[mkgmap-dev] Improvements to OSM Garmin maps

Fri Feb 11 17:29:10 GMT 2011

Colin,

I share your wishes but I have no good news for you. Most of the things 
are not possible because the relevant sections of the Garmin file format 
are unknown.

Let's go into detail (@list: correct me if I am wrong ;-):

* wrong icons for roundabouts
What do you mean by icon? It's a Garmin problem that there is one street 
type only for roundabouts. So all roundabouts look the same no matter if 
they are primary, secondary or residential. That's not fixable.

* Spoken routing instructions
* Spoken street names
* Speed limit icons
This information is stored stored in unknown sections of the Garmin file 
format. So I don't believe that it will be supported by mkgmap soon.

@List: any ideas in which part of the Garmin format one of this 
information is stored?

Have fun!
WanMil

> Hi guys,
>
> I have recently started making my own Garmin maps for my Nuvi 265WT
> based on OSM planet extracts. I have been downloading ready-made maps
> from raumbezug.de, but now I would like to improve on their maps. Their
> UK/Ireland maps appear to be built with --drive-on-right, which causes
> the odd peculiar routing instruction plus the wrong icons are shown for
> roundabouts. But there are some other things I would like to improve on,
> and I would appreciate any tips or feedback anyone may have about my
> ideas. Do they sound feasible? Or have better brains than mine already
> tried and failed?
>
> * Spoken routing instructions at motorway/trunk/etc junctions, forks and
> slip roads
> With OSM Garmin maps I often hear simple instructions like "keep right
> on A12" whereas the official Garmin maps manage to say something more
> complete like "Take exit 4, on right, onto A12 towards NewTown". Also in
> the official maps the single line of information about the next junction
> displayed at the top of the map display is not (usually) equal to the
> spoken "name" of the junction, whereas with the OSM maps it always seems
> to be equal. I am trying to find if there are "magic combinations" of
> tagging, mkgmap options, code and stylesheets to see if these points can
> be improved. Initial experiments have shown that small improvements are
> possible, but I am not getting anywhere near the richness of the
> information from the Garmin maps.
>
> * Spoken street/city names
> I have my unit set to UK English, but I live in the Netherlands. With
> the Official maps, the TTS makes a very valiant attempt at pronouncing
> Dutch street/city names in the Dutch way, albeit (I suspect) using
> English phonemes. With the OSM maps, the names are pronounced as if they
> were English, which is sometimes just "unclear" but very often
> entertaining. With the official maps, something somewhere knows it
> should be pronounced in Dutch. It could be a question of a header value
> in the IMG, it might be some kind of tag on each string to indicate the
> language, or it might be that each string is also stored in a phonetic
> form for use by TTS. Any ideas?
>
> * Speed limit icons
> These are not shown with the OSM maps. How can these be enabled, based
> on maxspeed tags?
>
> I am not initially planning to modify the java code; I would like to see
> how far I can get with tagging, stylesheets and options. My assumption
> is that TYP files only concern the way things are displayed, and are
> irrelevant to the above points.
>
> Colin
>
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