Using mobile technology for on-site facilities monitoring
The vicinity graphical data are a depiction of the street address linked to the database in a" smart
window." In the address selection process, the user can select an icon to display a map centered
on the meter cell connected to the address. Tools are available to zoom and pan the area (see
Figure 2).
The walking survey test results form consists of a number of multiple choice fields (Figure 5). The set of
possible answers for most of the fields is small enough to allow use of radio button controls for the result
selection. Other fields, for which the set of values is queried from the database, are represented as drop
down menu controls, manipulated by mouse clicks. When all the fields in the survey form are filled in, a check
box appears at the bottom for the user to affirm that the survey for that service has been completed. The user then submits the data in the
completed survey to the database.
Fiigure 5. Walking Survey Form
System Implementation
The Walking Surveyor Assistant was implemented in early 1998. Training the walking survey
crews to use the Internet user interface required only a few hours. The computer administrator, in
effect an Internet server administrator, needed instruction in the maintenance of the application,
however, and continued user support throughout the season.
Considering that the Walking Surveyor Assistant brought together several components of new
Internet and mobile technology, few reported bugs could be traced back to the software. Only
once was the application reported to" crash," which occurred when a user entered several
hundred paper survey reports into the database in one sitting, a task the system was not designed
to do.
One-Year Review
Colonial Gas used the Walking Surveyor Assistant successfully during the 1998 walking season
and plans to continue its use in the future. After one full year, Colonial summarizes the results of
its implementation and use as follows:
- Automating the walking survey eliminated paper maps to locate facilities and reduced the
amount of" sweeping" of a service area necessary to complete the survey. A paper recording of
any leaks is still performed along with a paper sketch of its location.
- Scheduling, data input, and reporting processes were streamlined. Even with these
efficiencies, however, Colonial's rapid growth caused a decline in the percentages of services
surveyed. Increasing the required items to be surveyed and reported changed the dynamics of
scheduling the survey. The length of time required to perform the survey caused backups in
planning other work for the year.
- Use of the pen-based Hammerhead computer varied from expectations. According to the
initial plan, the surveyor was to carry the computer during the survey, accessing data on the
location of the service at a particular address. This capability would eliminate the surveyor's
need to search for the meter and then guess at the location of the service. If no meter were
present, the surveyor would run the FIU across the property to detect any possible leak. In fact,
due to the bulkiness of carrying the FIU and the portable computer simultaneously, most
surveyors lefl the computer in their vehicles. Data were then entered after surveying each street.
- Without default results, data entry times took longer, which had both a negative and positive
effect. On the negative side, it could be safely assumed that most results would be similar to all
other services surveyed. It would thus be easier and faster for the surveyor to respond to the
exceptions only. On the positive side, no entry was taken for granted; therefore, nothing was
overlooked.
- The increase in the number and quality of reports from this system has helped Colonial
increase control of maintenance activities resulting from leak detection surveys. Due to the
implementation of the Walking Surveyor Assistant, maintenance requests are more efficiently
passed to the work management system and a stricter command has been placed on managing the
survey.
In summary, the Walking Surveyor Assistant enabled Colonial Gas to perform customized data
collection and map viewing tasks on mobile computers in the field. Since then Sewall has
developed an advanced version of the application in Visual Basic that eliminates the use of the
Internet browser and server. Colonial Gas is currently considering upgrading to this more robust
product, which promises to reduce administrative overhead significantly.
A spinoff of the Visual Basic Walking Survey Assistant is Sewall's Service View. This readonly
application will enable Colonial to use digital mapping in its fleet of service vehicles.
Hosted on laptops rather than pen-based computers, Service View will help Colonial realize
significant cost savings.
References
Department of Transportation (1 995). Pipeline Safety Regulations - Parts 190-199, p. 436.
James W. Sewall Company (1 997). Walking Surveyor Assistant User's Guide.
