Topo path finder

[evenlu]

When I drive around in my car I really enjoy having my iQue plan the route. When using topo maps on the other hand there are no algorithms to calculate the easiest, fastest or shortest route from point A to point B. That is by foot, not in a plane ;). When you are in the mountains the advice is usually - try to maintain height when moving from one peak to another.

A path finder for topo maps will probably demand CPU power so I guess it will too much to ask from an iQue, but are there any commercial PC programs that do similar calculations that can be transfered to a GPS unit?

Similar calculations can be made at sea - Shortest distance with depth higher than 5m should be sufficient to bring up a route.

Just a thought..

[JMckie]

That is truly an interesting problem - it made me stop and think for 10 minutes. However, it will probably be one that will be of academic interest rather than of practical use. Topo elevation curves is usually not sufficient to plan a reasonable route, because a climber can see much more data with his eyes judging the difficulty of the terrain.

However as an academic exercise there are many discussions on geodesics, starting with this page (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Geodesic.html)