maptool/TODO.adoc

TODO — implementation ideas

Ideas for offline use in a camper van. Implement incrementally, grouped by topic.

The local server has access to both the vehicle’s hardware and offline data — the vision is to grow it into a complete offline control center: resources, data, and independence from connectivity.

Offline data and cartography

• ❏ Offline vector tiles (PMTiles/MBTiles) for Europe/world via Planetiler or MapTiler

• ❏ Shaded relief / DEM layer (terrain slope for parking)

• ❏ Hillshade & contour lines from OSM for hikes and mountain passes

• ❏ Overpass/OSM scripts to extract POIs (drinking water, dump stations, LPG, public toilets, laundromats, shops, springs)

• ❏ Import Park4Night / iOverlander / Freecampsites data

• ❏ Kiwix/ZIM offline Wikipedia linked to POI GPS coordinates

• ❏ Cache weather and precipitation radar when temporarily connected (4G/5G/Wi-Fi)

NPS visual style

• ❏ Map Park4Night/OSM place types to NPS pictograms (campground, primitive camp, drinking water, dump station, viewpoint, picnic table) for instant recognition without reading text

• ❏ Restyle popovers, side panels, and point detail views after the NPS Unigrid layout system (Massimo Vignelli) with Frutiger/Rawlinson Roadside-style typography

  • ✓ Top black banner (full width): "MAPTOOL" on the left, live map-center coordinates in the center, offline-data status dot on the right, white sans-serif type — DEM elevation and a hamburger menu skipped (no DEM layer yet; sidebar isn’t mobile-collapsed, so nothing for a hamburger to reveal)

  • ❏ Point detail/sidepanel: black header banner with white location name and an NPS pictogram in the corner; amenities (water, waste, power, slope) shown as a pictogram grid, no extra text; action buttons for "route here" (Valhalla), "start leveling", "save offline"

  • ✓ Filter panel as a "Unigrid Matrix" — an icon grid to toggle categories on/off, styled like the legend on an official NPS paper map, instead of plain dropdowns

• ❏ Custom vector style (MVT/MapLibre) using the NPS color palette — muted natural tones for forests, water, and contours — so POIs and routes stand out at high zoom

  • ❏ Landuse & protections: distinct styling for national parks, nature reserves (translucent green/gray-green), military zones, and private land (important for wild camping)

  • ❏ Elevation-tinted terrain combined with offline hillshade for a characteristic relief look

  • ❏ Road hierarchy: clearly distinguish paved roads from unpaved/gravel/track — critical for knowing if the camper can get there

Main menu reorganization (4 modules)

• ❏ Explorer: place filters (Park4Night + OSM layers: water, waste, LPG, showers); map layers (contours, hillshade, satellite cache)

• ❏ Navigation & route: offline router (Valhalla) with vehicle dimensions (height, weight, width); route elevation profile and isochrones

• ❏ Offline hub: manager for downloaded PMTiles (country vector maps); downloaded Wikipedia archives; cached radar and weather

• ❏ Camper & HW: level gauge (wheel-chock leveling); solar calculator (sun path on the map); telemetry (Victron / Home Assistant)

Custom layers & data

• ❏ GPX/KML/GeoJSON drag-and-drop import (Wikiloc, Komoot, own GPX tracks), auto-styled in the NPS visual language with a generated elevation profile

• ❏ User overlay: offline drawing of custom points/polygons with notes (e.g. "turning space for a long vehicle", "narrow gate", "good swimming spot")

• ❏ Offline satellite tile caching (e.g. ESRI) for a selected route area — key for judging surface quality and obstacles when wild camping

Nice to have (later)

Deprioritized for now — revisit after the sections above land.

Vanlife features

• ❏ Offline routing (Valhalla/OSRM) with vehicle parameters (height, weight, width)

• ❏ Solar calculator — sun path for location/date, shadows from surroundings, camper orientation

HW integration

• ❏ Level gauge from IMU (ESP32/RPi) — camper tilt, wheel-chock leveling calculation

• ❏ Victron/Home Assistant via MQTT or WebSocket — battery SoC, tank levels, temperatures

• ❏ Plot GPS track with historical battery/speed data