Posted by
michael
on from the you'll-put-your-eye-out dept.
freitasm writes "Geekzone is reporting on Ike, made by Surveylab. Ike is a handheld data capture device that integrates GPS, an electronic compass, a laser distance meter, an inclinometer, a digital camera, and a Pocket PC 2003 handheld in a single unit, ideal for GIS and other surveys."
I'm in engineering physics (lasers and other stuff to those who don't know), and graduates always pull pranks on a certain day, very ceremonial blah blah blah. Anyway, I tried to convince them that we should get an aquarium of fish with lasers attached and put it in the office window or something. But would they go for it? No. Bastards and their "feasibility".
Is that a Pocket PC, GPS and Laser Range Finder...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4, Funny
...in your pocket or are you just happy to see the hole you're burning into my retina.
Been waiting my whole life!
by
smokin_juan
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· Score: 4, Interesting
... for something like this with a cell phone. this is close but the wait continues.
Could be useful to golfers
by
The+I+Shing
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· Score: 3, Interesting
I've been asked by golfers if there's a device that will let them measure the exact distance to the pin (or at least the green).
I've always been at a loss to tell them what they could use, at least when it came to handheld optical devices.
-- You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
Re:Could be useful to golfers
by
bugnuts
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· Score: 3, Interesting
There are several devices for this, from the $20 monocular to a $300 laser rangefinder.
The $20 version simply has markings, similar to a rifle scope, where the user simply matches the height of the pin to the markings and reads the result. The farther away, the smaller the pin.
A $20 version that uses no batteries is often far better suited for most golfers, imho. The only time it's not as useful is when the pin is missing or non-standard size.
Re:Could be useful to golfers
by
CrankyFool
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Hand-held optical devices that measure distance have been around for a while -- I have the Bushnell Yardage Pro 500 which lets me get a distance reading up to about 1000 yds. Hell, Bushnell makes range finders specifically for golfers.
The only problem with these that I've found is that you need some decent flat surface perpendicular to the laser to reflect it -- so trying to laze, say, a building works pretty well, but trying to laze the flag on the green would be problematic (and I've had issues trying to laze some mammals and such at longer distances when trying to set my sights).
Ike is a handheld data capture device that integrates GPS, an electronic compass, a laser distance meter, an inclinometer, a digital camera, and a Pocket PC 2003 handheld in a single unit, ideal for GIS and other surveys."
Still, it's missing a wasabi dispenser.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
GPS not accurate enough
by
plcurechax
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· Score: 5, Informative
GPS, Differential GPS, and WAAS isn't accurate enough for high quality survey work. All of these of limited accuracy of more 1 meter, whereas any decent survey should measure error hopefully less than 10 millimeters.
Re:GPS not accurate enough
by
addie
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· Score: 4, Informative
Perhaps for engineering survey work, but for geological mapping, this tool would be a god-send. 1 meter accuracy is more than enough to get a general idea of the lay of a formation. A notebook would still be necessary to take down strike/dip measurements, but those could then be easily correlated to the GIS info back at the camp. The digital camera could also be useful for keeping track of variations in color, consolidation, weathering features, etc on samples in a formation.
I hope Nokia didn't help them with the Bluetooth code.
Too much real-world value
by
RobertB-DC
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· Score: 4, Interesting
I'm afraid this gadget has too much real-world application to be of interest to the geek crowd.
We just bought a few acres of land, and this device would have been the ideal tool for the surveyor. It's clear from the discrepancies between the survey drawing and the aerial views that the surveyor made his measurements, wrote them down, then made his drawing from his notes. The numbers are right, but the outlines of the buildings aren't quite where they should be.
This device, plus a windoze PC with appropriate software, will let the surveyor simply walk to the survey points, point & shoot, hotsync, and print. It's just what the surveyor needs to do his/her job.
So it's obviously too useful to be a geek toy.
-- Stressed? Me?
Of course not.
Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
This sounds like a civilian version of the GPS/lidar/etc/binoculars recently used by the military for spotting targets for artillery and other attack missions.
Look at the target, center the crosshairs, read the *target's* GPS co-ordinates (or dump them into the battle net).
-- Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Real neat but expensive!
by
JGski
·
· Score: 4, Informative
$12K a pop! That won't be on my Christmas list for a while. I'm sure people will whip up an open-source clone project. Interestingly this a lot like something I "invented" as a teen (on paper anyway, I still have the drawings in my garage)! I won't give away my age, except to say that was more than one patent life ago.:-)
BTW, the secret to finding prices on a web site for products that "don't list price" is to check the press releases - reporters tend to ignore press leads that don't have an estimated price. It would not look good with readers to present rave article for a product none of them can afford or budget for.
Re:Real neat but expensive!
by
Hartree
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I think that's NZ dollars, so it's about $8400 US. Still pretty pricey.
Thanks for giving this neat gadget for Christmas. I thought I'd send you this email from it to let you know how it's working out. As you can tell from the coordinates, I'm backpacking in the Alaskan wilderness. It's great here. Just me and nature. I've never done any camping this ambitious, but with this toy how can I go wrong? Here's some pictures. Isn't it beautiful? Oh look! There's a bear and some cubs a couple hundred yards away. Here's some pictures. Hold on, I'll let you know exactly how far away with the laser rangefinder. The big one is precisely 220.6 meters away. This is so cool! Oh now it moving. Now it's 190.2 meters away. Make that 153.6 meters. It's hard to beleive something that big could move so fast. 98 meters now. Hmmmm, I don't suppose I'm irritating the bear by shining this laser in it's eyes? It's 46 meters away now. I should probably go. I love you Dad. Tell Mom I lov...
<NO CARRIER>
Archaeology
by
ParticleGirl
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
It's the perfect tool for an archaeologist. We need compasses, GPS, inclinometers, digital cameras-- but I probably couldn't use it under the canopy of a jungle, and since the battery is only good for 8 hours and rechargable in a car-- and I wouldn't see a car nor a generator for a couple of months-- it remains, sadly, impractical. I guess I just have to tote around the 6 separate, heavier instruments and the supply of batteries. If this had smarter batteries, I would be ecstatic right now. I'm sure that archaeologists who work closer to civilization (and therefore care less whether they're carting 1 instrument or 6) are probably pretty psyched, though!
Slashdot Mirror
...can you mount it on the head of a shark?
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Back in my day we only had luck and those flashy things up in the air at night.
For all of us that don't have enough toys to begin with. This will consolidate some of them..
Its a tricorder!
...in your pocket or are you just happy to see the hole you're burning into my retina.
... for something like this with a cell phone. this is close but the wait continues.
I've been asked by golfers if there's a device that will let them measure the exact distance to the pin (or at least the green).
I've always been at a loss to tell them what they could use, at least when it came to handheld optical devices.
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
Still, it's missing a wasabi dispenser.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
GPS, Differential GPS, and WAAS isn't accurate enough for high quality survey work. All of these of limited accuracy of more 1 meter, whereas any decent survey should measure error hopefully less than 10 millimeters.
"Ike is a Pocket PC running [...] Bluetooth."
I hope Nokia didn't help them with the Bluetooth code.
I'm afraid this gadget has too much real-world application to be of interest to the geek crowd.
We just bought a few acres of land, and this device would have been the ideal tool for the surveyor. It's clear from the discrepancies between the survey drawing and the aerial views that the surveyor made his measurements, wrote them down, then made his drawing from his notes. The numbers are right, but the outlines of the buildings aren't quite where they should be.
This device, plus a windoze PC with appropriate software, will let the surveyor simply walk to the survey points, point & shoot, hotsync, and print. It's just what the surveyor needs to do his/her job.
So it's obviously too useful to be a geek toy.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
This sounds like a civilian version of the GPS/lidar/etc/binoculars recently used by the military for spotting targets for artillery and other attack missions.
Look at the target, center the crosshairs, read the *target's* GPS co-ordinates (or dump them into the battle net).
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
BTW, the secret to finding prices on a web site for products that "don't list price" is to check the press releases - reporters tend to ignore press leads that don't have an estimated price. It would not look good with readers to present rave article for a product none of them can afford or budget for.
It's the perfect tool for an archaeologist. We need compasses, GPS, inclinometers, digital cameras-- but I probably couldn't use it under the canopy of a jungle, and since the battery is only good for 8 hours and rechargable in a car-- and I wouldn't see a car nor a generator for a couple of months-- it remains, sadly, impractical. I guess I just have to tote around the 6 separate, heavier instruments and the supply of batteries. If this had smarter batteries, I would be ecstatic right now. I'm sure that archaeologists who work closer to civilization (and therefore care less whether they're carting 1 instrument or 6) are probably pretty psyched, though!
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