electronic charts format

[Josce]

I am thinking of writing my own navigation software.
Not to save money, but just for the fun of it, and
because I would like it to be an "open system" so that
I can easily add features to it from time to time.
I have sorted out the hardware but I am having problems with
the electronic charts. The charts I would need right now
have to cover the Baltic sea.

When trying to find documentation about the "S-57" format
I only find very "strange" documentation which is not
very helpful. It is as if someone has made it obscure on
purpose?
It is very likely that I just haven't found the right
documentation for this, but the ones I have found like:

IHO TRANSFER STANDARD
for
DIGITAL HYDROGRAPHIC DATA
Edition 3.1 - November 2000
Special Publication No. 57

are not very intuitive, compared to nearly any Internet RFC, which
you just read and then start implementing it ...

Are there any commercially available charts that can be used on a PC.
And to make it clear, I have no intention of cracking any codes and
I am more than happy to pay for these charts and "lock" them to the
computer that I install them on.

And how do you read these charts?

Josce

 

[Larry]

No matter what you do you're going to need C/C++ experience and a lot of
patience to deal with the marine industry roadblocks. It would be nice
to have a viable linux navigation package. And, have a look at my
project (pynavigate.googlecode.com), its a working cross-platform GPS
display written in python.

Maybe you guys should be introduced to the Maemo (Linux on Nokia
Internet Tablets) Mapper crew:

https://garage.maemo.org/projects/maemo-mapper/

I think what you're looking for is already open sourced and only needs
marine navigation modules and chartography added to what has already
been accomplished. It's all GNU and open sourced. The source code is
there for your hacking pleasure.

It's written in C, as you say. There are no roadblocks, whatsoever, as
this is a large group effort for the Maemo OS for tablets with full
support of Nokia, the largest cellphone company on the planet. The
website is their donation to the open source Maemo community.

A little information that may help you understand a little better if you
have no tablet experience. OS2006 was for the Nokia N770 first attempt
at the tablet. OS2007 was for the much-upgraded N800 tablet. OS2008 is
a rewrite of OS2007 incorporating most of the suggestions of the Maemo
community and adding more support for Bluetooth devices, the N810
tablet's slide-out keyboard, etc. N800 tablets upgrade to OS2008 for
free with a Windows bootloader that simply reflashes the whole tablet's
EPROMS through its USB port. If you destroy the OS, you simply reload
and start over....not send it back forever to some company.

N800 isn't a cellphone (or sellphone). It uses Bluetooth DUN to tether
to cellphones for internet...or connects to any wifi it can find with
the most sensitive 802.11b/g receiver I have ever seen. N800 uses an
external Bluetooth 20-channel WAAS GPS receiver that runs off a
cellphone Li-Ion rechargeable. I'm using Nokia's model LD-3W:
http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-LD-3W-Wireless-GPS-Module/dp/B000QGF8V4
but they have a new LD-4W model out, now. The LD3W is so close your
vehicle lane changes on any highway with the unit laying on the dash is
plainly visable and very accurately depicted by Maemo Mapper.

Go to youtube.com and put Maemo Mapper into its search box to see
the videos the various instructional bloggers have added.

I'd sure LOVE to have a "Marine Navigation Mode" you could switch to
with Maemo Mapper. What a cool device this GPS-sized tablet would be.
It already uses Virtual Earth, Google Earth and other data servers to
download maps, terrain charts, satellite photos, overlays of maps on top
of satellite photos, and tracks very well....about the width of a dock
accuracy.

When you got to that exotic island, you'd stick the little GPS in your
pocket, boot the tablet to pre-downloaded satphoto mosaics of the exotic
island and walked down the dock, using it on land as well to find Points
of Interest, plan land routes, etc....it already does very well.

Contact the team and talk to them about a Marine Mode for this open
source system we all love. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-LD-3W-Wireless-GPS-Module/dp/B000QGF8V4
http://www.nseries.com/products/n800/#l=products,n810
http://www.nseries.com/products/n800/#l=products,n800
http://www.internettablettalk.com/

No reason Maemo Mapper couldn't be ported to another Linux box...but
why??...(c;

 

[Josce]

The BSB format (NOAA raster charts) is much easier and additionally a

library exists for it already (libbsb.sourceforge.net)

Yes, this is probably what I'll have to start with. Ones I have everything
up and running I can switch to the "S-57" charts. (If I can find some
documentation that is usable

No matter what you do you're going to need C/C++ experience and a lot of
patience to deal with the marine industry roadblocks. It would be nice
to have a viable linux navigation package. And, have a look at my
project (pynavigate.googlecode.com), its a working cross-platform GPS
display written in python.

I am a computer programmer by trade, so the C/C++ part is no problem.
My idea was to make it run on Linux and Windows, but haven't decided yet.

I will certainly have a look at your project, but haven't done much in python
so there is a small learning curve for me.

My end goal with this project would be a very complete "marine system"
Some of the things I would like to do with this system is:

- Basic navigation
- Control the autopilot drive unit directly
- Connect a "3d-piezogyro" (?) so that the autopilot can follow and correct
the waves - and ignore them when it should
- Have an internet browser so you can check weather/harbour info
- Connect a radar
- Feed all the info to a secondary display below deck so if someone wants
to know where we are right now or the speed or the wind conditions ...
- etc

Right now I am using a standard ITX motherboard (12W) and a daylight readable
touchscreen display (12W). If I get the system usable I will have to look for
some less power hungry hardware.

Josce

 

[Josce]

Maybe you guys should be introduced to the Maemo (Linux on Nokia

Internet Tablets) Mapper crew:

https://garage.maemo.org/projects/maemo-mapper/

Thanks, I will have a look at this. Might be very usable.

Josce

 

[Josce]

Maybe in their efforts to keep everyone happy they have rendered it

incomprehensible? At any rate, there are many links about ECS/ECDIS to
pursue in many languages from here:

Thanks for the links. I will have to start going through them and
hopefully find the documentation that I need.

Josce

 

[Josce]

I gather the OP wants to do it the hard way, hence his insistence on

ignoring all the excellent commercial software available at the present
time.

I actually already have a chartplotter with the some Baltic charts
in vector format. But I can't access the charts from my PC.
The only nice thing I can say about this chartplotter is that
the screen is pretty good, the rest is rubbish.

Whilst admitting that some of this software costs money, I don't think this
is the OP's reason for wanting to "go it alone".

Me? I enjoy sailing too much to spend hours re-inventing the wheel! Oh, and
I do have charts of the Baltic, I just don't sail there!

Interesting idea, so:

- Microsoft makes Internet Explorer, so Firefox-people you are just re-inventing the wheel..
- Microsoft already makes Office, so why do the Open-office group bother ?
- etc

No seriously, I would like to do it because it amuses me.
Besides, can't sail here between November and April so maybe working on
this project during the winter gives me some feeling of how nice it is to
be out there sailing...

Josce

 

[Josce]

It will be interesting to see how you get on with this project.

Probably fail miserably, but having a good time doing so

Josce

 

[Josce]

I do not know much about the electronic charts format but I thought that you

might want to download a few S-57 charts to play with. The US Office of
Coast Survey has them on their website for free download.

See: http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/MCD/enc/download.htm

Thanks,

This will be a good place to get charts to test against. Sadly
I haven't found any decent documentation on the S-57 format yet.
And if I don't find any soon I'll have to write to first version
with raster charts.

Josce

 

[Larry]

Thanks, I will have a look at this. Might be very usable.

Josce

Join the team. Sure would be a great addition to the Maemo Mapper to have
a Marine Mode....