217 lines
8 KiB
Text
217 lines
8 KiB
Text
BRouter - Beta Version 0.9.8 - Setting up the Android App
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=========================================================
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Choosing and Installing a Map-Tool
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----------------------------------
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BRouter just calculates tracks as GPX-Files, it
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does not display any map or give any navigation
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instuctions. Therefore you need a map-tool in
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order for BRouter to be useful.
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Currently, BRouter cooperates with three different
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maptools, so you need to install, and get familiar with,
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at least one of them:
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- "OsmAnd": See http://www.osmand.net Get It from Google-Play
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or get it as an APK from the release-build archive:
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http://download.osmand.net/releases/
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I tested versions up to 1.6
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- "Locus": See http://www.locusmap.eu There's a "Pro"
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Version which is ad-free and a free version with ads.
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You can get it from Google-Play, but for the free-version
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there's also an APK-Download.
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- "Oruxmaps": See http://www.oruxmaps.com Oruxmaps is
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Donation-Ware, which means it's free and you're supposed
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to donate to the project if you want to support it.
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Which one to use is a matter of taste. Maybe OsmAnd is
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more plug&play and has a reasonable voice-guidig. Locus
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and Oruxmaps are more powerful and better for outdoor
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use. Locus for example has elevation profile diagrams
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which OsmAnd has not.
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Locus and Oruxmaps are best used with third-party vector
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maps, check http://www.openandromaps.org if you consider
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to go for Locus or OruxMaps.
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Choosing an SD-Card Base Directory
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Some phones (namely those with Android 4.x) have 2 logical
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"SD-Cards", where the first one is internal and not an actual
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Card, and the second one is a an optional "external" micro-sd-card
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that can be taken out of the device.
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If you have such a setup, try to make sure your map-tool uses
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the external sd-card to store the offline maps and other stuff.
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In OsmAnd, this works by choosing an "SD-Card base directory". Typically,
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the first card in mounted on "/mnt/sdcard", while the external
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one maybe mounted at "/mnt/sdcard/external_sd", but depending
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on your phone it can be some other path.
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In OruxMaps, path configuration is only possible for the actual
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map data, but the configuration database file that BRouter tries
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to access is hardwired to the /mnt/sdcard/oruxmaps directory.
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As a workaround for this specific setup, you can place a
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redirection file in the directory where BRouter would normally
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place the gpx-files (e.g. /mnt/sdcard/oruxmaps/tracklogs).
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The first line of that redirection file called "brouter.redirect"
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must contain the absolute path of the directory where you want
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the gpx-files to go (e.g. /storage0/oruxmaps/tracklogs).
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Make sure you understand the concept of the SD-Card base-directory,
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because the communication between BRouter and the Map-Tools
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requires that both are using either the same base-directory,
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or the maptools are using the standard base directory (/mnt/sdcard).
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Selecting Waypoints in your Maptool
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-----------------------------------
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In order to calculate a route, BRouter needs to know
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at least a starting point and an endpoint. You specify
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them by creating waypoints in your map-tool.
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These are called "Favorites" in OsmAnd, "POI"s in Locus
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or "Wayoints" in Oruxmaps and allow to store a location
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on the map and give it a name.
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Pleae specify at least a waypoint called "from" for
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the starting-point and another called "to" for the
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endpoint (lowercase! names are case-sensitive) You
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can use any category, as only the name is read by BRouter.
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Optionally, you can specify more waypoints:
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"via1" ... "via9" to specify stop-overs
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"nogo[radius] [name]" to specify a nogo-area,
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where radius (in Meter) is optional and defaults to 20m,
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and the name is also optional. So "nogo", "nogo1000",
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"nogo roadblock", "nogo200 badferry" are all valid
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nogo-waypoints.
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Make sure to not create duplicates for the from, to and via-waypoints,
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as BRouter would complain about duplicates. For nogo-areas,
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duplicates are allowed.
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Starting from version 0.97, instead of following the from/to/via
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naming convention, you can choose any names and select them from
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withing BRouter.
