OpenStreetMap
Project
Enter data for a newly opened hospital in Spotsylvania, VA USA. It's a big problem because the "big" mappers have old images that just show trees! When people try to get directions, the routing takes them 10-20 minutes out of their way. This can be a problem when lives and outcomes are at stake. Help and encouragement would be appreciated. I'm doing this as a volunteer just to help save lives and reduce/prevent suffering. I figure once I enter the data, the big mappers can import it into their databases. I may be naive in that assumption.
Equipment
I have a TomTom XL that I installed Tripmaster V3.1 on. Getting good verifiable traces when walking. However when driving, the results can get pretty inconsistent. There's probably some settings that one could tweak when doing driving runs, but I'm not yet up to speed on the software.
Mapping aids
I have a detailed to scale site map in PDF I can trace. Haven't yet figured out how to import it and scale it to fit. I could probably cheat and simply display it on the screen, take a screen shot, and then save to tif, jpg, bmp, or whatever is most friendly for OSM. Again I'm new at this and don't want to reinvent the wheel or start doing things the hard way when some of the pros with a few "do this" and "look at that" helps can point me in the right direction.
Happy mapping...
Discussion
Comment from 42429 on 8 September 2010 at 11:16
Dear HCA_SRMC,
you may trace a map if the map publisher _agrees_ to copy it. Maps from federal government agencies may be copied without special consent. However, states and local agencies have very different ideas about copyright on their map. Let's simply assume that the map publisher (whoever it is) explicitly agrees to copy the map.
Technically, JOSM is a good solution for tracing images. jpg preserves the original colors, but is not very accurate on a high zoom level. gif and png are better suited for accurate mapping. JOSM requires to switch permanently between different modes (editing, drawing, deleting, moving and zooming buttons on the left side) which are difficult to understand for newbies. If you want to use JOSM, read the manual twice very carefully and try to start with simple edits.
Uploading GPX traces is far more easy. OSM only accepts GPX traces, so you may need to convert GPX waypoints, KML, NMEA and XXX tracks to GPX tracks with a separate program like GPSBabel.
Once you have uploaded your GPX track, you can see it by pressing the G button. Try to draw a new, straight line along the rough GPX track. GPX tracks between skyscrapers are usually bad, so it's good to avoid tracing between high buildings.
Please keep in mind that secondary and tertiary are intended for major routes as mentioned in the functional map classification:
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/resources/fxn_class/Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania_County.pdf
Yours, FK270673
Comment from nmixter on 8 September 2010 at 22:31
You can also try map rectifier by meta carta labs.
Comment from daregusta on 15 September 2010 at 20:09
Nice way to start:
Use your GPS-tracer. Walk a short path so you know exactly where you walked.
Upload the GPS-trace to the computer.
Open the GPS-trace with JOSM. Download the map-features that exist already.
This was preperation. Now you have to find out how JOSM works. It's new at first but you'll get it.
Set yourself a simple task: To draw and upload the path you walked.
Watch videos, read manuals, and try until you get it right.
When you feel you can confidentily make small changes, start to work bigger. Eventually you can draw anything you like. Everything in JOSM, from the smallest footpath to the largest hospital, is just ... nodes.