Stadium WiFi and Weatherproof Tablet PCs? 46
StadiumOutfitter asks: "I've been tasked with setting up a wireless network for an open air stadium - not just for internet access but potentially with in seat food/drink orders and even interactive game related content. That's the easy part, really. What I'd really like to find is a rugged and weatherproof handheld device (tablet or PDA style) that can do Wifi. The plan is to rent them out during gamedays for people who want to participate, but can't bring a laptop. Any suggestions?
Misquote (Score:1)
this should read "spilled beer and crazy drunks"
Here's one. Looks good but expensive. (Score:4, Informative)
It's quite pricy, but if you think you can rent them out (especially at pro-sporting event level prices!), I suspect you can recover the cost pretty neatly. Can you tell us which stadium it is?
Re:Here's one. Looks good but expensive. (Score:1)
Re:Here's one. Looks good but expensive. (Score:3, Insightful)
If you go w/ a PPC solution, this will let you force any program to run in "Kiosk" mode, meaning none of the Windows Mobile interface (close button, other programs, etc) will be accessible.
Re:Here's one. Looks good but expensive. (Score:2)
Re:Here's one. Looks good but expensive. (Score:1)
Think about the cost savings benefit and the replaceability. Depending on negotiations I'm sure that you could get them dirt cheap (considering their list price, the winning company also gets free or co-op marketing) and have them throw in a warranty that covers dropping, etc. Then make sure the warranty also covers modifications, such as silicon, epox
Security (Score:3, Insightful)
The ideas about ruggedizi
Why? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Why? (Score:3, Funny)
OT: [rant]I have worked less than 3 block from that damn ballpark ever since it opened. And Damnit. I now hate baseball and baseball fans...and all t
Re:Why? (Score:1, Funny)
People will love to see their "out sick" co-workers on the web pissing in public. Mention Camila Harris (sp ?) a bunch of times, too - and the new chief of police, there are certainly enough prima-dona motorcycle cops standing around doing nothing, they could ticket some pissers...
Use a lower cost alternative (Score:5, Interesting)
It seems that the best way to recoup costs is not to buy some ruggedized, high-cost version of something that may or may not be popular. Think about the industry as a whole; you probably can't count on any end-user device being attractive to customers for more than a year. There will always be newer and better to replace the older.
Just bulk buy the regular version of the device for a reduced price and rent a protective jacket as an additional cost.
This a) provides an additional revenue stream (think embroidered team logos and reselling your device for markup), and b) reaffirms to the client the idea that it is, in fact, their responsibility to return the device in good working order. Protective sleeves are easily replaceable by anyone. Rather than paying a tech lots of dollars to repair a ruggedized device, you can replace protective covers with minimal overhead.
Re:Use a lower cost alternative (Score:2)
go in and setups the preferences and remove all the unneeded software.
Re:Use a lower cost alternative (Score:1)
Re:Use a lower cost alternative (Score:4, Insightful)
A padded neoprene sleeve with a vinyl window, slipped over a device that was designed well in the first place, should be plenty for most applications. If you really want rugged hardware, Google is much faster than Ask Slashdot, and it has a lower percentage of comments saying "you should've googled, idiot!".
Test screens for sunlight viewability. If beeps and boops are required, test speakers for audibility. Test batteries for operation over a wide temperature range, and make sure the manufacturer will replace any batteries that fail or degrade prematurely. Make sure dust and crud won't gum up the buttons or charging contacts.
Good luck getting wireless connectivity with no bits that stick out. Antennae don't last long, and they're hard to weatherproof.
The wireless part has me curious. How does your radio scheme deal with huge numbers of users in a small area? If you're trying to broadcast content to all of them at once, do the protocols support doing it with a single transmission? Does the application software?
Furthermore, for interactive applications where the user devices will be transmitting, does the system deal robustly and fairly with overload situations? Does efficiency plummet as utilization rises?
Given that the antennae integrated into handhelds are scarcely better than dummy loads, what sort of antenna gain do you need on the access point end to provide plenty of SNR? Consider the radio environment of the venue, given that metal surfaces will cause reflections and raise the noise floor. Also consider that reflections might make it difficult to divide the area into zones served by multiple access points, and devices might hop between points sporadically and quickly due to signal fluctuations.
Are the Laptops Water-Proof? (Score:2)
Google provides the rest of the information you need, of course. And Froogle.
Seun Osewa (Afriguru.com) [afriguru.com]
Re:Are the Laptops Water-Proof? (Score:2, Insightful)
Motorola (Score:4, Funny)
psion netpad fits well (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.psionteklogix.com/public.aspx?s=com&
Handspring Treo 600 (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe your ballpark is already named after a cell phone company.....
here is a better idea (Score:1, Insightful)
Panasonic Toughbooks are a fit (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.panasonic.com/computer/toughbook/hom
Re:Panasonic Toughbooks are a fit (Score:1)
Re:Panasonic Toughbooks are a fit (Score:1)
Talk about rugged, a friend of mine who sells these things has a picture of one of these that stopped a bullet in Iraq! The bullet was still lodged in it and it booted!
