Programming a trip

A Web Application included in Event_Logger and named GMapToITN allows you to design a TomTom itinerary through Google Maps. It converts routes and points of interest from Google Maps to TomTom ITN files, with no restriction. You can plan a route with multiple subsequent destinations and you can also customize it through the graphical dragging functionality provided by Google Maps. Besides, you can find points-of-interest with the Google local search and then transform them into multiple destinations, each one including related description.

Loading trips to TomTom

GMapToITN entails an elementary manual process to import itinerary files to your TomTom device: simply paste the generated data to notepad and save the produced file to the Itn directory of TomTom. In addition, basic Itineraries can be automatically moved via TomTom Home by pressing a special button provided by GMapToITN when using Internet Explorer. Furthermore, a method named SendTomTom allows transferring data through the Bluetooth, without the need to switch off the device (this method is reserved to advanced users).

Real-time GPS tracking

Event_Logger provides a sophisticated and comprehensive GPS logging functionality including a robust background agent and interactive statistical panels, completely transparent to TomTom’s software. It records your position at regular intervals and also logs events like switch-on, switch-off or manual queries; produced files are GPX and ITN formats, automatically chunked basing on configurable rules. The intelligent chunking algorithm of Event_Logger is capable of recognizing short and long stops; the former ones are logged within the same trip, while the latter ones produce segmentations. Besides, logs are compressed, archived and optionally protected with a password. Five menu buttons allow you to easily interact with the agent and a shortcut method recalling the main panel is also available, by pressing the top left margin of the TomTom screen. This helps you answer questions like "how long did I take?", as well as checking the travelled distance and the average speed.

Astronomical Calendar

A dedicated application running on your TomTom device and accessible through a menu button produces a report of georeferenced astronomical data related to sun and moon, including current calendar, ephemerides, rise and set time, civil, nautical and astronomical twilight, current moon phase and additional data (day length, Local Civil Time, Terrestrial Dynamical Time, Local Mean Time, Julian Day, Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time, Local Sidereal Time, Local Hour Angle of Sun). Astronomic Calendar helps you answer questions like "where is moon now?", "what time will moon rise and set today or tomorrow?", "what time does evening start today?", "which is the position of the sun now?", etc.

Analysis and Reporting 

Three tools allow you to review executed paths:

• Event_Logger logs events as Itinerary files and the standard TomTom panels related to Itineraries can be used to browse and edit collected events. Through the TomTom device, you can verify the time and the precise point where a trip started, finished or the position of a query. Event_Logger includes algorithms to compute trip duration and stop time, travelled distance, motion duration, real altitude and has a refined normalizer for slope. All these data, including in addition many average values, are shown within real time statistical panels and most of them are also logged inside the Itinerary file.

• Other than using TomTom to browse itineraries, a specific Web application included in Event_Logger and named ITN Browser allows you to group Itinerary files and revise set of trips as a single descriptive and interactive table, extensively integrated with Google Maps. This makes it simpler to work out how many business kilometers have been travelled within a period and to account for related destinations; it will help you manage a log book documenting travel allowance.

• By double clicking the GPX files produced by Event_Logger, a Web application widely integrated with Google Maps and named GPX Browser is activated, providing detailed and interactive track analysis of each single trip. This application, currently compatible with Internet Explorer, transforms each GPX file into a browsable map including all details of the route and with option panels, drop-down menus, pop-up windows, draggable markers and many other widgets; its map rendering exploits a remarkable number of cartographical sources including Google maps, Microsoft MSN Virtual Earth maps, Yahoo maps, OpenStreetMap, USGS and many others.