getting map images

[jcrooke]

I want to take my GPS data and overlay it onto a map. I was thinking about using the picture functions to draw features onto the map, e.g. highlighted path, and associated data at each point. I am tracking wheelchair users and I want to associate wheelchair data with position, using the mouse functions to bring up graphs and such, of the wheelchair data.

How do I get map data into a picture control onto which I can plot my gps data?

[Marc_A]

I assume you mean you have a picture of the map and want to put it into a picture control. Under the graphics formats palette, you can find VIs to read in an image file. You can then take this image data cluster and add it to a picture control as shown in the attachment.

Message Edited by Marc A on 04-04-2007 04:49 PM

[jcrooke]

Thank you for your speedy response, Marc. I don't mean to ask about putting a jpeg into a picture. I'm sorry I wasn't more specific. I want to know how to get the map images. I would like to specify the lat and long and, perhaps, the area and then download an image from somewhere. I would prefer to use an up-to-date source that is on a well-maintained server.

Since, I wrote my original post, I found a wonderful example of hw to get images from http://terraserver-usa.com. This example by vivi is found at

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=151065&query.id=118173#M151065

In this example, the images are downloaded from http://terraserver-usa.com using a formatted request. The topo maps on this server are not near the quality of Google maps or Mapquest, but the aerial photos may be useable for my application. I will probably follow vivi's example for obtaining aerial photos and overlay my data on them.

I should comment that the example is very complete, containing functions for scaling and converting lat-long pairs to projected points for distance calculations. It is a remarkable example of code sharing. vivi is da bomb!

[Brian_Beal]

Google Earth will be easier to use.  You can upload a text file of coordinates, and it will give you a image with the path overlaid on it.  That feature costs money, but there is a trial period where you can use if for free.

[Johnner]

jc,

The Web-based Google Maps API may be the easiest and most flexible solution of all, if you're willing to:
  1) use an ActiveX control (Internet Explorer here) in your LabVIEW panel, and
  2) host a simple external Web page (or rely on someone else's page) to produce the map/overlay object for you to display

I've been looking for an excuse to play around with Google Maps for a while now, and your post spurred me into action.  Attached is a VI (LV 8.0, sorry) that is a bit simpler than vivi's example.  It allows you to specify a center point, zoom level, and list of lat/long points for which to display a path on the map.  The Web page that produces the map image is hosted on my site for the sake of demonstration, but I included the HTML source in the VI so that you could easily transplant it to your own Web server if you want to pursue this approach.

There are other map-related examples posted in the forums besides mine and vivi's, but I didn't see one that addressed this specific need, so I figured I'd post mine.  Let me know what you think.

Take care,
John

[jcrooke]

Thanks, John.

You guys hit the nail on the head with these responses. Y'all (yes, from the south) this forum awesome! I can't wait to try your example on a machine running LV8.0. Thanks. I'll be sure and give you feedback on your example when I get to run it.

[jcrooke]

I meant, "y'all make this forum awesome," not, "y'all this forum awesome." No kill I. Not just from the south, Geek from the south.

[jcrooke]

I finally checked out your code, John. I like the idea of using Google Maps directly in LV. You are gracious to provide so much information. Google Maps seems to work well. I, now need to look at my various graphics options for displaying points of interest. In a picture control, the sky is the limit as long as you don't mind designing them yourself. Thus far, I have only seen the inverted teardrop push-pin type graphic.

Thanks again for your contribution to this thread.