Case study for automating field data collection with smart phones Alicia Farag Program Manager Gas Technology Institute Des Plaines, Illinois n 2011 the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and Operations Technology Development (OTD) launched a new research initiative, called the Intelligent Utility program, to investigate the use of consumer grade technology, such as smart phones and tablets, as field data collection devices for utility companies. New consumergrade technology has the potential to expand mobile, electronic, geospatial data collection to a utility’s entire workforce. Low cost and easy to use, smart phones and tablets have the potential to provide leap-frog capabilities to the utility industry to transition away from paper-based data collection towards GIS-based data collection. In addition to developing software for smart phones and tablets, GTI is also developing technologies to complement the capabilities of consumer-grade devices. Examples
include the integration of real-time high-accuracy GPS and barcode scanning to further automate the data collection process.
Case Study As part of GTI’s Intelligent Utility initiative, Avista Utilities in Spokane, Wash., is exploring the use of smart phones and mobile GIS to automate field data collection for exposed pipe surveys. The new technology replaces paper maps and forms with software that allows field crews to view the GIS and collect inspection results on an iPhone. Manual data transfer and entry in the office is replaced by an automated process that uses cloud computing to make electronic survey data available in the office immediately without the need for manual entry.
August 2012
The results of the pilot project demonstrated that the mobile data collection system provides value in the following ways: •
Field crews are able to see facility data on a handheld device. Previously, field crews were only equipped with paper maps and were required to call back to the office to request additional information when it was needed. This manual information request to the back office was eliminated with the Intelligent Utility application because the field crews can view GIS data in the field. Further, the ability to see facility data encouraged field crews to use the application because they saw immediate value to their work flow.
•
Data is validated in the field. The mobile data collection application is structured in a way that allows data entry to be validated in real time. This feature reduces the occurrence of inaccurate data being recorded in the field. Although it is difficult to quantify the cost savings for field data collection validation, Avista recognizes the value of improved data quality in terms of risk reduction.
In March 2012 Avista commenced a pilot project to evaluate the new
Pipe survey application running on an iPad 58 APWA Reporter
technology being developed by GTI and their partner 3-GIS. Four iPhones with a GIS-based data collection application were implemented with field crews responsible for performing exposed pipe surveys.
