The “printer map kiosk” of the Spanish CNIG project:
CARTOEXPEND
Fernando Aranaz del Río1,
Pedro Vivas2
1Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica (CNIG) of Spain
fernando.aranaz@fomento.es
2Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica (CNIG) of Spain
pedro.vivas@cnig.es
The Spanish CNIG is boarding in and 24x7 system
mapping utility to satisfy the cartographic map demand in no-digital support,
of course in paper print-copy.
Not is a secret that the commerce of the
classic support topographic maps has a constant demand although not increasing
but yes very important. All NMA’s in the world have
the responsibility to satisfy this demand but the ways of reached to end-user
are multiples and different in each case or position in the market. Nowadays
the e-commerce is the most popular way to acquire all kinds of products, but
there is one with the availability is very selective: the maps. The people want
the topographic map immediately that is in the city, county, country, estate,
etc., but the shopping is closed or not existing in these geographic point
where exists the demand or potential demand of the end-user: tourist, business
people, possible gift?,… The “point” had that to be very
closed to potential buyer and it should is ever open also as possible. The “points”
is clear which are: train stations, bus stations, airports, commercial hall,
travel agencies, National Park’s, beach, governmental
offices, public libraries, and one long etcetera.
One way to solve the situation to acquired and
buy one copy of the map is the creation one device autonomous (no-attendance
unit device) how local service of printer maps. This idea is the “printer map
kiosk” of the CNIG project: CARTOEXPEND.
Using de National Topographic Mapping 1/25.000
(MTN25) in digital raster format of the National Geographic Institute (IGN),
the IGN is the NMA of SPAIN, the CNIG have created one device with the functionality of to printer one copy map on-demand using
a device who not is more that one expeditor of maps.
The “CARTOEXPEND” project is the Spanish
acronym of the project and the full system consist of and power PC, one high
quality and speed printer device with and screen touch, one printer to ticket
and a reader device of credit card, all it connect to network of CNIG and all
it in one metallic and ergonomic and very attractive structure. The research
and develop operations (R+D) had occupied six month: Data Base structure and
the DBMS. All project had finish in 12 months and the prototype is already
operational. The CNIG has planning to scatter 40 units in the Spanish national
geography in the 2007 year.
The commercial operations have two possibility: the buyer can pay by VISA card way or by
MoviPay. The commercial transaction is a secure operation and the CARTOEXPEND system
have one secure phone unless wire connexion with a local Internet Provider
Service (IPS) in each region where the device can be installed. The operation
of maintenance (paper and ink-toner reposition and load new release of digital
data) is made to people of the Regional Office of the IGN. Each unit of
CARTOEXPEND is integrated in the Virtual Private Network (VPN) of the CNIG,
this permit the full control of the system: real state, functionality, state of
repositories, re-load, control of traffic and digital connexion quality,
control of digital bank transactions, management of system and application,
control of Data Base, etc.
The system has been made in
open source software an UNIX operative system. The Graphic User Interface (GUI)
is made in Java and it is multilingual in all step of navigation and can work
in the different languages used inside
This CARTOEXPEND system is
extremely utile in its 24x7 availability, it permit the access to cartography
of immediately way without waiting and is a autonomous device with independence
of attendance of any people. It can work isolated and alone giving services a
la society in site where is lot off cost and expensive to made it.
The system is open to wider types of
cartography: thematic, street, city maps, etc. The next generation of
CARTOEXPEND project will include the CARTOCIUDAD data project (another project
of IGN with street data), orthoimages 1/10.000 with source in the PNOA
(National Project of Aerial Orthofotography) project of IGN, this is a
bi-annual project to produce digital data to 1/10.000 scale of detail. This
evolution of CARTOEXPEND project will be management vector digital data with a
Geographic Information System (GIS) open source.