I'm building a system that needs to get the output of a route optimizer into the hands of a driver who intends to make deliveries on that route. Whilst I can supply this to the driver as a printed map with route overlay (which requires mapping software), I'm currently wondering whether skipping the mapping software and feeding the list of waypoints directly to a GPS is an option.
I am wondering if anyone knows of any GPS units that (in order of preference);
- Can have a list of waypoints forwarded to the unit over WiFi (at the beginning of the journey) or;
- Can read a USB stick (not a cable to a PC) with a list of waypoints contained on it
- Can have a list of waypoints forwarded to it over 3G
EDIT
The routes are a collection of about 30 stops selected and optimized from a larger collection of 100-200 stops and split between trucks. I may be using the wrong terminology so i'll refer to it now as "a (sequenced) list of waypoints" Whilst my future intention is to create some kind of smartphone/tablet application to display both the waypoints and interactive delivery information, considering I already have the list of waypoints I was wondering (to start with) if there is a quick, automated/integrated method for transferring these to a given driver's GPS unit.
My idea with WiFi (and I don't know if such a device exists) is that when a driver returns a depot, my system can detect the WiFi connection and forward pre-selected list of waypoints to the device.
Are smartphones/tablets the only way to go? I was assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that GPS/navigation devices would by now have some kind of data transfer capability?