The World Runs On Telemetry

"Telemetry" is a word you don't often hear slung around. It's also one of those words you hear thrown around by high-tech types, that makes novices put up a defensive palm and back away - "Sorry, I don't speak computerese!" So what is it, and why might it be the most important word we will learn in the 21st century?

"Telemetry" is any technology used for reporting information from a remote location. In a way of speaking, you're doing it right now! When you visited this web page, your web browser sent an HTTP request through the Internet to our server, and our server answered with the data for this page. Although you're doing it to read this page, not just to check and make sure our server's working (but thanks for the thought anyway!).

We use telemetry to find out all sorts of things going on in the world. Weather equipment is one sort of telemetry - we can hook thermometers, wind gauges, rain gauges, and humidity sensors up to wires, connect those wires to a server, and the server can broadcast the current conditions anywhere from there. If you have a weather applet on your screen anywhere, that's another application of telemetry. Burglar and fire alarms are another kind of telemetry.

The progress we've made on the digital sphere in the past twenty years has rapidly advanced the places where we can apply telemetric systems. Just a few of those uses are:

* Agriculture - monitoring a crop's moisture, and perhaps turning on a sprinkler if it gets too dry.

* Water management - everything from salinity to PH balance to reading your meter once a month.

* Defense - A big one, telemetric systems are in use to remotely monitor borders and battlefields.

* Vehicles - Whether a simple tracker to find the position of your delivery van, or sensors to tell the temperature of a Formula one racecar's tires or even a gauge to measure how much ice has formed on a satellite, telemetry in vehicles has hundreds of applications.

* Medicine - also known as "outpatient monitoring."

* Wildlife research - why they capture seals, fasten a tracking device on them, and turn them loose again.

* Retail businesses - theft and loss prevention are obvious uses, but recently vending machine companies have begun putting their dispensers "online" - the machine can send an order to a passing route trucks to tell it that it's out of product.

* Law enforcement - we've mentioned a couple of other applications. But those "ankle bracelets" used for house arrest are a form of remote monitoring as well.

The Many Kinds of Barcode Scanners

Oh, don't look at us like that! This is a fun topic! Apparently for the simple application of optically scanning data, we have dozens of special needs for each industry, and a Swiss Army knife's worth of gadgets to meet them. Speaking of Swiss Army knives, have you ever noticed that they always have a corkscrew? Who wants their soldiers popping open bottles of Bordeaux out in the trenches, anyway? Must be why the Swiss never successfully invaded another country. Anyway...

Barcode readers can come in the shape of:

* PDA housing - just a sensor on the end of a PDA.

* Fixed position housing - it stays put, you bring the thing to it.

* Pens - at least it's shaped like a pen. It doesn't write anything.

* Handheld scanner - the most common kind. Shaped like a gun, or perhaps a Star Trek phaser.

The "reader" part of a barcode scanner may take any one of the following forms:

* Omni-Directional - Many red lines bouncing off the barcode at once, ensuring that at least one line will be able to read the barcode no matter what direction it's rotated. That's why supermarkets have the star-shaped scanner light, so the clerk can just zip everything through instead of having to turn each can of peas the right way.

* Camera-based - The newest kind, these use 2D imaging in a form of OCR reading.

* CCD readers - for when you need real accuracy and dense information, these are hundreds of tiny LEDs which practically taste the code instead of just winking at it.

* Laser scanners - the red line bounces off the black and white stripes. You've seen it a million times.

* Pen-type readers. You shine a point of laser light across a stripe of code.

And finally, there's different methods and uses for each of these:

* The pen (sometimes called the wand) is used to carry around and zip off a code here and there. Only used when you don't care about speed.

* Semi-automatic handhelds - Those phaser-shaped ones that beam a line of red light. Point and shoot, cowboy. Used in places where you might have to scan hundreds of codes in an hour - like the grocery store!

