Creating a routable map from tracks

 

In Land, you can create your own routable maps. These are especially useful for having a detailed map of your area that allows you to navigate it. 

The possibilities are vast and depend on the level of detail you want to add to your map. Additionally, you can gradually enhance it over time.

You can categorize trails, mark paths, technical trails, POIs, and even mark restricted areas or fields you should avoid.

 

Prepare the Tracks

We'll start the map by adding the first paths based on the tracks I already have.

 

 

For now, I have 6 tracks that I’ve traversed.

I previously created a backup of these tracks and then copied them into a separate folder.

 

Create the Map

I close all the tracks I have open in Land to keep it clean and only view the map, for example, an orthophoto.

 

 

In Land, I select the option:

 

 

I select the folder where I have the maps for this map.

 

 

It asks where I want to save the new map:

 

 

Now I have the map with the vectors of the tracks that I had in the folder:

 

 

Organize the Layers

 

In the data tree, I can see that a layer named '0' has been created with the vectors inside:

 

 

A vector map is composed of layers, and we can create multiple layers to organize different information.

To edit the map I created, we enter Map Edit mode:

 

 

Each layer has its own properties; you just need to select the layer, and you’ll see the properties in the properties window.

 

 

Now the vectors have the display properties of the tracks I had, but I want these properties to be inherited from the layer, so I select all the vectors in the tree and modify this property, setting it to "by Layer":

 

 

Now it will take the properties from the layer. Let’s modify the name and color of the vectors in this layer; remember to select the layer in the data tree to see its properties.

 

 

This is how the map looks now:

 

 

Since I want to have 2 categories of paths, I’ll create a new layer for the wider paths where a car could drive:

 

 

 

Now I have 2 layers in the map:

 

 

It’s time to move the vectors of the wide paths to their corresponding layer. This is done through the vector properties, so I select the vectors I know are wide paths in the tree and modify this property in their properties to move them to a layer:

 

 

This is how the tree looks:

 

 

And the map looks like this:

 

 

Customize the Layers

We can customize how each of the categories appears through the layer properties. Select the layer and customize how you want each category to look by experimenting with the various properties in the properties window.

 

This is how I’ve set them up: 

 

 

Convert the Vectors into Routable Paths

 

Now we have the 2 customized categories, but it’s not yet a routable map.

 

To make it routable, the first thing we need to do is modify a property of the layer so we can later create the connection nodes between vectors.

 

 

 

Don’t forget to change this property for all the layers you’ve created that represent paths.

 

Create the Connection Nodes

To convert the vector map into a routable one, we need to create the connection nodes. It’s important that the start and end points of each track are not too far apart.

 

If necessary, we can fix this by editing the vectors directly on the vector map:

 

       

To create the nodes, click on the "Create Network Information" tool in the editing toolbar:

 

 

It will ask for the tolerance distance to create the connections:

 

 

 

We say Yes, and our routable map is created.

 

Don’t forget to save the map: 

 

 

Map Ready to Use

 

Now we have our map ready to use with the Fast Track tool or on our GPS as a routable map!

 

 

 

It’s a good idea to test the map, as some connections might not have been made because the distance between points is too large. If that’s the case, fix it and recreate the network information.