|
|
|
Exploiting Field and Mobile Technologies
|
Mobile Geoengineering: Extending the office to the field
5. What has been done to date?
Southern Water has implemented a mobile GIS, which provides a copy of the network
records to the field workers deploying 200 mobile units. These units are pen based PCs
and are installed in the field workers vehicles. The PCunit can be detached from the
vehicle installation allowing the field worker to go ‘walk about’.
The records are kept up to date through connection to the wide area network when the
field worker visits the depot. In addition the mobile GIS has a sketch facility which
allows the field worker to provide a record of any changes or additions made to the
network graphically. These sketches are transmitted across the network to the up date
team, who are based at a central location. Using the information in the sketch, the
master electronic record is updated, and as a final step a copy of the corrected master
record is sent back to the mobile GIS unit automatically. Figure 2 shows an illustration
of the process.
A further facility is the provision of electronic forms. The electronic template for the
form is created in the up date office, and is transmitted across the network to the
mobile GIS units automatically. The field worker uses the electronic template to
complete the form. The data is validated according to the rules built into the electronic
form template. Once completed the form data file is transmitted across the wide area
network to the server in the update o~ce, from whence it is transferred to the
appropriate corporate database. All this achieved without a piece of paper in sight!
Figure 2
|
|
|
|
