows based), and I don't want to be tied to a specific OS (this will start out as a Windows machine and migrate into a Linux system when I learn more). I thought about just downloading a LOAD of images from Yahoo or Mapquest, but that would be pointless and redundant. Is there a map database that one can freely access, possibly with sample code on how to manipulate the map? I think this is valid for Web sites, not just a car computer, as well, since all maps on the Net are from propietary databases."

4 of 14 comments (clear)

  1. More than Maps... by whydna · · Score: 2
    I think that in addition to the maps, you are going to need the software to interface with them. Mapquest (et. al.) do a lot of processing when you say, "Get me from pt. A to pt. B". I don't know if you program/etc... But your solution may be to chop up a number of parts and combine. You might even be able to do this with some sort of windows scripting.

    You'll need a few things (if you wanna have something that's cool:
    • A reasonably accurate GPS to give you a longitude/latitude (I believe "Trimble" makes some good ones).
    • Some software that can figure out what street/address you are on/at based on the gps reading.
    • THEN, you need the mapping software to help you get from pt. A to pt. B
    It's potentially a lot of work (but could be a lot of fun to). As a side note: I think that MS Streets isn't all that expensive. I imagine you are spending a little bit in the process of building this "device". You should see what it costs; I've seen it bundled with GPSs before. Streets also has cool functionality like, "Show me all chinese restuarants within 5 miles."

    Just a thought...

    -andy
    1. Re:More than Maps... by Mike1024 · · Score: 2
      Hey,

      You'll need a few things (if you wanna have something that's cool: A reasonably accurate GPS to give you a longitude/latitude.

      Onve you start getting your GPS and your computer and your software and everything, the price would be getting pretty high... You could just get yourself a Garmin GPS III Plus with it's own built-in maps and screen, or something similar. It'll probably be cheaper and easier all round.

      Michael

      ...another comment from Michael Tandy.

      --
      "Goodness me, how unlike the FBI to abuse the trust of the American public." -- The Onion
  2. Getting started in GIS by jellicle · · Score: 2

    You're looking at GIS, aka geographic information systems. The primal source of a lot of GIS data is the U.S. Geological Survey. Start at mapping.usgs.gov. Those maps you see on Yahoo or Mapblast aren't images per se - or at least there isn't any huge database of image files to download. It's a giant vector database of vectors and points, roads and geographic features and bodies of water and points and what-have-you, built into an image on the fly.

    GIS is a really neat topic, but not a simple one. You have a significant learning curve ahead of you... AFAIK there isn't a lot of open-source GIS code available. A few national laboratories and other similar places have some code available. But not much. Most of the coding seems to be done by closed-source shops like ESRI.

    --
    Michael Sims-michael at slashdot.org

  3. Census Bureau TIGER database by amsel · · Score: 2

    If you only want US map data, the Census Bureau has public domain map data files at, for example, http://www.census.gov/geo/tigerline/tl_1998.html . There may be newer versions available elsewhere on their site. They have documentation on the database fields, etc., and I think even some example code. It's all nice and free.