MFM Lane Assist Project

[sobamy]

I'm getting old to solve the equations!

Sama sama pun lah Bro Tuah

[zamad]

I'm getting old to solve the equations!

Sama sama pun lah Bro Tuah

Eh? Where got equations? Only various directional symbols. Boleh... kan?

[tympg]

[Jct-01] t,<L^; t,R>; f,^

Come to think of it, we can simplify this further. Since the main focus of LA is towards the junction, we can leave out the 't'. And since all lanes moving from the junction is straight, we can omit the ^ from the "From" lanes.

So,

[Jct-01] t,<L^; t,R>; f,^

becomes

[Jct-01] <L^; R>; f

I will answer bro Moey's points later. Too sleepy now...

[alyem]

Bit

t & f

[tlchuan]

i prefer these 1

[tympg]

OK, let's simplify the symbols further:

LA Basics 02.png

How do we tell '\' is Slight Left or Sharp Right?
By context. So, in

<; ^; ^; /

the '/' is obviously a Slight Right. There's no way it is a Sharp Left.

====================

For "Left U-turn" this probably doesn't exist at all in MY/SG/BN, so there's no mistaking what 'U' stands for as well.

====================

Also, I will change the 'f' to 'v' for reverse direction, because 'v' looks like a downward arrow (opposite of '^'). I had used 'f' because it stood for "From junction", but apparently it confuses the heck out of you guys.

So now, my earlier example

[Jct-01] t,<L^; t,R>; f,^

is simplified as

[Jct-01] <^; >; v

====================

Let's take a step back... for Lane Assist we are talking of driving into a Junction hence, the opposite side traffic flow is not relevant. The GPS LA indicator will only show how the Lanes are configured for traffic to flow ahead and our submission should indicate these data. Unless the GPS LA can display the 'Away' sign I suggest we exclude this data. All roads going away from a junction is most likely to be ^; ^; ^;.... right? If there are any immediate turning/s after the junction we will treat it as a new JCT LA.

The opposing direction lanes (which I have now adopted the symbol 'v') info is actually not for Lane Assist. It is for the Junction View information for certain map formats. I can see our contributors leaving this info out if we're talking purely about LA.

If we cramp too much information into a single screen the driver may not comprehend it at all... worst case he endanger himself trying to read and decipher while driving. A prompt display of data on screen when needed should be our target. Let's make safety our priority.

All this info is for the Mappers. All the user sees is a bunch of arrows indicating the appropriate lanes.

Questions:

1) Should the Lane Data be place in the GDB Comment (moeyhc) or Name field (tympg)?
2) We need a master GDB file to track all the done JCT LAs. Who will compile this data and release for members to check before they go out to gather LA data?
3) Can we hold a small GG to talk this over?

1. Name field is more visible, IMHO.
2. Someone could set up a shared Google Map account, where we could all mark each junction as we submit. Or whoever contributes, just post the latest master GDB as you suggest.
3. Sure. Obviously you (moeyhc) and I (tympg) are in Penang; we could set up a Skype link for bro Zamad and others. Sun afternoon? Name the place.

[tympg]

I'd just like to add that we should not be reporting every junction out there, only major, multi-lane junctions.

[zamad]

So, what I've gathered from the discussion:

1. Omit the beginning 't' as we assume we're going forward towards the junction;
2. Change 'f' to 'v' for reverse direction of the junction (or direction from the junction). There will be only one v after the last semi-colon of the forward string;
3. Code the lanes from LEFT to RIGHT. Therefore if '/' is found on the leftmost of the string, then it means 'it is a sharp left turn' If '/' is found at the rightmost of the string, it means 'it is a slight right turn'.
4. As above, if 'U' is on the left, then it is a Left U-trun.

It is getting clearer now. However, I have several questions:

1. How far away from the junction shall we mark the POI?
2. If there is a junction before the 'main' junction, do we treat this as 2 seperate junctions?
3. Related to #2, what is the minimum distance between junctions before we treat them as seperate?

If I can figure out how to code the Puchong Spaghetti Junction, then I suppose the rest would be much easier. But if Puchong Spaghetti Junction is an exception then I guess I'm quite clear.

1. Name field is more visible, IMHO.
2. Someone could set up a shared Google Map account, where we could all mark each junction as we submit. Or whoever contributes, just post the latest master GDB as you suggest.
3. Sure. Obviously you (moeyhc) and I (tympg) are in Penang; we could set up a Skype link for bro Zamad and others. Sun afternoon? Name the place.

I've not got Skype

[tympg]

So, what I've gathered from the discussion:

1. Omit the beginning 't' as we assume we're going forward towards the junction; Yes
2. Change 'f' to 'v' for reverse direction of the junction (or direction from the junction). There will be only one v after the last semi-colon of the forward string; Well, we could still go by the number of lanes, but at this point, I'm thinking to leave out all the 'v's together
3. Code the lanes from LEFT to RIGHT. Therefore if '/' is found on the leftmost of the string, then it means 'it is a sharp left turn' If '/' is found at the rightmost of the string, it means 'it is a slight right turn'. Yes
4. As above, if 'U' is on the left, then it is a Left U-trun. Yes, but I think this will be extremely rare in MY/SG/BN anyway.

It is getting clearer now. However, I have several questions:

1. How far away from the junction shall we mark the POI? I'd say, a "reasonable" distance; not too far back.
2. If there is a junction before the 'main' junction, do we treat this as 2 seperate junctions? See my example in the next post...
3. Related to #2, what is the minimum distance between junctions before we treat them as seperate?I think it's a judgment call; if it's a T-junction (side road connected to main road) we'll probably regard it as an independent junction

I've not got Skype
MSN? Yahoo?

[tympg]

An example of a (fictitious) junction where all the roads meeting are dual-carriageway. I consider 4 "junctions" (a.k.a. routing nodes) where I want the Lane Assist to appear before hand.

Example Dual-Carriageway Cross Junction.png

Please comment.