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20-JUL-2004, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TDS Recon Helps Coast Guard Improve Small-boat Search and Rescue
New process wins Coast Guard's Captain Niels P. Thomsen Innovation Award
Contacts:
Amy Urban
Tripod Data Systems
541-753-9322
amyu@tdsway.com
Julia Oliver
Sanda Communications
503-445-2400
jo@sandacom.com
CORVALLIS, Ore.—July 20, 2004—A United States Coast Guard unit has found a new use for the rugged TDS Recon™ handheld computer-improving procedures for small-boat search and rescue. The Station Oregon Inlet unit, based at Cape Hatteras, N.C., recently won the Coast Guard's Captain Niels P. Thomsen Innovation Award, established to recognize individual members or teams that find ways to improve Coast Guard practices.
Under the previous procedure, when the Coast Guard received a rescue alert, Search and Rescue Mission Coordinators would have to create a search pattern on computers and then verbally pass the numerous coordinates to the rescue vessel over VHF radio or cellular phone. The crew members on the vessel would then have to manually enter the information into the boat's GPS and plot it out on paper charts. These tasks could prove to be difficult during the inclement weather conditions often associated with search and rescue.
With a GPS-equipped Recon and a satellite phone, now the boat can leave for the search area immediately once the Coast Guard receives an alert. When the base station office has generated a search pattern map, it is e-mailed directly to the Recon on board the boat. The Recon then displays the search pattern on its 240 x 320-pixel color screen.
The Recon also helps the four-person small-boat crew devote more resources to scanning for the rescue target. With the search pattern displayed on the Recon, one person can steer and navigate the boat, leaving the other three available to look for the target out on the water. The old procedure required one person to steer, one to navigate and one to measure each leg of the search pattern using a stopwatch. As a result, only one person on the boat was available to scan for the rescue target.
"With the Recon, when a rescue call goes out our crews don't have to delay plotting the chart while they wait for the search pattern to be developed. That lets them reach the site sooner," said Petty Officer Justin Schnute at the Station Oregon Inlet unit. "And with three sets of eyes instead of just one looking for the target, we stand a better chance of finding the target quickly."
"We're consistently impressed at the imaginative and different ways users are applying the Recon's versatile capabilities," said Dale Kyle, TDS rugged handhelds product manager. "In this case, it's particularly gratifying to know the Recon may have a hand in saving lives." Schnute said the Station Oregon Inlet unit is continuing to work as a test site for the new procedure. Based on those results, the Coast Guard plans to use the Recon on a much wider scale.
The Recon runs Windows Mobile 2003 software for Pocket PCs and is designed for all-day operation in extreme outdoor and industrial environments. It meets MIL-STD-810F military standards for drops, vibration and temperature extremes. It also has an IP67 rating, meaning it's impervious to water and dust.
The Recon's rugged construction makes it ideal for land surveying, mapping, forestry, utilities, law enforcement, military and other outdoor applications. It weighs just 17 ounces, and its rounded edges provide a comfortable grip. Large, widely spaced buttons are easy to use, and its reflective color TFT display is bright and clear in sunlight.
The Recon comes with a 200 or 400 MHz Intel XScale processor, 64 MB of SDRAM and up to 128 MB of internal nonvolatile Flash storage. It also features two CompactFlash slots, plus a standard 9-pin serial port and a high-speed USB port for connecting to a PC. The standard PowerBoot Module™ features a 15-hour rechargeable NiMH battery.
Tripod Data Systems (TDS) designs and manufactures hardware and software for mobile computing applications. TDS handheld computers are designed for extreme outdoor and industrial environments. With the rugged RangerTM, TDS was the first manufacturer to create Windows CE-based handheld computers meeting military specifications for drops, vibration, immersion and both high and low temperature operation. In 2003 the company developed the Recon, a Windows Mobile-based handheld built to the same rugged specifications.
TDS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trimble. The company is headquartered in Corvallis, Ore., and was founded in 1987. For more information about TDS, visit www.tdsway.com/handhelds, e-mail handhelds@tdsway.com or call 541-752-9000.
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Tripod Data Systems, Recon, Ranger and PowerBoot Module are trademarks of Tripod Data Systems. Windows and the Windows logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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