[Navit-users] Navigation success - no crash!

[Helge H. <hel...@ai...>]

Looks like the crash I had was a file problem.
I removed my old navit.xml and did a make install.
And then navit ran fine, no crash while loading the map.

The navigation crash is solved too - no problem there.
Navigation works, even with map rotation.  Great! :-)
Navit is now really useful, with a good map.

Some small problems, in order of importance:

* The route does not update as the car moves, only when the
   map is painted or the refresh button pressed.
   Setting "refresh=1" seems to have no effect.
   So I drive along the route which is blue all the way back
   to the starting point. And if I go off the route, no indication
   of how I can get back, unless I press the "refresh" button.
   Which is impractical to do while driving.

   Setting "follow=1" solves this but introduces a couple of
   other problems:
      - The car marker disappear, when using follow=1 !
        I can't see where I am anymore, although I can assume
        I am at the (moving) starting point of the route.

      - The map is kind of "unsteady". It moves with every update,
        and wriggles a lot - small rotations from small, possibly fake
        variations in direction.
  
   Solution ideas:
     - Always update the route when the car moves, no matter
       what the mode for map repainting is.

      - Have a minimum limit for rotation, preferably configurable.
        I think 22.5 degrees is about right for me. If the direction
        mismatch is less than that - don't rotate. Just slide the map
        at a slight angle when it moves.
  
       Also, the interval between gps updates could ideally be
       used to make smooth rotation.  Well, for those who run
       navit on a sufficiently powerful pc.

     - Have a configurable "margin" for deciding map movement.
       Today, the margin is either zero (map moves only when the
       car hits the display edge) or it is all the map so the
       map moves with every car move.

       The margin could be a setting in % - how many % of the
       way from center to edge can the car move before it is
       re-centered on the map. 100% corresponds to "follow=no",
       0% corresponds to "follow=yes", and 50% would let the
       car drive halfway to the edge before the map jumps.

       The map should still rotate if the car turns around
       within the middle region.

* Seems like I have to click the map to set a destination. The OSM
   map has street names (no numbers though), so it'd be nice
   to just type in the name. I found the dialog, but it doesn't seem to 
work.
     
* Navit recommended an illegal short cut. Using the OSM map, it is
   a "unclassified" type road, that is closed for motorized traffic except
   buses. To be fair - I never told navit that I drive a car and not a 
bus. :-)

   People may use the same navigational device for car, truck, motorcycle,
   bus, bike, or walking. So a menu for the mode of transport would be 
useful.
   And some kind of visible indicator so the user don't drive around with
   the wrong mode.  An ability to set car weight, height, width and such
   is also useful to cope with road restrictions.

* OSM maps have many points of interest - such as parking lots
   and fuel stations. It'd be nice to see some icons. :-)


Helge Hafting