* Fixed-mounted readers - Something which you might find at an assembly line or warehouse, mounted on a wall and scanning the code on boxes or shipping containers as they pass by. Also used by things like mail-sorting machines. You know those funny little lines on the envelope when you get your bill in the mail? Those things.

* Reader gates - similar to the last one, but we wanted one more entry here just so our writer gets a hearty paycheck. Reader gates are actually like those supermarket checkstand scanners, and also they use them at places like libraries for checking out materials.

Pick and choose the one that's right for your business. Remember to test it in your business environment to make sure its the kind that will keep your business running efficiently. And be careful to use what you've learned here for good, not evil.

Industrial Computing Reaps Returns On Investment

The title of this article appears to make common sense. Sure, who wouldn't agree? But our observation shows that not everyone realizes just how important computing is to their industry.

We could see how some entrepreneurs don't place high value on computing if, say, they work in something that's inherently non-technical in the first place. But we see high-tech companies that don't even seem to have faith in high-tech solutions just like the ones they sell!

The better-organized company wins the market. When a corporation is composed of thousands of people and vehicles, it has to operate like a single being. It has to think fast and act fast. At the "soul" of that corporation, there must be the perfect union of information, decisiveness, and action.

Let's put it in terms that a modern audience can understand: Video games. Specifically, the kind of video game referred to as RTS - Real-Time Strategy. Remember that the Japanese have a motto: "Business is war." Well, a real-time strategy game challenges you to be the general in charge of an army, playing against other armies while defending your base, or conquering another nation, and so on. You might have heard of Warcraft, Starcraft, America's Army... games like those.

If you play one for a while, you appreciate that the whole game rests on the interface to co-ordinate your forces. Whether it's realistic soldiers, elves and orcs, or Klingons vs. Vulcans, your forces are worthless if you can't marshal them effectively in the fastest time.

You see this all the time in the business world. The first innovator or the best product doesn't always win the market - it's the one who controls their business in the most fluid way. Having better access to information lets you react in a faster way, sometimes leaving the competition months behind.

One can try to calculate the return on investment in, say for example, implementing telemetry in your vehicle fleet. Sure, you'll save some gas and wear on tires, and also save on some personnel since you can do more with fewer people. But the secondary benefits are incalculable. Faster, more reliable delivery of goods and services will be something that gets you more customers. Saving the hassle of filling out report sheets and hand-checking equipment will take more stress off of your employees, making them happier and more productive. Implementing automation of as many boring tasks, which are easily prone to errors, will save everyone a lot of worry. And a dependable, reliable fleet can take your business into the future. The total return is incalculable.

The military, aerospace, and heavy industrial sectors give us a sneak peek at the future, for technological advances made in those fields will eventually trickle down to the private sector. Here's just a few of the cutting-edge devices that are attracting attention in the field.

Head-mounted Displays

Nothing makes a fashion-statement that says, "We are the Borg - you will be assimilated - resistance is futile!" like a mounted display with a glass screen that fits over one eye. Yet that's exactly what a head (or helmet) mounted display looks like. It's a miniature computer with a transparent screen in front of one or both eyes. It's not at all uncomfortable, and can display all manner of both textual and graphical data.

Instead of "virtual reality" - those people you see at computer trade shows with wraparound headsets as they play an immersive 3D game while moving around and looking like an utter nerd - these are called 'augmented reality' or sometimes 'computer-mediated reality'. For the viewer, they can project a map, diagram, or mock-up onto the real world, or simply feed a data stream of scrolling text. These have a number of applications:

·           Aviation - piloting a jet or helicopter. These are usually built right into the helmet and can include night vision goggles, targeting displays, or other data.

·           Ground tactical situations - These can be military, police, or fire and paramedic. Who couldn't perform better with a link to a computer running in one eye?

·           Engineering and medicine - Fix a power plant boiler with a virtual 3D map of its insides visible, or perform open-heart surgery with a continuous feedback of the patient's vital signs.

·           Sports - Even pilots of ground vehicles, such as Formula One race cars, can benefit from an advanced telemetry system.

