PDAs and the US Navy

[moehlert]

Alright folks, break out the collective wisdom. I am part of a group that is looking at how to best integrate PDAs (whatever hardware and whatever software) onboard Navy ships.

I leave to go aboard a pre-commissioned ship that will be our floating test lab in about 3 weeks and would love to get all of your input on what hardware/software is suited to what tasks (to include entertainment and well as performance support).

Please also reply if this is just too vague and I should include more info.

Thanks

MArk :D

[JonnoB]

Put WiFi access points all over the ship and stream videos from a central server. You could install PocketDiVX, PocketTV, and of course, use WMP to watch almost any format.

[spg]

Put WiFi access points all over the ship and stream videos from a central server. You could install PocketDiVX, PocketTV, and of course, use WMP to watch almost any format.


Good tip for entertainment. What other type of Naval functions will they need to be doing with the PDAs?

I would recommend creating a handheld web-site for the ship that announcements could be posted on and such. It could be hosted off of an on ship server.

[JonnoB]

Good tip for entertainment. What other type of Naval functions will they need to be doing with the PDAs?


What, you think they want more than PDA? Do you think they actually want to work?

Another suggestion is to include CF GPS and nautical mapping software so when the on-board computer fail, they know where they are.

[spg]

Good tip for entertainment. What other type of Naval functions will they need to be doing with the PDAs?


What, you think they want more than PDA? Do you think they actually want to work?

Another suggestion is to include CF GPS and nautical mapping software so when the on-board computer fail, they know where they are.


I don't know, that is why I was asking. And the GPS is a good idea as well.

[DWalsh]

- Repairs & Maintenance
- Ordering & Stock Replishment
- Inventory Data Capture
- Asset Tracking

Would be a good start. There's a ton of possibilities though.
They could also all be nicely interface to your back end systems.

Regards,

David

[Gen-M]

Email, access to electronic tech data, Online education, elimination of paper wherever you can. Add a symbol barcode reader for data collection.
Voice over IP might also be possible. (I'll let you worry about the security implications).

[dunneldeen]

I seem to remember patrols & watches being a large part of my navy career. How about:

- Software to log a roving patrols activities. Record oil levels, guage levels, or just check that you stopped somewhere you were supposed to. When you report back to CIC/Engineering/Bridge you dock the pda and it submitts the information to a central repository so everyone has access to the information. An intelligent system could even look at the data and flag appropriate personnel of alarming conditions or trends.

[finalstatic]

Some of the more useful things (having spent 10 years in the Navy) that I could think of for PDA's onboard ship..

Mind you I'm thinking along the lines of a ruggedized Symbol device.(albeit it is a Palm device..but you'll see my logic, unsure if there is a PocketPC-based device along these same lines).

- Planned Maintenance activities
Technician syncs device in the morning, gets his scheduled maintenance for the day. The associated card is downloaded into the device. Each piece of equipment has a barcode. Worker scans the barcode and commences work. With a wireless lan, maintenance progress could be tracked as the worker checks off each step.

Along the same lines of that, inventories of consumables and other items unique to the workcenter could be maintained, so that when maintenance begins, the worker can be assured that all the materials are available.

- Underway watch rotations/In port watch schedules

- Engineer roving patrols (taking temps, measurements etc), via wireless LAN these could be reported back to the Engineering Officer of the Watch, for a real time look at what conditions are like in the engineering spaces.

The possibilities are really endless, most of it boils down to whether the command and or NAVSEA etc would be willing to assist in a pilot program of that nature.

I think there could be two types of information available, work related, and more professional related.

[DWalsh]

Plagiarist :wink:

Yes, Symbol does make the same device in Windows CE flavour.

Regards,

David

[finalstatic]

Whoops... :o

Just expanded I guess..kinda got back into the technician mindset and was rambling about some of the things that I think a system like that would be useful for.

Former STG1(SW)

The real barrier to this type of application would be ensuring the crew had the discipline to use it correctly and that it was useful and not a hindrence to their day to day tasks.

It would have to be a very rugged device to survive shipboard life.

[lar3ry]

The real barrier to this type of application would be ensuring the crew had the discipline to use it correctly and that it was useful and not a hindrence to their day to day tasks.

Your comment about discipline is correct. Otherwise, most night patrols will be spent playing PPC Solitaire...

[handheldplanet]

We did some OEM stuff with a company called Trident Systems last year. They were working on fitting every sub in the fleet with wi-fi access points and iPAQs with wi-fi cards in them. Really cool stuff if you ask me! You can check out their site http://www.tridsys.com/

Good Luck!

[DrtyBlvd]

Is it just me or does the big brother thing occur to anyone else?