[PLUG] Hand-held Computers For Data Acquisition

[wes]

I see projects like this posted to guru.com regularly.

-wes

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 8:21 AM, Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com>wrote:

>   While meeting with one of my clients this past week I identified a need
> for automating data acquisition in a gold mine mill. This is a harsh,
> dirty,
> noisy environment, but every shift has compliance monitoring requirements
> for several regulatory permits.
>
>   Now the mill workers enter values on paper forms and carry them to the
> environmental office where an environmental tech (with a Masters degree)
> spends too much time keyboarding the hand-written data into the spreadsheet
> they're current using (replacing that 'storage' system is what we're doing
> for them). One page is legal size and jammed with boxes for
> measurement/observations; other pages are letter size. The entire work flow
> is highly inefficient and error prone.
>
>   I offered to provide my client with options to automate the data
> collection using tablet computers or, preferably, hand-helds that are
> ruggardized and sealed for use in industrial environments. I think that
> entering data via keys would be better than entering by stylus because it
> eliminates the unable-to-interpret problem of scrawled numbers.
>
>   My perception of the tool is that these units would run linux, use SQLite
> as the back end, and have a simple app (python, ruby, whatever) that
> presents the measurements to be made, one-by-one in a yet-to-be-determined
> sequence, and allows the worker to key in the values (numbers or text as
> appropriate). The computers would then be carried to the environmental
> office where the data would be transferred to our permit compliance
> management system, or there could be docking stations in the mill. This
> system could also be expanded to water and air quality monitoring at
> various
> mine sites (out-of-doors) where the wells, streams, and other sampling
> sites
> are not instrumented. (It's difficult to instrument sites that are under
> 10-15 feet of snow at 6,500+ feet elevation.) There is also the potential
> to
> expand this type of automation to other aspects of the mine such as
> operations and maintenance, safety, and security. The company is very open
> to automating what makes sense as a way for employees to be more productive
> and to reduce errors.
>
>   So, if you're interested in doing this hardware/software project as part
> of
> your business, please contact me off the list. This would be _your_
> business
> opportunity, and our only involvement would be introducing you to our
> client
> and ensuring the integration of data transfer with our system.
>
>   You'll also get the opportunity to visit beautiful Elko, NV, and the
> mine/mill site 50 miles to the northwest. :-) I'll provide hotel and
> restaurant recommendations.
>
> Rich
>
> --
> Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |  Integrity            Credibility
> Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.        |            Innovation
> <http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517      Fax:
> 503-667-8863
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