Semantic labeling in maps

[SteveMacenski]

Create a basic demo, and perhaps some standards, around enabling semantic information in the map yaml to label places:

• point and size,
• pixels,
• polygons
• others?

With info like:

• name string
• class type
• geometric information
• other properties?

Then capabilities to load that information, and some capabilities enabled on top of it.

Ex:

• navigate to a label (go to dishwasher)
• avoid a label (stay out of conference room)
• get distance to label (are you within 10ft of the front door?)
• where are you (in the Steve’s cubicle)

---

As such I propose we discuss the following, in this order

• [x] File formats for points, lines, and areas: YAML, XML, OSM-XML, or other
• [x] What we want out of masks and how to embed that information: pgm/png, XML, or other
• [ ] A couple potential designs for multi-floor mapping to come to the consensus on how it makes most sense to represent the multiple maps and the "gateways" between them. The goal of this will be only to determine if the multi-map work is a consumer of this semantic work, or a direct member of it needing to be fully designed in tandem.
• [ ] A couple of potential designs around using the major classes of objects: point, area, mask (e.g. dock or waypoint or elevator; zoom or section; speed or keepout) to motivate the design of tools or servers required for this development.
• [ ] Tools: server to read like map server, services to get all or some of the semantic information, wrappers for calling to get it and parsing the result for the specific objects it wants, IO tools.
• [ ] Once we have some pretty good understandings of how we want the data formatted and how we want them to be used, we can then discuss the GUI element of this. Though I think we're all in agreement here.

[SteveMacenski]

@codebot lets chat on Slack then, can you start us off in the semantics channel? The semantics channel is really only frequented by us anyhow so we can keep that on topic. I know we're talking about the geographic repo in there right now but we can sidebar that.

I mostly started the slack because I got an overwhelming response from reaching out to students with internships cancelled by COVID-19. I expected to reach out and have 5% success rate, turned out closer to 60%, its still going on so I don't have exact metrics yet. Its about 60% right now.

I was planning on proposing this at a later stage

Lets get the initial XML one out first. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[SteveMacenski]

Also adding to this list a discussion we need to have about "how" and "where" we use this semantic info and tooling

[SteveMacenski]

@shrijitsingh99 any update?

[owen7900]

Is development on this still occurring?