Geocaching Route Planner Site

[+tachoknight]

Hi all-

 

I live in a big city and there are lots of caches here that I could either walk or drive to. I got interested in creating the most optimum way to hit as many caches as I could which lead me to the "Traveling Salesman Problem", whereby the salesman tries to hit as many cities on a "tour" without needing to visit any city more than once.

 

Just for fun I tried to create my own algorithm for coming up with a "tour" of caches that I call "NaiveFrog". I wrote a site that uses it at [link removed by moderator].

 

This is a not-for-profit-in-any-way project that only exists to be a fun way of learning about TSP algorithms. But, as a useful side effect, it helps in planning geocaching runs too!

 

All the code for the site is at [link removed by moderator].

 

The way the site works is that a GPX file is uploaded, all the waypoints crunched, then it creates a set of either driving or walking instructions using Google Maps. That's it, nothing more.

 

Give it a try if you're interested. I hope it's useful and helps, either the code itself (feel free to take and use it as you want) or the site (makes planning a day easier). If anyone would like to help out to make any aspect of the site better, that'd be great too!

 

Enjoy!

Edited March 5, 2010 by Keystone

[tiiiim]

Hi there - great bit of code there.

 

Unfortunately I have no car so do most of the caches on foot, and the missing trails in google maps is kind of a bummer. You say on the page that walking directions are in Beta - how are you planning to improve them?

 

Otherwise, pretty good for car cacheing! Great job!

[+larryc43230]

Unfortunately I have no car so do most of the caches on foot, and the missing trails in google maps is kind of a bummer. You say on the page that walking directions are in Beta - how are you planning to improve them?

Walking directions are a beta feature of Google Maps, not tachoknight's algorithm. We'll have to depend on the folks at Google to develop that feature.

 

--Larry

 

ETA: I haven't had a chance to play with the new algorithm yet, but it certainly looks interesting. Thanks for working on this!

Edited March 5, 2010 by larryc43230

[tiiiim]

Unfortunately I have no car so do most of the caches on foot, and the missing trails in google maps is kind of a bummer. You say on the page that walking directions are in Beta - how are you planning to improve them?

Walking directions are a beta feature of Google Maps, not tachoknight's algorithm. We'll have to depend on the folks at Google to develop that feature.

 

Ah, I see! Good stuff then!

[+tachoknight]

Walking directions are a beta feature of Google Maps, not tachoknight's algorithm. We'll have to depend on the folks at Google to develop that feature.

Right, but even though Google has a penchant for keeping things in beta for a long time, the instructions have been, in my testing anyway, pretty spot on.

 

One thing I also plan on adding is simply drawing the route on top of the map, without instructions. This would presumably be useful if you're trying to tour a set of caches in a forest, where there are neither roads or published trails.

[+larryc43230]

Right, but even though Google has a penchant for keeping things in beta for a long time, the instructions have been, in my testing anyway, pretty spot on.

Agreed; Google has been known to label some new features as beta for months on end, long after the features have proven their worth.

One thing I also plan on adding is simply drawing the route on top of the map, without instructions. This would presumably be useful if you're trying to tour a set of caches in a forest, where there are neither roads or published trails.

Very cool! A map without instructions would be a great option for me, I think.

 

--Larry

[namiboy]

if i could only understand half of what you guys were talking about! it all sounds so interesting, but so far above my head.

[Keystone]

Sharing GPX files with third parties is a violation of the Groundspeak data license agreement.

 

Sometimes, useful applications or websites enter into licensing agreements with Groundspeak to allow exceptions to the general prohibition. When that is the case, the website will state that file uploads are permitted per a license with Groundspeak, and there will be a link back to Geocaching.com.

 

Since I don't see any mention of a license agreement on the website or in this thread, I have removed the links to the OP's website and I'm closing this thread.

 

OP, if you have not yet done so, you need to write to Groundspeak. If you enter into a license agreement I will be happy to unlock your thread and restore the links. Until that happens, do not promote your file sharing site in the Groundspeak Forums.