Implementing a mobile GIS to enhance the efficiency of field operations
The business drivers listed above came from the electric distribution area of Duke
Power. However, the electric transmission business area was also looking to
leverage GIS data in order to locate equipment in the field more quickly, to be able
to respond to problems faster, and to deal with right-of-way issues more effectively.
Electric transmission personnel saw mobile mapping as a possible solution to these
and other issues.
Solution/Project
Duke Power decided to place GIS data (maps/circuitry/customer information) onto
the ruggedized Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) used by electric distribution
personnel and onto laptops used by electric transmission field technicians.
However, placing the GIS data onto the MDTs used by electric distribution
personnel was only part of the solution. The ultimate product needed to interface
with the existing Utility Partners routine work management application running on
the MDT in order to be able to map work locations. The distribution field
technician could select an order and have that order mapped to a location shown on
the MDT.
A key item requested by both electric distribution and electric transmission was the
ability to have the entire Duke Power service territory mapped onto each MDT or
laptop. In that case, moving field personnel within the service territory would not
require specific, specialized hardware and/or software that would have to be
available to the field technician at the new location.
One other capability requested by both electric distribution and electric
transmission personnel was the ability for field personnel to display routing
information on the MDT or laptop in order for the field technician to be able to
determine how to get from one work location to another.
The project that would ultimately deliver the solution described above was started
with the following participants:
- A project manager from the electric distribution business who would
ultimately be responsible for the Routine Work Management personnel and
the success of the project
- A software vendor, MapFrame, chosen because of their specific abilities in
the area of moving the GIS data to the MDTs/laptops
- The GIS application support programming staff
- A selected group of electric distribution field technicians to help us with
look, feel, and ability to use the resulting product in the field
- A selected group of electric transmission field personnel chosen for some
of the same reasons listed above.
Project Challenges
One of the major challenges faced by the project team was fitting a large amount of
GIS data onto the existing MDTs. The current MDTs contain 233 MHz processors,
3.2 GB hard drives, and data transfers occur through 10 megabit Ethernet docking
stations. The average size of the Smallworld GIS database at Duke Power is about
40 GB. Therefore, data compression and translation were key components of the
solution.
Another key challenge was to end up with a user interface that could be handled by
the field personnel they are working outdoors, in all kinds of weather. The project
team did not want the field technicians to have to become Windows power users in
order to use the new application.
The third major challenge Duke Power faced was to get the GIS and customer data
updated on the MDTs and laptops on a regular basis without disrupting the field
personnel work schedules and without a huge, negative impact to our data
network.
Addressing the Challenges
One of the reasons Duke Power chose MapFrame as a key partner on the project
was their ability to compress data to fit onto the MDTs the total size of the
application and data is just less than 2 gigabytes. Being able to compress the data to
that size allowed Duke Power to place the entire service territory on each
MDT/laptop. Duke Power also reviewed what data would be used by field
personnel so that each MDT/laptop carried only the data that would be needed.
This was particularly important for customer data since the customer data makes up
half the entire volume of data loaded onto each MDT/laptop. Duke Power also used
third-party software to further compress the data being sent to the MDTs.
Another reason Duke Power chose MapFrame as the vendor for the integrated
product was the user interface of the new application. The user interface consists of
simple pen-based gestures. For example, circling an area on the displayed map
zooms in, drawing a straight line to the right scrolls to the right an amount based on
the length of the drawn line. Duke Power wanted the user interface to be easy for
the field technicians, since their main focus should be the installation and repair of
equipment not learning how to use the Windows operating system.
Duke Power GIS personnel were concerned that old and inaccurate data on the
MDTs would cause problems both for them and field personnel. There would be a
question as to which data is correct (GIS or field theory is that the GIS is correct,
but that theory is not subscribed to by everyone) and that old and inaccurate data
could lead to safety issues for field personnel. Obviously, its easier for field
personnel to get their work done if the data is accurate and up-to-date.
There are several factors that have made the numbers of changes to GIS and
customer data increase. At certain times of the year, particularly spring and fall due
to the large number of college students that reside in the Duke Power service
territory, there are high volumes of customer changes. Duke Power has also moved
to mobile/automated meter reading resulting in higher volumes of equipment
changes. The Duke Power service territory has seen and continues to see high
volumes of home building, resulting in high volumes of circuit changes.
Given those factors, Duke Power has chosen to do nightly updates. The data is
compressed to reduce network traffic. The software update capabilities (FTP
process) built into the Utility Partners product is used to get the information to the
MDTs. The map information is updated on the MDT (generally while the field
service technician is driving to the first work order location) in order to further
reduce network traffic.
