Elk Getting Started

Contents:

Intro
Location Component
Way and Point Components
Topography Component

Intro
Elk was created to facilitate bringing mapping data into Rhino via Grasshopper. It does this by allowing
you to import OSM data files from OpenStreetMap.org. The current version 0.3 allows you to get data
either downloaded from OpenStreetMap (limited to 50,000 points) or stream it using the Overpass API
to get larger swaths of data, however large amounts of data can greatly increase the solving time (a few
million points took over an hour). Ive only tested data from these two sources, so using files from other
locations may or may not work depending on how the datas structured.
The second part of it is a topo generator using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data.
The data can be accessed from the USGS website. The resolution of available elevation data varies, with
data for the United States available in 1 arc second increments (about 30 meters) and the rest of the
world available at a highest resolution of 3 arc second increments (about 90 meters).
It was originally developed to produce a specific project so it has some quirks about it that relate to that.
For instance, the ability to scale is done by specifying the desired size, not by scaling down. It is

assumed that the more generic Scale component in Grasshopper can accommodate a more traditional
scaling function.
Location Component

The Location component is the starting point for using OSM data. It processes the point data from the
OSM file or stream and converts the latitude and longitude values into X,Y point data. If using a
standard OSM file exported from the OSM website, only the File Path needs an input since the scale is
optional and the longitude and latitude domains are derived from the file. If streaming data, you must
make sure no file is input into the File Path and that you have the desired latitude and longitude
domains set.
The component outputs processed OSM point data (custom data type) and passes the XML data on to
the subsequent way and point components. The longitude and Latitude are option for passing their
values to the sTopo component in order to pull matching data.
Way and Point Components

Six components make up the Way and Point components: Highways, MajorRoads, MinorRoads,
WaterWays, RailWays, and GenericOSM. The first five of these will behave very similar. They have three
inputs for the OSM Point Data, XML Data, and Collection Type (integer). The first two receive data from
the Location Component. The third defines where the information for each way is derived, either from
only the Way collections, only the Point collections, or both Point and Way collections.

These specific way type components only retrieve a limited set of the potential data thats available,
which is where the GenericOSM component comes in. It has some similar inputs (OSM Point Data, XML
Data, and Collection Type), but it also includes an input for Primary Feature Key and Feature value. This
can be used to gather data from any available feature that the other components do not address. For
more information on available features, please see the documentation on the OSM website.
sTopo Component

The topo component uses elevation data in with the HGT file format thats available from USGS. The
HGT files are available in 1x1 tiles, so areas that span across more than one tile will have to be handled
in pieces according to how many tiles are necessary. The component has four inputs that are necessary,
the file path to the HGT file, the domains for the longitude and latitude, and finally the format of the
SRTM file. The component can process both SRTM1 (1 arc second) and SRTM3 (3 arc second) files to
generate a topo. It will output a list of points and curves that can be used to produce the topo surface.