Dear Slashdot; do my job for me, k thx (Score:1)
DIY embedded terminals? (Score:5, Informative)
First off, I must agree with the idea of ruggedized, waterproof tablets. Laptops can easily be worn out in one season of ham-fisted sports-fans opening, closing, dropping, etc. Also, the spilled beer, weather, etc is a big issue.
What I would include in the spec would be:
Plain old touchscreen beats a tablet because you can touch it with anything. With a tablet you need the special pen, and if you teather it you just violated the first item. Besides, no matter how well you tie it on, it'll get broken off eventually. With a plain touchscreen it can be operated with a finger, or a cheap stylus, or even a regular pen, also your cost drops. On a similar note, it should be in a protective case, and sealed shut. like an oversized version of those rubberized sleaves you can get for iPaqs. This will protect the device, can have an easily replacible window (greasy fingers, sharp pens,random scratches, etc), and with large rubberized edges will reduce the chances of being dropped, lessen the damage when it does happen, and prevent the patrons from hurting themselves.
The protective casing can also help loss prevention by making it too large to slip in a purse or backpack, and can be colored to match the decor of the venue. A friend of mine does something similar with a laser pointer he hands to children to ask questions and point things out at the planitarium he runs.
On the issue of wireless, perhaps it would be cheaper to setup bluetooth access points around each section and have those use 802.11b/g or regular cat5 to link into the network. This reduces the cost per unit as well as increases battery life (you're going to have to recharge these things, and the battery will be the bulk of the weight).
An additional benefit to bluetooth is it's short range, regular access throughout the stadiums, but setup special bluetooth gateways around the exits that will alert security if one of the units is about to leave the venue.
Now here comes the big part. You don't make these things from normal computers running winCE or anything even x86 platform. Set up big servers somewhere safe and put all your processing power there. Make the units run off microcontrollers, running linux or some other free OS, with just enough capability to 1) run the touchscreen (serial or USB HID), the bluetooth, tcp/ip stack, the LCD and some form of terminal software (vnc or a remote X windows session). So then, all the user sessions are running on some beefy servers that can each handle 100 clients running a web browser, or macromedia flash, whatever you're doing the apps in.
Now the clients can easily run off a 16MB CF card using midori-linux + iceWM + rsh (like what i'm running my Compaq IA1 internet appliance on).
So, to summarize, you'd end up with:
anyways, sorry for the rambling braindump format, i'm done now.
Re:DIY embedded terminals? (Score:1)
Furthermore, I understand that there are a number of things that you can do to extend the range of 802.11 frequencies and bridges but I'm not familar with any to extend Bluetooth.
Re:DIY embedded terminals? (Score:2)
Re:DIY embedded terminals? (Score:1)
What is the speed rating of BT? If you went G on the wifi side you can get 54Mbps but what about BT? I'm sure even 11Mbps with 802.11b is enough for any web based application though.
Re:DIY embedded terminals? (Score:2)
I thing BT should be fast enough. And BT is far cheaper than the 802.11 would be. 50 was a conservative figure, i'm sure there'd be more s
Peer into the future: In too deep! (Score:2, Informative)
Here is what I'd say, go with a PDA (PocketPC or Palm) but you'd have to develop some sort of automatic wireless backup software that runs the backup of the softare and data before the battery dies, like at a certain point, 10% of battery left. Otherwise you'd be tired out by constantly reviving and restoring data to th
Palm Tungsten C (Score:3, Informative)
They have WiFi (including WEP-128, and a VPN client compatible with Poptop [poptop.org]), a graphical SSL web browser, an email client, and can even do SSH2 [sealiesoftware.com]. It's an Xscale 400MHz based PDA, so it may even run Linux some day [linux.org.uk]. :-)
Losses and Damage (Score:3, Insightful)
Sharp zaurus SL-6000 (Score:4, Informative)
- runs linux, so nobody will steal it
- 1 meter drop tested
I dunno if the gadgets are any good, but you
sound like who sharp had in mind.
I also don't know how water-resistant they are.
FWIW, a random anecdote claimed that they worked
ok after drying out.
But hey, if you wanted something other than random
anecdotes, you wouldn't ask here would you
Cool, Free PDA! (Score:2)
Seriously though, how many people bring laptops to games?
This sounds like trying to fill a niche that doesnt really exist...
If you just want 'at your seat ordering', add a tiny keypad to each seat to request a 'clerk' to come see you...
Otterbox.com (Score:2, Informative)
Otterbox.com - Armor PDA Cases [otterbox.com]
These cases look like a good solution to your needs.
Hamilton Tiger Cats? (Score:2)
Or perhaps Bob Young himself? That'd be real cool.
Unfortunately I have no advise on rugged PDAs for you, other than they'd probably be very expensive. With whatever you end up buying, you'll want to do some sort of limited trial first, where there are say only 100-500 available on a first-come first-server basis. Very soon you'll see how rugged they are, and how much demand there is,
kangaroo.tv (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.kangaroo.tv/