Waypoint navigator - a navigation system to find the shortest path for transportation

Abstract

Navigation systems are becoming standard in-vehicle equipment nowadays. The demand for in-vehicle navigation systems has been increasing through the years due to various reasons such as: Increase in traffic and Population and road network. The availability of navigation systems and related services and their integration with other Utilities is rapidly emerging worldwide and also entering to the Sri Lankan market.

In this research report, very much attention is given to the experience gained in developing digital navigable maps and in-vehicle navigation systems for Sri Lanka. Further, it is trying to identify the areas where such systems/applications can be of great benefit to organizations in government as well as private sectors in monitoring their fleets in operation.

A state-of-the-art navigation system can be divided into four components as, 1. Map database, 2. Navigation Software 3. Hardware to run the software and map storage and 4. The positioning sensors (GPS).

Unlike the other countries, the developing of a navigation system for the Sri Lankan road network is quite difficult task due to the non availability of data and details of the selected areas. Taking into consideration the limitations and shortfalls, the software was initially developed in detail only for the Colombo Municipal Council area where large scale detailed maps are available