The most prominent manufacturer of these devices so far has been Liteye Systems, Inc. To see someone in action with one of these systems is breathtaking; it's almost as if they were psychic. Still too pricey for the private sector, but we all known that technology tends to trickle down to home affordability eventually.

Wristmount PDAs

Just a little bit smaller? If we get Personal Data Assistants down just a little bit from their current handheld size, we'll have something just like Dick Tracey's "2-way wrist TV". And that would be too cool. Especially with touch-screen technology or stylus input. These devices are so specialized that only limited industrial and military uses apply, but really wearable computers are within range for the private sector.

Thermal Imaging and Night-Vision gear

Applications for this run anywhere from night hunting to science exploring to police and military work. Wearable thermographic cameras which detect radiation in the infrared range are shaping up into a very handy science. With them, a power-line repairman can find an overheating transformer, a fireman can see through smoke to rescue a victim, a construction engineer can spot heat leaks in insulation, and a chemist can find out which beaker of acid is about to be a good reason to pull the Halon dump switch and run.

These are just some of the electronic devices that we've seen make advances in the past few years. With them, we are slowly but surely augmenting ourselves into a realm where we will someday function with many more senses than what nature provided us with.

In contrast to teens sharing music on their Zunes and Linux geeks playing Doom on their iPods, industrial markets for mobile devices are all about the work. This is a different world, where entertainment and shiny interfaces takes a backseat to practical, reliable technology solutions. The performance of these devices can literally be a matter of life and death. Here are a few updates in the always-active world of mobile industrial computing.

Ruggedbook

Have you ever taken a look at commercials for notebook-style laptop PCs? In the world of mobile-computing commercial-land, bloggers post pictures from the cozy comfort of a WiFi cafe while sipping a cappuccino, college students take notes in drama lecture hall, and stock day-traders peruse their portfolio from a deck chair by the pool. They never show the real-life world where electronic gadgets are a shy match for our rough-and-tumble world. The soccer mom with kids and dogs clambering in and out of an SUV, the hardhat construction worker dodging reckless backhoe drivers and flying rebar chunks at the building site, or the industrial factory workers in an environment of noisy machines and bubbling vats of chemicals.

How many mobile devices have you lost to the unavoidable accidents that happen every day? From spilled coffee to dropping them down a flight of steps to being just one second late telling your co-worker "Don't set that there!", mobile computers have to survive in a rough and tumble world that doesn't always "handle with care" or read the warning labels.

Samwell is a company that realizes this, with products such as their RuggedBook line of mobile devices. Their commercial handheld PDAs, like others in the Ruggedbook product line, are tested under rough-handling conditions including vibration, water and dust, humidity, extreme temperatures, and of course good old impact with the floor. Another product is the  4P Intrinsically Safe PDA, which is being marketed for use in rugged industries such as mining. We can't wait for all mobile technology to follow suit. If you're tired of having to buy a new PDA every time your idiot co-worker decides to baptize yours in latte, you can't wait either.

Mobile POS systems

You know what's an old paradigm that's ready to go? Cash registers! Cash registers and sales counters and standing in line - they're all holdovers from the days when, well, cash was the only way to do business. How about a waitress who could take your order, ring up your bill, and swipe your debit card right there at the table? A concert ticket-taker who could mill through the crowd selling seats on the spot? A clothing store where you could just ring up your purchase right there in the fitting room?

POS - it stands for Point-Of-Sale - is becoming a mobile solution more and more. Handheld devices can display an easy-to-use menu system, scan a barcode, ring up a sale, accept money from a debit or credit card, and - here's the awesome finish - print out a receipt! All right there on the spot. You can carry a sales counter around in your pocket. Now the next step is for grocery carts that scan the barcodes on the products when you put them in your cart, and a slot on the handle for your debit card.

