The Contact communication system has found its way beyond polar and mountain areas, and only yesterday, a young backpacker completed the Appalachian trail using Contact for updates.
Three ocean rowers are currently dispatching sharks, whales and deep sea dips live back from the North Atlantic.
Tech becomes a lot trickier when hardware must work in high camps, on speedy travel, in rough terrain and extreme conditions. The various parts, usually the edge of latest technology must inter-connect, and deliver without a webmaster or a chance for resupplies.
With Contact 3.0, the tracking is made by the expedition straight to their website, thanks to specialized mathematical code, similar to the space crafts self plotting.
Future additions will include layered satellite maps, more hardware options, and cool interactive features.
LINKS
|
Expedition technology - sorting out the difference
Posted: Jul 14, 2005 01:09 pm EST
South Pole, North Pole, the Drake Passage, a stroll through Tibet, the Appalachian trail, Afghanistan, Everest death zone, Karakorum climbers, Antarctica meteor hunters, ocean rowers, Greenland speed expeditions and Tsunami aid workers - what do they all have in common? Contact 3.0!
Laptops and sat phones are common in expeditions where gear can sit snuggly in base camps or travel smooth and temperate paths. E-mails are sent to webmasters for manual updates.
The "sexiest package in Himalaya"
It becomes a lot trickier when dispatches are live, and the hardware must work in high camps, on speedy travel, in rough terrain and extreme conditions. The various parts - usually the edge of latest technology - must inter-connect, and deliver content without a webmaster or a chance for resupplies.
Called the "sexiest package in Himalaya" by a multiple Everest summiteer, Contact 3.0 was initially created for an unsupported North Pole expedition, where laptops would freeze on the sleds and hardware had to be small enough to protect by body heat.
The solution was a handheld computer, and a customized cable which connected it to the sat phone. But the new PDA technology lacked support and drivers - developing software solutions for it was trickier than for regular computers. As a result, blogging softwares' for PDA's simply weren't around.
Backpackers Editors Choice
That's when Contact 3.0 was born. That year and onward, the first live images, videos and text from polar areas and climbing high camps began to surface. Posted straight to web, all that was needed was a 160 gr. (6 oz) iPAQ PDA, a small digital camera, a tiny battery pack refill for Lithium AA bateries - and a sat phone.
The system was soon featured on the first page of Circuit (the New York Times tech section) and awarded Backpackers Editors Choice - the biggest award in the American outdoor industry - only this spring.
GEO: Smart self plotting
Since then the system has evolved into a full-blown communications tool also for full size computers, and is continuously upgraded. One addition is automated positioning. Expedition positions have been tracked on maps before, but they have been plots done manually by webmasters on geographical or satellite maps. While the input and the map are easy, the automated plot is the crux. With Contact 3.0, the tracking is made by the expedition straight to their website, thanks to specialized mathematical code, similar to space crafts self plotting.
The future...
The Contact communication system has found its way beyond polar and mountain areas, and only yesterday, a young backpacker completed the Appalachian trail using Contact for updates. Three ocean rowers are currently dispatching sharks, whales and deep sea dips live back from the North Atlantic. One of the tricks has been to make the extreme tech user friendly, beyond age and language barriers. The system has now been used in a number of languages outside English; from Dutch and Baltic to Polish and Spanish.
Future additions will include layered satellite maps, more hardware options, and cool interactive features. Stay tuned...
Launched only 2 years ago, the technology has now served hundreds of expeditions worldwide. This is Backpacker Magazine's review:
Do it in real time...
"Ever wish the folks back home could see the sights you're seeing? Now they can - in real time - without leaving their desks. With this field communications system, you can transmit expedition dispatches, photos, video, and audio from anywhere on the planet to any Web site server, all for less than 2.5 pounds trail weight. The key is proprietary software that links up to a digital camera, satellite phone, PDA, and keyboard (all included in the package prize)."
Tests in the Canadian Rockies
"Various hardware packages are available, but we like the backpacker setup which includes a Globalstar Sat phone, Compaq Ipaq 2200 PDA, and SONY DC-P93 digital camera. During tests in the Canadian Rockies, we found the system easy to use and were surprised at the near-instant transmission time. Simply type your message, attach the multimedia files, and hit send. An optional software upgrade (USD 200) will automatically plot your dispatch position to an online map. The system is solar rechargeable and includes all cables, a Pelican case, and software training. (USD 2800, 2lbs, 8oz.)"
|
