Atlasr is a truly open-source and free map browser. The goal is threefold:

1. Learn about all the layers and components that make a map,
2. Provide a ready-to-use set of tools to build a 100% open-source, free, and standalone map browser,
3. Provide an alternative service to the famous Google Maps or Apple Maps, with no ads, with respect to user privacy, with 100% open-source and free data, and the top 10 features of Google Maps.

A map architecture is composed of the following components:

• Map data, A giant database containing all information about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, buildings etc. The biggest major project is OpenStreetMap,
• Tile server, A program that, given a specific region, reads the map database and compiles those information in a certain format like .mbtiles for instance. Each region of a planet is named a tile. A tile is defined by a longitude, a latitude, and a zoom (an altitude scale),
• Map renderer, A program that, given a set of tiles, renders/draws a map, so each roads, buildings etc. finally come alive at this step. A map renderer requires at least the following components:
  • Tile decoder to decode the tiles received from the tile server,
  • Styles to know how to draw the data from the map (e.g. “roads must be blue with a white strike”),
  • Fonts to render texts,
  • Icons to represent some places with an image (like hospitals, police stations, parcs etc.).
• Geocoding, A program that can find the longitude and the latitude of a labellised element on earth, like a postal address, a building name, or a river name for examples,
• Routing, A program that is able to find a path/route between one or many points (longitude latitude) given some constraints (like the vehicule type, the road preference etc.). A route preferably comes with descriptions, like “Turn right in 100m”, “Follow A10 for 7km” etc.

Obviously, each component comes with thousands of details and constraints. The previous list is a high overview of how it works.

The open-source map ecosystem is mature. Many projects already exist to address one component of the map architecture. However, a mainstream tool that combined all these projects, based on 100% open-source and free data, is still missing. Atlasr aims to be the response to this problem.

The quality must be comparable with Google Maps or Apple Maps:

• Smooth and fast experience,
• Reliable data,
• Beautiful design for the map and the UI.

The main technologies are the following: Rust for the server, Elm for the client, and PostgreSQL/SQLite for the databases.

The actual roadmap is the following:

• Map data, all data comes from OpenStreetMap,
• Tile server [source/api/tile/]:
  • Vector tiles are pre-computed by OpenMapTiles, which relies on OpenStreetMap.
  • Format is .mbtiles,
  • Solid and robust tile server.
• Map renderer [source/map-style]:
  • Use Mapbox GL JS to render the map,
  • Elm ports to Mapbox GL (JavaScript) for the Web UI,
  • Use OSM Liberty for the style, forked to remove the dependencies to external services, and to use only “local” data,
  • Icons/sprites,
  • Fonts.
• Geocoding [source/api/geocode]:
  • Data are pre-computed by OSM Names, which relies on OpenStreetMap,
  • Transform the data to build an index for the search engine,
  • Custom and fast search engine to query the index, build with Tantivy,
  • Solid and robust server.
• Routing [source/api/route/]:
  • Delegate all the works to GraphHopper, only use the open-source API. API to use:
    • Routing API,
    • Isochrone API.
• HTTP server [source/server/]:
  • Fast and robust HTTP server between the client and all the API.
• Client/Web UI [source/client]:
  • Mobile-first,
  • Smooth and fast,
  • Search one or many positions (geocoding),
  • Search a route (routing),
  • Search a route with constraints,
  • Enhance data with Wikipedia (photos, descriptions, metadata etc.),
  • All links are sharable,
  • More features.

Current focus: The current hard work is to provide all map components as local and standalone instances. Everything has been addressed except the fonts in the map renderer (yet).

Next focus: Replace the top 10 features on Google Maps.

• Map renderer: The tiles, the style, the icons, everything comes from Atlasr. No external service is used.

  

• Geocoding and Routing: Atlasr is able to geoencode 2 postal addresses, and find a route between the two:

  

just is required to run all the commands. Run just --list to get an overview of all the commands.

• Tile server:

  $ # Install API tile server.
  $ just install-api-tile
  
  $ # Run the tile server.
  $ just run-api-tile

• Geocoding:

  $ # Download the data, install the indexer, and install the search engine.
  $ just install-api-geocode
  
  $ # Run the geocoding server.
  $ just run-api-geocode-searcher

• Routing:

  $ # Install the geocoding server.
  $ just install-api-route
  
  $ # Run the geocoding server.
  $ just run-api-route

• Client/Web UI:

  $ # Install the HTTP server for the client.
  $ just install-server
  
  $ # Run the HTTP server for the client.
  $ just run-server
  
  $ # Install the Web UI, its dependencies, and prepare the frontend.
  $ just install-client
  
  $ # Open the client.
  $ just open

Enjoy!

The entire project is under the BSD-3-Clause license. Please read the LICENSE file.