REF Integrated Solutions, a subsidiary of REFCorp, has developed an application that integrates the Palm handheld with a global positioning system (GPS) device.
The application, developed for Anglo American field geologists, allows data previously logged by hand to be digitised at the origin.
Exploration mining companies, explains Anglo geologist Johann Smuts, take soil samples from a geographic area for lab testing. Several factors of the area must be logged, such as soil type and colour. The location the sample is taken from is vital, he says.
This data was previously logged by hand onto a control sheet, which would later be submitted to a data capture department. The REF application allows the electronic input of the relevant information, which can later be synchronised with a central database.
Integrated Solutions MD Vernon Penny says downloading can even be done wirelessly, although the feature is not in use at present. "There is no need for it right now, but the capability exists." The Palm can be connected to a Garmin 12 XLGPS unit via serial cable, which will note the exact location at the push of a button. "You don`t need to know a thing about the Garmin," Penny says, "other than how to turn it on." Other information is entered via drop-down menus with pre-defined fields. There is also cross-checking of fields to eliminate human error.
"There are people that have used the Palm device independently, using Pilot Forms as a basis to log information, but nobody has gone that route of incorporating GPS data and the soil log data into the Palm Pilot," says Smuts.
The program runs on all Palm devices.
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