Guide [ ^ ]
What is GPS Drawing?
Digital mark-making with GPS satellite navigation technology
GPS receivers can automatically record where you have been as a digital dot-to-dot trail. The drawings are created by treating travel like a geodetic pencil or a cartographic crayon.
Interactive Demonstration 
[Requires
Shockwave]
TOOLS
Most GPS receivers tell you where you are and how to get to somewhere else. For GPS drawing you need to look at where you have been as you plot your tracks.
My first GPS receiver was a Garmin Etrex. It was relatively cheap and simple to use considering it receives precisely timed signals from billions of dollars worth of atomic clock and space rocket technology.
Most Garmin GPS receivers are suitable for GPS drawing if they automatically record trackpoint data. There are many other GPS manufactures that produce receivers that can be used to create GPS drawings. An essential feature is to plot trackpoint data and be able to save it and send it to a computer. The data can be transferred via a cable, SMS, Bluetooth and infrared. Some GPS receivers with very basic functions can work just as well as expensive receivers with detailed maps in wide-screen colour and multi-lingual voices that prompt you along your way.
Choosing the best GPS receiver depends very much on what type of drawings you would like to make and how else you might like to use the technology. Receivers with larger screens that clearly plot your tracks are useful for creating detailed drawings in parks. Small receivers with lots of memory for trackpoint data are convenient recording daily movements and making GPS maps. The highly accurate heavy backpack-type GPS receivers with extendable antennas are cumbersome and tend to chaff the shoulders. They are also not recommended for driving or sky-diving.
SOFTWARE
Our own GPSograph is not available for sale or distribution. It can be commissioned for rendering and presenting 3d GPS data for professional purposes. Other software for viewing, editing, and saving GPS data is either supplied by the manufacturers, or found on the internet:
Web and other
There's an excellent site for viewing tracks and converting formats online at gpsvisualizer.com. You can also view your tracks in Google Earth by converting the data to KMZ format.
Windows Software
The best software for downloading and viewing tracks with maps is Garmin's Mapsource, which you can get with Garmin GPS receiver package. We also use GPS Utility which is ideal for viewing your tracks and converting it into varying data formats without loss of detail in the track data.
Macintosh Software
Unfortunately Garmin Mapsource and GPS Utility don't work on a Mac without a windows emulator (such as VirtualPC or Boot Camp for pentium based Macs).
However you can use Mac GPS Pro to interface with a number of receivers including bluetooth receivers and those with USB connections. Serial port based receivers will need a Keyspan USB to Serial adapter to interface with a Mac. The current Garmin receivers with USB ports will now interface with a Mac using GPS Babel and you can use that to convert it to most other formats.
Mobile Phones and PDAs
Some phones have built-in GPS receivers although you can pick up a relatively low cost Bluetooth receiver to work with a bluetooth enabled mobile phone. I've tried the Holux GPSlim 236 paired with my Nokia N70 running GPSXC or AFTrack on the Symbian Operating System and they have worked fine for recording track logs. For more information about your particular mobile phone or PDA and GPS receiver check out pocketgpsworld.com for their detailed reviews and forums.
Consult the GPS manufacturers for the correct connection cable/method for transferring GPS data to your computer.
SUGGESTIONS
If you want use GPS to
draw: For large drawings over municipalities and no-fly
zones, carefully plan your route over a map first and decide on the sequence
of travel and mode of transport. To achieve steady lines ensure the GPS
receiver has a clear view of the sky throughout. For smaller drawings,
choose wide open areas like parks and fields because trees and buildings
can obstruct and distort the reception of the satellite signals.
If you use GPS regularly:
Mapping your movements can be rewarding and can reveal personal intricacies
of travel. Upload tracks from the GPS receiver to a computer before the
trackpoint memory is full. Saving tracks on a GPS receiver can compress
them and reduce their detail and therefore quality of line. Compile files
of your tracks collected over a period of time.
If you use GPS for sports:
Record the shape of a round of golf, or of irregular ramblings, jogging
jaunts, skiing shenanigans, shameless cycling or whatever it is that gets
your ticker going.
If you use GPS for work:
Take a detour and travel in the shape of the words 'I like my job'.
If you use GPS for aviation:
Using the thrilling possibilites of scribble in 3d across the sky
(within the structral limits of the aircraft) can produce spectacular
results. The electronic device policies do vary on commercial airliners,
consult a flight attendant for specifics.
If you use GPS as a mariner:
As navigators of the largest blank canvas on the planet the possibilities
are tremendous. Traveling in a straight line may well be efficient, but
there's enough space in the Pacific Ocean for even an oil tanker to attempt
joined up writing.
If you don't
use a GPS: You don't really need to. The technology is a part of
a process of geographically locating information and drawing with it is
a side effect.
Pryor & Wood 10/2007
