ArcPad
A tree inventory system for Corvallis
21 March 2005
The goal of this project is to create a system to manage the urban forest here in Corvallis, as a joint project for the city and the OSU campus. I have not met with anyone yet... just getting my ArcPad feet under me for now.
There will be a field-based ArcPad component to support data collection and maintenance operations, and an office-based database/report component; the office side could be expanded later to work with ArcIMS and/or a non-spatial asset management system that the city already uses.
I've worked with ArcPad in the past but never done a customized application for it.
The obvious starting point for the ArcPad side is this ESRI sample project which installs very easily...
Hardware for ArcPad
The lesson I learned using a 3900 series iPaq was that a daylight visible display with as big a screen as possible is really important. I just went out and got myself a Dell Axim X50V which has a small but high res screen. I wanted a pocket sized device. The city is currently using last year's model, the X5.
Interfaces -- If you are using a specific GPS receiver, make sure your PDA can talk to it! Some have RS232, some don't. My Axim has USB and Bluetooth; my plan is to try out Bluetooth. The tangle of cables on a GPS backpack system can be really annoying.
Slots (SD/MMC, CF, PCMCIA) -- CF is nice because 1GB cards are coming down in price, and you can get other accessories such as network and serial port adapters in this form factor. SD/MMC memory cards are slightly higher than CF.
Batteries -- The Dell has an oversized battery available. Some units like the 3900 iPaq have a non-removeable low capacity battery, limiting field work to about 2 hours. This sucks. Make sure the PDA has a removeable, high capacity battery.
Optional extras- keyboard, ruggedized case.
Ruggedized PDA's like the TDS Recon are very cool but so expensive that you could get three or four Axim's and carry the extras as spares! Unless you are doing field work that really absolutely requires it, I'd say get a cheap one and a good case. Don't get the 'rugged case' that HP sells! It's overpriced and full of holes that will let water in.
Windows CE devices
DAP uses a turtle on their web page so it must be good!
Dell (Axim)
HP (iPaq formerly a Compaq product; and from before the merger, the Jornada)
NEC MobilePro
Symbol Technologies PDT 8100, PPT 2800
TDS (Recon, Ranger(formerly from At Work Computers))
Trimble (rebadged Recon, GeoExplorer XT)
Tablet PCs
Panasonic Toughbook 01
Working with ArcPad
Learning to live with ActiveSync
Maybe ActiveSync is so good now there are no longer any 'annoyances.' My advice is to upgrade your handheld to the latest version of PocketPC (2003?) and run at least 3.7.1 version of ActiveSync on your PC.
I worked with a TDS Ranger a few months ago running Solofield and an older version of the O/S (maybe 2002?). Forget the serial port connection, ugh. Running ActiveSync over a serial port is not just slow, it's hard to get the PC and the Ranger to notice talk at all... Pop for the $25 USB/Ethernet adapter.
Software development
ArcPad runs on PocketPC devices; and that's normally the context in which you'd expect to use it. But it also runs on desktop systems. Customizing it normally requires Arcpad Application Builder, a $1500 add-on to a $500 product.
I'd really like to see what it takes to develop code without the Application Builder... at least to build custom menues. The App Builder creates XML files. I can write XML files, with emacs...
To test your custom app, you can run ArcPad in a 'skin' on your desktop system. Basically you just provide it with a picture of your PocketPC device and it inserts the screen image into the screen area of the PocketPC picture. Here is the ESRI page on how to do this: Making a skin
Interesting ArcPad Options
GPS data quality
You can tell ArcPad to issue warnings regarding DGPS availability, PDOP, EPE, and 3D mode.
Paths
You can preset paths that ArcPad uses for things like maps & data, system files, and applets.
Audio
You can attach your own WAV files to events. See Tools->Options->Alerts.
A day in the field: Mission planning for ArcPad
Way ahead of time
How to collect useful data.
With and without GPS
Customizing ArcPad with applets etc.
The ArcPad Studio application looks suspiciously like specialized XML editor to me. It creates an XML file that configures ArcPad. It creates text files that contain VB code.
Preparing maps and data
How much memory will all that take?
RAM versus compact flash
Preparing a folder with ArcPad Tools
You can create an APM file (aka an "ArcPad Map") with the "ArcPad Tools" extension. ArcPad Tools come with ArcGIS 9; for early versions of ArcGIS 8 you can download a copy from ESRI.
In ArcView, start it up with View->Toolbars->ArcPad. It has three icons, one for setting up a project, one for checking in edits, and one for undoing check out.
The tool simply copies all the data you select into the output folder, and (if you check the appropriate box) creates the APM file. ArcPad only handles shapefiles so if you select data from other sources such as Geodatabases, the layers will be converted to shapefiles when they are copied.
This is a really good way to create a folder with more data than your PDA can handle. Don't copy data directly into the PDA unless you are sure it won't runneth over your memory.
Each shapefile also gets a new component: a file with the extension 'apl'; also in XML.
Here is a sample ArcPad APM "map" file. Here is a sample ArcPad APL file.
Using mission planning software
Debriefing
Pulling data out of ArcPad
Using it
Links
ArcPad product description page
Papers available online through ESRI
Park Maintenance system Battle Creek, Michigan
Noxious weed control] including aerial photos and groundtruthing with ArcPad
Aquatic Weed Control Using Mobile, Enterprise, and Web-Based GIS
Combining Mobile GIS and Indigenous Knowledge in Community Forest Management
GIS in Nutrient Management: A 21st Century Paradigm Shift
Hacks from afar
Some guy's notes on ArcPad and handhelds
Chris De Herrera's most excellent PocketPC site
