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Note: The views expressed in the blogs and associated comments are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of POB.
Deral Paulk, Michael Binge and guest authors share their views on the latest trends in GIS technology and application.
Taking it to the Street
As I peer into the crystal ball, armed with information supplied at the ESRI conference I found one thing that seems certain to explode in the coming years, if not just in months. Maybe it's already here. Mobile computing is growing up and expanding services that will impact how we receive our information. And in many cases how we may wind up supplying our information.
While I listened intently to information about the clouds I kept my eyes open and just observed those around me. There were less laptops than I normally see at most conventions among the crowd. But everyone seemed to be busily doing business while at the conference using smaller mobile devices. Smart phones and they certainly are getting smarter and more powerful.
In fact, I had with me my iPad, which I used to type up my notes, check my e-mail and check the internet while at the convention. From it's popularity then I probably helped sell a few of them over the weekend. While in one session they talked about the recent release of the ArcGIS app for mobile phones. While in the session, I downloaded the app to the iPad and was viewing maps served up from the sky.
Oh my. Talk about possibilities. Load up some recent maps from the office that the crew can easily view in real time. And the crew could upload information for those to view back at the office. Sure, you can already send and receive e-mail on most smart phones but apps are arriving that bring real time mapping to these devices. I think this is the vision of the cloud. It will carry the heavy load and the crew only needs to bring down exactly the information they need while in the field.
Create maps on the fly for the task at hand and on a smart device served up by the great cloud in the sky.
One really interesting app that I downloaded was called CitySourced. It's a mobile app that allows you to report on potholes, tall grass or other things around your own city.
Lawton Water Leak
The above link takes you to one that I reported this morning in Lawton. A simple hydrant leaking and wasting water into the street. Snap a picture, type in the address and you have an instant report.
This app allows the average citizen to report road closings and all sorts of things in their communities. All from a simple, and free, application from a smart phone.
We are often concerned with accuracy of a point but for many things then the information is really what is important.
The push for E-911 (Enhanced 911) has led to phones supplying their current lat/long as part of any call. The companies building current apps are adding this geographic function to other programs. No matter your location then I can see a time where you can query your phone for almost anything from the cloud. Survey points, control points, water lines, zoning and many other things with little effort.
Deral
While I listened intently to information about the clouds I kept my eyes open and just observed those around me. There were less laptops than I normally see at most conventions among the crowd. But everyone seemed to be busily doing business while at the conference using smaller mobile devices. Smart phones and they certainly are getting smarter and more powerful.
In fact, I had with me my iPad, which I used to type up my notes, check my e-mail and check the internet while at the convention. From it's popularity then I probably helped sell a few of them over the weekend. While in one session they talked about the recent release of the ArcGIS app for mobile phones. While in the session, I downloaded the app to the iPad and was viewing maps served up from the sky.
Oh my. Talk about possibilities. Load up some recent maps from the office that the crew can easily view in real time. And the crew could upload information for those to view back at the office. Sure, you can already send and receive e-mail on most smart phones but apps are arriving that bring real time mapping to these devices. I think this is the vision of the cloud. It will carry the heavy load and the crew only needs to bring down exactly the information they need while in the field.
Create maps on the fly for the task at hand and on a smart device served up by the great cloud in the sky.
One really interesting app that I downloaded was called CitySourced. It's a mobile app that allows you to report on potholes, tall grass or other things around your own city.
Lawton Water Leak
The above link takes you to one that I reported this morning in Lawton. A simple hydrant leaking and wasting water into the street. Snap a picture, type in the address and you have an instant report.
This app allows the average citizen to report road closings and all sorts of things in their communities. All from a simple, and free, application from a smart phone.
We are often concerned with accuracy of a point but for many things then the information is really what is important.
The push for E-911 (Enhanced 911) has led to phones supplying their current lat/long as part of any call. The companies building current apps are adding this geographic function to other programs. No matter your location then I can see a time where you can query your phone for almost anything from the cloud. Survey points, control points, water lines, zoning and many other things with little effort.
