[Naman_Ferrari]

This is a very interesting thread and a very good idea.
However, one major problem with an app of this sort is that some people will become overconfident and will not be prepared for humps that are not shown or indicated in the app which may cause major accidents.
Maybe, this is why the idea has not been implemented yet.

[Vitalstatistiks]

What a brilliant idea ! I would be really, really keen to see if anyone has thoughts on updating such 'disruptions' on a common platform (Think folks have so far discarded Waze for several reasons), for users of all platform to benefit. May be it can work like MapmyIndia, and be updated on a monthly basis or something. Of course the details should be updated anonymously, to avoid any privacy concerns.

[HillMan]

On Waze you could just select Hazard and mark it as a pothole

I've done it many a times on highways. But then Waze being a community driven effort, will ask the next driver approaching the hazard, if the hazard exists. At this point the person can say No, and the marking disappears for the next road user.

While travelling, I usually turn my mobile data to GPRS (GSM Ony) instead of 3G (WCDMA). This will help keep a steady network most of the time, as the phone is not hunting for 3G, which is available only at select towns.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by HillMan

On Waze you could just select Hazard and mark it as a pothole

I've done it many a times on highways. But then Waze being a community driven effort, will ask the next driver approaching the hazard, if the hazard exists. At this point the person can say No, and the marking disappears for the next road user.

While travelling, I usually turn my mobile data to GPRS (GSM Ony) instead of 3G (WCDMA). This will help keep a steady network most of the time, as the phone is not hunting for 3G, which is available only at select towns.

Sorry to go a bit off-topic here, but @Hillman mentioned something that is of interest to me and I need to know more, so here goes:

I am on Airtel (and am in BLR and am a Wazer). Are you telling me that if I turn off 3G, Waze works better? The reason I ask is, 3G has been enabled on my iPhone, and Waze did not show my car moving at all even though I had covered around 2 kms on a winding road. My car was shown in the same spot it occupied when I turned on Waze.

Cheers

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by tilt

Sorry to go a bit off-topic here, but @Hillman mentioned something that is of interest to me and I need to know more, so here goes:

I am on Airtel (and am in BLR and am a Wazer). Are you telling me that if I turn off 3G, Waze works better? The reason I ask is, 3G has been enabled on my iPhone, and Waze did not show my car moving at all even though I had covered around 2 kms on a winding road. My car was shown in the same spot it occupied when I turned on Waze.

Cheers

Hi tilt,

The issue you suffer here is to do with GPS locking. Waze is unable to communicate with the GPS module of your phone. Try reinstall Waze. This sometimes happens when a new update of Waze is released. You will need to uninstall Waze, delete the folder on you phone that has waze data and then reinstall.

Once the destination is found, Waze works offline as well. The 3G to GPRS suggestion is only while travelling when you know 3G is not available on the stretch most of the time and you dont want to waste your phone battery searching for network. This also helps maintain constant connection on GPRS. The connection will be much slower than 3G, but thats good enough for Navigation most of the time.

There is a separate thread for Waze, check it out;
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...martphone.html

Cheers!

[acurafan]

Few months back I ran some experiments on Bangalore roads to identify speed breakers using accelerometers of the smart phone. Whenever there was sudden impulse on the six-axis data, I would put a marker with the GPS tag. What started with speed breaker finally became pot-hole idenifier or traffic slowing event. It was interesting to see how many I detected from ITPL to Kundanahalli. Well, all I can say the project worked.

[Sprucegoose]

I've actually put some thought into an app like this.
The idea was to use the Google Maps API, or Open Street Maps and create a special group map, that registered users have access to.

For marking the speed breakers, it should keep the accelerometer on and when you hit a bad patch or road or a speed breaker, it will record those readings and put a marker on a map.

From reading earlier comments, it could also have a last updated feature, so a user knows how old the maps are. If someone has driven the route a couple of hours before you, you can be sure that it will accurate.

To make the software more accurate, it should have an algorithm that will eliminate the bouncing of the car post the speed breaker.

Additional features can also be built in, like tracking friends and stuff and possible even a faux CB Radio.

[tatsago]

Originally Posted by acurafan

Few months back I ran some experiments on Bangalore roads to identify speed breakers using accelerometers of the smart phone. Whenever there was sudden impulse on the six-axis data, I would put a marker with the GPS tag. What started with speed breaker finally became pot-hole idenifier or traffic slowing event. It was interesting to see how many I detected from ITPL to Kundanahalli. Well, all I can say the project worked.

I am not sure if the accelerometer would be that accurate as the impact can vary with the speed of your car. Also if you drop the phone accidentally it might think that you hit a pothole

[tanwaramit]

I don't know, but when I am driving alone and on a highway, would I keep on checking my phone on the map?

Is it safe and advisable?

