[OSGeo-Discuss] Mobile GPS data collection...

[Bob Basques]

All,

I'm more inclined to go with some sort of Web Based Syncing of the data 
collection.

My first thought was to use a WebServer on the device that handles the 
data collection as a standalone device, and also the communications with 
a main database server.  This is just a starting point for conversation 
however.  But it's all dealing with automating things to the fullest 
extent.  Having the Webserver on the mobile device handle the 
communications with the main Database server instead of having the user 
worry about it.  All the user sees is whether the Web servers have had a 
connection yet and were able to sync with each other.  This type of 
system would work with a automatic wireless connection or a manual 
syncing process.

I would also propose having a auto-tracking map where most, if not all, 
of the input is done via a spatial interface.  This seems to be the 
easiest type of interface to use for such things and doesn't add to the 
training aspects appreciably.

bobb




Tyler Mitchell wrote:
> I've also done some Pocket PC (windows) based mobile computing 
> applications a few years ago.  This was on the IPAQ (before HP took 
> over Compaq) and was a forestry field data collection from surveys of 
> waste left over after logging.  We sold a few copies of it.
>
> The weakest link was the database connectivity (and some general 
> annoyances with the Embedded VB environment).  I ended up sync'ing 
> with an Access db on the client PC through ODBC.  It worked pretty 
> well, but had these weak links that were not the easiest for new users 
> to handle.  It was certainly not a cross platform or flexible solution 
> but filled the gap.
>
> Also, the platform was very slow.  I found populating drop-down lists 
> with more than a few values was slow. This was on the oldest model, 
> 266Mhz processor though :)  Anyway, all that just introduce a bit of 
> what I've done.
>
> I think that having a cross platform solution is ideal, but I'm 
> thinking it's going to be tough due to the hardware and PC sync'ing 
> issues.  It seems there are some solutions out there that allow 
> sync'ing with the Microsoft ActiveSync using an open source protocol 
> (I forget the name).  There also appear to be some issues with 
> PDA->USB->Networking with windows host PCs due to drivers.  I'm 
> curious if anyone has worked through that.  It'd be ideal to avoid the 
> 'sync' problem and get straight into tcp/ip connectivity to databases 
> or via rsync.
>
> Any thoughts on this?  Others have similar issues?
>
> Tyler
>
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