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Installing the BRouter App
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--------------------------
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Download the file "brouter_0_8.zip" and unpack in a directory
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"brouter" on the SD-Card of your Android Device. Most convenient
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is to attach the device (or just the sd-card) to a desktop-computer
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and do the unpacking there, but doing that on the device itself
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is also possible, provided you know the appropriate tools.
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Install the BRouter-App by installing the APK-File "BRouter.apk"
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For instructions how to install from an APK (in contrast to
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installing from Google Play), search the internet for tips.
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You may need to change system configuration, some setting like
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"Applications->Unknown sources" depending on Android version.
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The BRouter App asks for permissions to access the SD-Card
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and to de-activate the screen saver. Being an offline app,
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it does NOT ask for internet access. The drawback is that
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you have to install the additional resources manually.
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BRouter's SD-Card Directory Structure
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-------------------------------------
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BRouter guesses a reasonable sd-card base directory and on
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first start prompts you for a base directory with it's
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guess as a default. You should choose the same base
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directory that is used by your map-tool.
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On first start, BRouter will create a "brouter" subdirectory
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relative to that base-directory if it's not already there
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(becaused you created it by unpacking the zip-file, see above)
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If later on you want to change the base directory, you can delete
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or rename the 'brouter' subfolder, so it will prompt again for
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a base directory. You should choose the same base directory that
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is used by your map-tool (OsmAnd or Locus).
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So you may end up with e.g. the following directory structure
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(depending on base dir and your map-tool choice):
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/mnt/sdcard/brouter
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/mnt/sdcard/brouter/segments2 <- put routing data files (*.rd5) here
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/mnt/sdcard/brouter/profiles2 <- put lookup-table and routing profiles here
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/mnt/sdcard/osmand <- OsmAnd's sd-card dir
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/mnt/sdcard/osmand/track <- OsmAnd's track storage
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/mnt/sdcard/Locus <- Locus's sd-card dir
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/mnt/sdcard/Locus/mapitems <- Locus's track storage
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/mnt/sdcard/oruxmaps <- Oruxmaps's sd-card dir
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/mnt/sdcard/oruxmaps/tracklogs <- Oruxmaps's track storage
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Starting with version 0.94, if a non-standard base directory
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is choosen (e.g. /mnt/sdcard/external_sd) BRouter tries to
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additionally to access the configuraion files relative
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to the standard base directory ( /mnt/sdcard )
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The minimum files BRouter needs to work are e.g.
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/mnt/sdcard/brouter/segments2/E5_N45.rd5
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/mnt/sdcard/brouter/profiles2/lookups.dat
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/mnt/sdcard/brouter/profiles2/trekking.brf
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But of course you can put as many routing data files
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and routing profiles as you like.
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Get the profiles (*.brf) and the lookup.dat from
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the zip-file or from:
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http://www.dr-brenschede.de/brouter/profiles2
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And the routing data files from:
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http://h2096617.stratoserver.net/brouter/segments2
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Routing data files are organised as 5*5 degree files,
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with the Filename containing the south-west corner
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of the square, which means:
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- You want to route near West48/North37 -> get W50_N35.rd5
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- You want to route near East7/North47 -> get E5_N45.rd5
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From the above link you find routing data for all
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places in the world where OSM data is available.
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Starting the BRouter Android-APP
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--------------------------------
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Make sure you selected "from" and "to" waypoints
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in your maptool as decsribed above.
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Then you can start BRouter. It will read the waypoints
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from the map-tools database, calculate the route and
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store the result as "brouter0.gpx" in the map-tools
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track directory.
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BRouter shows a graphical animation of the routing
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algorithm, and shows some messages on distances
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and ascends. The "filtered ascend" is a measure
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for the real hill-climbing pain, with small
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variations filtered out.
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Then you can use your maptool to view or navigate the
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route.
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If started once more with identical input,
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BRouter will store a second route broute1.gpx
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for the first alternative and so on.
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