Showing speed cameras on your BMW nav system

[jochen 4]

Haven't you always wanted to know where the speed cameras are located, so that you could adjust your driving style to cater for people with radar detectors that slam on the anchors at the last minute...??

OK, I've been wanting to do this for a longggg time, and it proved really hard.

It's not easy in NZ as the amount of info on our BMW nav maps is much less than other countries, you have to create the data structure from scratch, and create all the files from scratch too.

But I finally got it working yesterday - see the pic below (phone image)

The amount of cameras visible changes according to the scale you are on, to prevent the screen from getting cluttered. At the 200m scale, all cameras appear.

So if you want this on your BMW nav system, PM me!

Edited May 10, 2007 by jochen

[ED1RTY 2]

OMFG.

Awesome.

[hybrid 1043]

:bows:

BMW electronics god!

um just wondering Jochen... could you infact load up your own maps ?

Like the one off google maps ? .. I have had quite a bit to do with GPS mapping in the past with my old 4x4ing days. And I use to calibrate my own maps from images files. With NZT and WGS 84 Datum standards I could use a 3 +

point marker system on a map and it would be perfect (down to 3 meters)

Also wouldnt mind having a catch up at some point

[martyyn 2]

Jochen do you have the latest camera coordinates ? A mate of mine has a gps but has only got an old coordinate map off the Tricky Dicky website of all places.

[jochen 4]

um just wondering Jochen... could you infact load up your own maps ?

Hi Hybrid, yeah, everything is possible when you know the file format - and I don't know -all- of the format. I know *some*, but not all... every tried analysing a single file of 80MB to understand the underlying file structure....??....

Like the one off google maps ? ..... it would be perfect (down to 3 meters)

You call 3m perfect? I wouldn't accept less than 0.1m accuracy !!!

6 decimals places = 0.1m eg 34.123456 degrees, based on 1 degree of latitude = 111km

BMW uses WGS84 datum for their maps. But adding maps is quite a challenge.

I can add POI data, like all the BP petrol stations that sell Ultimate fuel.... and now speed cameras.

I have added in my companies 400 sites, so I can search and find them, and navigate my way towards them.

So you could add all MacDonalds, and have little M icons on the map. Or Burger King. Or whatever you want...

Also wouldnt mind having a catch up at some point

Sure, you know where I am. Bring a few beers and I'll talk for hours... .. still got my phone number?

[Assault 3]

I can add POI data, like all the BP petrol stations that sell Ultimate fuel....

Now this I need, nothing worse than getting low on gas in some area where you're not that familiar with the petrol stations and keep running into substandard suppliers i.e. non 98.

And those that know the car I drive know it throws more gas down the tail pipe than me after a hard night on the beers and curry.

Edited May 11, 2007 by OLLIE
inappropriate and offensive comment

[bravo 35]

Jochen - do you mean 0.1m accurcay for your maps or for you GPS coordinate? An in-car GPS may give you 0.1m precision but generally not 0.1m accuracy. Generally the C/A code (for non-military use) will only give positions within a few metres. Which is more than enough for in car nav.

Try it - Park your car and note your position. Come back in an hour or so and turn the car on and note the position again. Do this 3 or four times - at best your position will remain the same within a metre or so, at worst during periods of poor satellite coverage/geometry you'll have up to 10-15m difference. (No cheating - wait a minute or two for the unit to regain satellite lock - until it does it will just display the last recorded position indicating no change at all)

I like what you are doing Jochen - its pretty cool stuff. I love the idea of customising in-car nav, and am interested in anything GPS and mapping related.

Pity my e30 doesn't have nav.

Edited May 11, 2007 by bravo

[jochen 4]

Try it - Park your car and note your position. Come back in an hour or so and turn the car on and note the position again. Do this 3 or four times - at best your position will remain the same within a metre or so, at worst during periods of poor satellite coverage/geometry you'll have up to 10-15m difference. (No cheating - wait a minute or two for the unit to regain satellite lock - until it does it will just display the last recorded position indicating no change at all)

The car always displays exactly the last position.

The BMW GPS system works like the inertial navigation system on an aircraft, the speed/bearing and direction sensors on the vehicle are the primary input, the GPS location is used as verification of the position only.

Using intertial navigation, the system works underground, in car parking buildings, in my garage, in tunnels, and in all other locations with no GPS signal.

And it works really really well. Much better than a NavMan.

Plus, I can get it to speak directions in Russian. That's very KGB

So the C/A-code positon inaccuracy effects of the GPS are effectively fully filtered out.

But I use 6-decimal places for the POI data, using Google Earth to locate the exact POI and then I load than into the nav system. At least the POI location is correct to 0.1m :-)

Pity my e30 doesn't have nav.

Time for an E38 or E39....

[Old_Skool_Bmw 0]

Im tepted to come up to Auckland just to try this gps out..

Wicked as man!!!

Bet you would have a lot of people interested in what you've got going there.

Laurence.