Deral
Comments
Date Posted: Aug 24, 2010 at 4:38 PM
Deral,
It's funny that you mention this. Just last week I saw a mobile van here in Oregon, it had Oklahoma license plates. Must be worth the drive.
Joe
It's funny that you mention this. Just last week I saw a mobile van here in Oregon, it had Oklahoma license plates. Must be worth the drive.
Joe
Date Posted: Aug 1, 2010 at 4:12 AM
When I decided to see what could be done to use the camper as a mobile office it was the price tag that first intimidated me. It still scares me a little. Lessons learned from the last two years reveal that it is more dependable than imagined but more frustrating when it does not work. The cell phone bill is now higher than it was 25 years ago as each application seems to add cost to the subscription. But I love working from the camper so I will remain in hot pursuit of solutions that make the work increasingly mobile.
Current objectives include:
* More bandwidth. In July 2010 I used more than 95% of the 5 gigabytes allowed by the subscription.
* Faster speed. It is still much too slow for large volumes of data. Three netbook / notebook computers on one wireless cell phone connection are data pigs. Maps, photos, and videos must flow faster to be more useful. This is not about screen resolution on a cell phone or PDA. We need maps that will become plots sent to the plotting service from the mobile office.
* Port forwarding. It is the most recent challenge. I can see the ProFlex500 web server from my wireless network but have not yet sorted out how to make the data stream available to rovers in the field. Recording RTCM3 data on one of the other computers inside the camper is not my idea of success. I want to feed data to a few dozen rovers from the camper.
Did anybody notice that I said the ProFlex500 base is connected to the WiFi? For this dumb old dirt surveyor the times they are changing. Why are IP addresses part of my vocabulary?
Where do I take this? Surely there is a way to throw enough money at this problem to solve every issue but this is mostly science project stuff funded from my pocket. Friends and loved ones will tell you that I am reluctant to buy things I can't eat. But if one day you see my camper with a satellite dish there is a good chance it may not be just about the TV signal.
When I set up my RTK base station in a campground there is almost always somebody walking by who will say, "Some people will do anything to watch satellite TV?" Others will ask if I can get the ball game on that thing.
Current objectives include:
* More bandwidth. In July 2010 I used more than 95% of the 5 gigabytes allowed by the subscription.
* Faster speed. It is still much too slow for large volumes of data. Three netbook / notebook computers on one wireless cell phone connection are data pigs. Maps, photos, and videos must flow faster to be more useful. This is not about screen resolution on a cell phone or PDA. We need maps that will become plots sent to the plotting service from the mobile office.
* Port forwarding. It is the most recent challenge. I can see the ProFlex500 web server from my wireless network but have not yet sorted out how to make the data stream available to rovers in the field. Recording RTCM3 data on one of the other computers inside the camper is not my idea of success. I want to feed data to a few dozen rovers from the camper.
Did anybody notice that I said the ProFlex500 base is connected to the WiFi? For this dumb old dirt surveyor the times they are changing. Why are IP addresses part of my vocabulary?
Where do I take this? Surely there is a way to throw enough money at this problem to solve every issue but this is mostly science project stuff funded from my pocket. Friends and loved ones will tell you that I am reluctant to buy things I can't eat. But if one day you see my camper with a satellite dish there is a good chance it may not be just about the TV signal.
When I set up my RTK base station in a campground there is almost always somebody walking by who will say, "Some people will do anything to watch satellite TV?" Others will ask if I can get the ball game on that thing.
Date Posted: Jul 23, 2010 at 9:44 PM
the concept of mobile data communication is well known to surveyors, especially those using RTK, VRS or similar. the idea of my data and your data being intermingled in the cloud is scary.....who owns the data...who vets the data.....and how do i get data if the cloud decides to have a catastrophic thunderstorm(goes down as most computers do).
I now have no means to supply my people with data because the cloud id down and I don't have access.
Yes there are good things but as in the original scenario of dumb terminal/server the concept of smart terminal/server also has distinct problems.
jimbo
I now have no means to supply my people with data because the cloud id down and I don't have access.
Yes there are good things but as in the original scenario of dumb terminal/server the concept of smart terminal/server also has distinct problems.
jimbo