Supporting collaborative field operations with personal information processing systems

This paper describes a two-year research project to develop a personal information processing system (PIPS) solution for the roving industrial field operator. Our PIPS system comprises (1) an RF network to deliver wireless digital information, (2) a wearable computer for delivering web-based information (the hardware is a two-piece system composed of a belt-worn NetPC attached via a curly cable to a handheld unit with a mouse/display device combination), and (3) software applications that provide added value in the field. Unique challenges in designing such a system for this environment include providing: (1) good RF coverage in an environment with many metal structures; (2) an intrinsically safe, lightweight, low-cost hardware system; and (3) software that is compatible with the wearable system and supports collaboration in the field.