[OSGeo-Discuss] RE: New and Noteworthy in OS Geospatial?

[Bob Basques]

  David,

Some stuff I've been involved with for the last few months (remember, you asked . . .):

    * Minnesota Structures Collaborative, has a web interface, a database and means to capture and store data via a web
      mapping interface.   Involved the creation of four state coverage layers compiled from various authors/agencies
      around the state.  Fire Stations, Hospitals, Police Stations and Schools
          o http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/committee/emprep/structures/index.html
    * I've been working on a couple of OPERA (http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/About/Programs/OPERA/)
          o One for prototyping a portable field printing system for USNG Markers
                + http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/committee/emprep/download/USNG/USNG_location_marker_proposal.html
                + Printing over bluetooth to a portable printer.
                + GPS capture of marker locations in the field as they are applied.
          o One for prototyping a low cost.AutoMated Vehicle Tracking system.
                + Auto tracking of vehicle/personnel location from phone, always on mapping, etc.
                + locally installed map GeoMoose map service on the phone.
          o Both projects are being built out using a Nokia N900 (linux) phone.
                + http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/
          o The projects are in their final stages before writing the project reports.  There will be about a year
            testing process as well.  I'll post a link to the OPERA Grant reports once completed if you are interested.
          o These both involve the Phones running in a standalone mode when no network is available as well as being
            able to sync their data with a network connection to a master server for redistrubution to other similarly
            configured devices.
                + GeoMoose mapping stack on the phones, Apache, GeoMoose, MapServer
                + QRcode Generator on the phone, for generating QRcode (2d barcodes) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code
          o The software stack is pretty much a carbon copy of a linux install except for some styling and configuration
            changes, and there is still some gesture programming to add to the Mapping (GeoMoose) interface, which can
            be implemented as a browser dependent CSS file.
          o The hardware has a lot of potential for other uses, since it's Linux based, and combined with a portable PC
            and or a larger control screen, the interfaces because they are all web based can be made to operate as
            closely as possible to each other, whether in a vehicle or out of it and one the move in walking mode.
    * The City of Saint Paul GISmo (public) https://gis.ci.stpaul.mn.us/ site has seen an explosion of data in the last
      year or so, and we're in the final stages of adding a 1920's vintage aerial photo dataset as a layer in our
      GeoMoose implementation https://gis.ci.stpaul.mn.us/gis/gismo_public/html/
          o Internally we're serving up 216+ layers, all as WMS/WFS.
          o Externally we're serving up 35+ layers (with more to come in the near future), again all as WMS/WFS
          o We've had a lot of interest in development of derived layers, that use one or more existing layers in
            different ways.  One example was the need to see the Right-of way areas within the City.  This derived layer
            was created by subtracting the Parcel polygons, and water bodies and what was left was Right-of-way.  It's
            pointed out some error that we didn't know existed and has become a very popular layer very quickly.
          o Another such derived layer, was a layer that delineates the Railroad own lands, this data was only aviable
            in our Address database, since RailRoad addresses have their own classification in our addressing system, by
            combing this with the County parcels layer via the PIN, we were able to build out a layer that depicted the
            railroad ownership.  This has been another popular layer recently.
          o While these examples likely seem mundane to those folks that develop GIS systems, the piece that is exciting
            for us, is that the desire came from the web mapping interface users who specifically asked for these types
            of layers, and the fact that they wouldn't have come to this conclusion if not for the GIS systems existence
            in the first place.
          o We're also building out toolsets for importing most of out OGS datasets into an AutoCAD session, while we've
            done this for a number of years in the past, we're now able to read the data into AutoCAD as native AutoCAD
            features, including AutoCivil Objects, which we've recently moved some of our key desighers to using.
    * GeoMoose has seen Version 2.2 out the door and a bunch of little improvements and enhancements to come in the near
      future.
          o User based it steadily increasing.
          o Mail list is seeing steady and growing activity
            http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=geomoose-users
    * Finally (for tonight)  I'm involved with a service project called the proximity finder, that does what it sounds
      like, it looks for things closest to a point of interest, as well as inside of a boundary.   This should be
      available for feedback before GIS/LIS as the first prototype has jbeen recently reviewed by the MetroGIS workgroup.
          o It will also have an integration with the MetroGIS GeoCoder to show closest features to a geocoded location
            like a Address or Landmark.
          o Checking to see if link can be published.

Ok, I'm tired of typing . . .  :c)

later

bobb



On 9/1/2010 4:08 PM, Fawcett, David (MPCA) wrote:
> Thanks to the few of you who had comments.
>
> Really, none of the rest of you want to brag about or promote your OSGEO project?!
>
> Come on, any new features, optimizations, data formats, case studies, etc.?
>
> David.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fawcett, David (MPCA)
> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 9:54 AM
> To: OSGeo Discussions
> Subject: New and Noteworthy in OS Geospatial?
>
> I am working on a presentation focused on, "What's New and Cool in OpenSource Geospatial" for a group of GIS professionals.  This group is most familiar with the proprietary ESRI stack, but there is a growing awareness and interest in OpenSource.
>
> My goal is to introduce people to cool projects or features, highlighting events and improvements from the past year.  I am thinking of categories including software, databases, community, and open data.
>
> I would greatly appreciate any ideas that people have on new or noteworthy developments in OpenSource geospatial.  Think about new projects, new features, optimizations, events, use cases, etc.
>
> Please feel free to email me off-list or just respond to this message.
>
> Thank you very much,
>
> David Fawcett
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20100901/9fa5534e/attachment-0002.html>