[mkgmap-dev] Who's to blame when the route offered is sub-optimal?

Sat Feb 28 18:31:39 GMT 2009

Mark Burton wrote:
> I am coming to the conclusion that the garmin routing engine has some definite
> limits as to what it can do in terms of route quality. Tweaking the
> road class/speed parameters can make a difference but the real solution to
> achieving a really good route is to take pity on the gps and put in a few
> strategic way points. Given some hints, I think it does OK.
> 
> I feel that it's just too much to expect of the gps to be able to route
> long distances optimally without a bit of help from the human.
> 
> I'm not saying that the current implementation of routing support cannot be
> improved, I am sure that it can. But even if our code was perfect, the
> routing is still going to be influenced by the quality of garmin's
> routing engine and, crucially, the quality of the OSM data.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Mark
> _______________________________________________
> mkgmap-dev mailing list
> mkgmap-dev at lists.mkgmap.org.uk
> http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/mkgmap-dev
> 
> 
This could well be true. I had the opportunity earlier to experiment
with some of the routes that were previously far from optimal. By moving
just 2 miles south of my usual starting point the routes East that I
previously had problems with were spot on. I don't have Mapsource and
QLandkarte doesn't have "drivers" for my 605 so these are real world
tests with me driving around the local area. It therefore follows that
a few well chosen way points would have a large influence.

It goes without saying that the quality of the data is obviously a factor

Cheers

Paul