Wearable computing

A computer that you can just wear and have it function more like a part of you has bridged out beyond the "computer jacket" you see MIT students playing with. Wrist-mount PDSa, such as the Zypad made by Arcom Control Systems, are being used in fields that require computer use when the user's hands, voice, eyes or attention are needed elsewhere. Devices in this line integrate a GPS receiver, Wi-Fi access, Bluetooth connectivity, and custom programs on a screen with a simple graphical user interface to make the computer more mobile than ever. The keywords here are 'light' and 'comfortable'. When it feels no more intrusive than a wristwatch and doesn't look like something only Batman could handle, we know we're winning.

Devices such as the Liteye HMD, as well as other "head's up displays", have already found a legion of uses from military to the industrial sector. Engineers can use them to see "inside" a machine, mapping it to a labeled diagram. Doctors can use them to map portions of the brain while they perform surgery. Police can use them to assist in tactical situations against criminals.

But what about smaller businesses? Like any technology, the market curve for head-mounted displays is slowly emerging into the range where it's affordable for the private sector. A general-purpose wearable computer with a display mounted so it hangs unobtrusively before your eyes has many possibilities. We could use our imaginations and come up with a few suggestions. Somebody, somewhere, will some day think of these ideas again, perhaps without even reading them here first.

Wiki your world.

What if you could look at the Eiffel Tower and have Wikipedia fetch the page on it at the same time? Image recognition is coming into a time when it's going to be at least practical for man-made objects. We already have engineers and scientists use HMDs to provide stereoscopic views of CAD diagrams which overlay what they're looking at. How about if you could use this while hiking and camping, for instance, to identify edible plants?

Write your blog.

With wearable devices getting more comfortable and portable every year, it's only a matter of time before you could wear a hip-mounted keyboard and touch-type an article, with the HMD serving as a review and research space where you could look up facts as you go. To write while walking may sound silly to the average person, but creative writers everywhere wish they had such a system. Finally, a way to capture those ideas that come to you when you're out walking!

Augmented reality games.

Now that HMDs are coming into their own era, trivial entertainment uses don't seem like such an extravagant usage when the price is coming within the range of high-end gaming systems. We already have the Nintendo Wii, with its famous active remote, which allows the simulated motion of swinging a golf club or wielding a sword. Now we could take it to the next step. Virtual reality headsets are a poor substitute, because being completely cut off visually from the outside world requires you to stay in one place while playing. But imagine a golf course with a Wii remote, real course terrain, and a virtual ball on an HMD, complete with real-time data feedback.

Aid your memory.

Many of us have a social handicap where it's challenging to remember other people's names. For people with ADD, Alzheimer's, and other memory deficiencies, having a personal, unobtrusive little "teleprompter" would be a godsend.

Lifestreaming.

Already, this use is being deployed, after a fashion. "Lifestreaming", as any Read/Write-Web or LifeHacker fan could tell you, is the technique of continuously sharing your life online. We already have head-mounted cams and microphones where users podcast their every waking (and sleeping) moment to their audience. An HMD would just be an extra feature.

Map your path.

This is another area that's already being deployed. GPS data is one of the chief applications of an HMD, for police and military use as well as pilots and navigators. the next step is simply to put that map data right in your eye, where you don't have to take your eyes off the road or the controls to receive instant positional feedback.

Watch your kernel compile.

Linux and BSD geeks, and programmers of every stripe, often tout their wonderful command line, which allows them to engineer at the speed of thought. Now imagine having a command console right by your head wherever you go. Just like with writers, programmers could turn coding into an activity that doesn't require you to live in a chair your whole life.

Cheat at Jeopardy.

OK, we're kidding. We don't mean to imply that Ken Jennings, the holder of the all-time record for the longest winning streak on the US-syndicated game show "Jeopardy!" was using anything but his natural brain power. Nope, it would be ridiculous to think that he cleared 74 games in a row undefeated using a pocket Wikipedia link and an HMD implanted in his temple. We wouldn't dream of suggesting such a thing! Even though he had such a freakishly encyclopedic knowledge of so many obscure topics, and was able to recall any fact on them in seconds. No, not at all.