I do check the maps while on the road but only after parking at a corner and at a standstill but not while the car is moving.

It would help if you have a co-driver who takes up the role as a navigator.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

I don't know, but when I am driving alone and on a highway, would I keep on checking my phone on the map?

Is it safe and advisable?

I do check the maps while on the road but only after parking at a corner and at a standstill but not while the car is moving.

It would help if you have a co-driver who takes up the role as a navigator.

If the driver does stare at the map/mobile to know the road ahead it is risky but if one glances for a short period and concentrates more on the road ahead it'll be a safer option. I am saying the time we dedicate to change songs is what we should give to these maps that is sufficient.

In case there is a passenger then even more good but it is not the case all the time.

To know speed breakers on the road look for places that have slower traffic with jumping of the vehicle.

Anurag.

[triedeverything]

I really like some of the ideas being put forth. If there are any android developers out there, I wish they create an app along these lines.

As far as it being a distraction, it's only a glance. The phone is mounted on a stand, which is kept at eye level (mounted on the sunshade). It's not like I'm taking it out of my pocket, entering a password to unlock, then viewing the map That way, they shouldn't provide navigation either inside cars.
And, that's also the reason I started this thread with "... too much information"...

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

...Is it safe and advisable?

Definitely not safe to fiddle with the map while driving

It would help if you have a co-driver who takes up the role as a navigator.

Waze won't let you play around with map if it detects movement. You have to select passenger option to go ahead. That's a nice safety feature.

I totally agree we should mark speed breakers and large potholes on highway and ring roads that have fast moving traffic. I find my passengers a few inches above the seats most of the time on highways.

[joybhowmik]

Geotracker app and others like it are an answer to the Indian driver's need for anticipating obstructions on indian roads. So what if you are the first one to hit the 'unknown' speed breaker at speed, and get a bone-jarring impact as a result. At least people who follow you on that stretch would know about it in the future. Such is the power of information - when it is made available in real time, and in whatever format that is required to consume it usefully.

Some people have asked whether it is possible for the app to get community inputs. The answer is Yes! It's another form of 'crowdsourcing'.

Having said that, are these (static obstructions) a worldwide problem? No! Which is why companies such as google, microsoft etc will not cater to it in their mapping s/w content and algorithms. Near real time traffic updates - yes! But speed breakers or that infuriating encroachment on public roads - No! Why ? - because we are not perceived as that much of an important market- not so important - that they would change their core software for us.

So it is left to the likes of MMI - our own homegrown mapping s/w purveyors to consider this idea in their next release. And there lies a problem - in fact a big one. They simply dont have the scale to be able to get the volume of information that a community can provide.
Their method of information gathering is to get the base maps from the Government, and then enrich that information based on work done by teams of field workers.These field workers are instructed to provide information about landmarks, one-way zones and other navigational aids back to the product teams. The country is vast, so vast that such a workforce is grossly inadequate to the task of keeping information up-to-date for every nook and cranny in the country.

That's also, precisely why, MMI sells map updates every 3-6 months , and those too contain most updates pertaining to metros and a/b category towns. There's not much added by way of enriched information about the various road sections in between these towns/cities.

So companies such as MMI, need to change the way they gather this information. I am not saying that their way is wrong. Rather, the better solution is to have an information strategy that combines inputs from the existing field work force with information from crowd-sourced geo-tagging data.
The principle is simple. Trust in the real-time input that arrives from such sources. Validate what is possible to be validated (i.e. information in metros) and enrich what is possible to be enriched (e.g. a photo or two), but definitely definitely incorporate the input into the standard map content.

And most importantly - make the map releases frequent (maybe once a month? - real time is a pipe dream considering a lot of data needs to be enriched). As India's infrastructure grows, alignments of some roads change, speed breakers come up, shops mushroom etc.

How great it would be if the changes are reflected in the maps within the month? So the Indian driver would have the best of both worlds - relevant maps that are customized to the Indian situation.

[acurafan]

Originally Posted by tatsago

I am not sure if the accelerometer would be that accurate as the impact can vary with the speed of your car. Also if you drop the phone accidentally it might think that you hit a pothole

The phone was mounted on a fixed mount. Accelerometer is a misnomer as these days phones have 6-DOF measurement. It is not that difficult to identify abnormal z-axis data as long as the sampling rate is relatively high. Though I didn't try crowd sourcing of the GPS tags. Too much software to write, hardly have that skill.

[Slush_Traveller]

That's an amazing idea triedeverything ,
i really hate when an unmarked speed breaker appears out of no where and you have to break for your life to avoid jumps, its interesting if we can get some guidance of the approaching speed breakers, i hope it also covers some permanent pot holes too, coz in Mumbai pot holes are also double up as speed breakers and it takes several months to get them repaired.