Thursday 9 December 2010
Theodolite runs on any iPhone with iOS 4.1 or later and also works on the new 4th generation iPod touch
Hunter Research and Technology today is pleased to announce the release of Theodolite 2.2 on the iTunes App Store. This novel multi-function augmented reality viewfinder app serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite became the #1 selling navigation app in the US App Store in December 2009 and September 2010.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone's live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated electronic viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, and the app is great for navigation, outdoor sports, home projects, and photography. Theodolite is used in the field by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, military personnel, competitive sportsmen, and search and rescue workers around the world.
Theodolite comes in three versions - Free, Basic, and Pro - to cover a range of customer needs. The flagship Theodolite Pro includes features for serious users, such as a zero reference angle mode, an A-B calculator for height, distance, heading, position, triangulation, and relative angles, e-mail export with KML data, system-wide clipboard integration, percent grade display, optical rangefinders, military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates, universal transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, and four latitude/longitude formats.
Version 2.2 of Theodolite adds enhanced photo geo-tagging features long requested by users. These features were finally made possible by recent iOS 4.1 and 4.2 updates. In addition to stamping geographical data on photos and screenshots as an overlay, Theodolite now writes geographical metadata into the image's EXIF header. This allows geo-tag aware applications, mapping tools, and image processing utilities to read this metadata from Theodolite photos and screenshots and use it for a variety of purposes. Metadata written into images by Theodolite includes latitude, longitude, altitude, bearing, map datum, compass convention (magnetic or true), and optional user notes.
With these new capabilities, Theodolite continues its role as a technology demonstrator app, showcasing the latest and greatest in iOS hardware and software capabilities. Version 2.2 also brings along new icon artwork, to better emphasize the app's augmented reality viewfinder features.
Theodolite runs on any iPhone with iOS 4.1 or later and also works on the new 4th generation iPod touch. On iPhone 4, the software implements an advanced "fusion" algorithm that combines gyro and magnetometer data. This fusion approach provides a more accurate, more responsive, and more robust compass measurement that automatically corrects for gyro drift and minimizes effects of magnetic interference. By simultaneously using the iPhone 4's three-axis gyro and three-component magnetometer, Theodolite is able to provide stable compass bearing to any landmarks visible in the camera viewfinder, regardless of how the user holds or points the device. This provides a significant increase in utility over traditional palm held compasses and compass apps.
Pricing and Availability:
As the name suggests, the demo version "Theodolite Free" is available for free on the iTunes App Store. The mid level "Theodolite Basic" costs $1.99, and the full featured "Theodolite Pro" is $3.99. More information, including screenshots, is available on the Hunter Research and Technology website. Media professionals interested in reviewing Theodolite can request a promotional code to download the apps from iTunes at no cost.
Thursday 25 November 2010
iPhone applications for winter
From condition reports to bargains on ski and snowboard equipment, here are some of the top iPhone applications to check out this season.
The North Face Snow Report
Since its launch last year, North Face’s free Snow Report has widely become the go-to app for conditions, with a mix of social media so users can see what others are saying about snowfall totals and other resort-related news with the built-in Twitter feature. The link to a resort’s webcam provides an instant look at the mountain, and mapping technology allows the user a hassle-free location feature. For backcountry enthusiasts, North Face this year released the free Trailhead, an app that finds trails and hikes based on your location and tracks your speed, distance, and elevation with GPS (Global Positioning System).
Ski and Snow Report
While not quite as dynamic as North Face’s version, the free Ski and Snow Report from Skireport.com tends to load a lot quicker. The app allows you to search and save your favorite resorts for easy access. Each resort report contains first-hand accounts and photos from others, both of which are nice resources, especially if you don’t always buy the resort’s ballooned snow report.
OnTheSnow Gear Guide
Thanks to OnTheSnow’s comprehensive app, prospective equipment buyers can head to their retail shop with all the information they need. The Gear Guide features detailed information on more than 230 pieces of ski and snowboard gear. Get reviews, pricing, and technical specifications, all of which you can compare against other products.
RealSki
Like a technological window, RealSki utilizes augmented reality technology to provide enhanced details about one’s surroundings. The free application, which requires a minimum of 3GS on the iPhone, will label trails, chairlifts, and other resort amenities simply by holding your phone as if you were going to snap a photo. Data pertaining to your immediate location will pop up on the screen, providing a precise way to determine locale. The technology can’t be used everywhere, but a handful of New England resorts are RealSki-ready, including Sunday River, Stowe, Jay Peak, and Loon.
Theodolite
Diving a little deeper into augmented reality technology is Theodolite, which displays real-time information about altitude, position, and inclination. If lost in the backcountry, it could provide a valuable tool for navigating back to civilization, provided you have a signal, of course. Three versions are available: Free, Basic ($1.99), and Pro ($3.99).
ITrailMap
The days of fumbling with a map on a windy lift ride are over. ITrailMap compiles the official maps for more than 650 resorts worldwide into one convenient app. While the free version allows the ability to download and store maps, iTrailMap 3D ($4.99) goes a step further, combining the traditional maps with GPS and 3-D technology, allowing you to track your vertical and distance skied, and upload those stats to Google Earth.
The Weather Channel
No weather app delivers so much simplicity with so many options. The Weather Channel remains the gold standard for pinpointing outdoor plans with its ease of use and the ability to transition between stored locations instantly, a tool that allows skiers and riders to try to discover which area is forecast to get more snow on any given day. The free version also includes animated radar and regionalized video forecasts. Upgrade to The Weather Channel Max ($3.99), and you’ll also receive traffic cameras and customizable maps.
Adaptunes
Whether you should be cruising down the mountain with your earbuds in is probably arguable. But in any case, the 99-cent Adaptunes will make sure you hear the music over the wind with an app that automatically adjusts your volume based on speed. Simply select the sort of activity you’re performing and volume control will be based on your movements.
Backcountry
For those thinking about getting into the backcountry experience, Backcountry provides invaluable tools for the novice. Find hikes in your area, including a GPS-led guide leading you to your start point, as well as tips and a checklist for venturing out into the mountains. Free.
Tapped
A handful of New England resorts — Sunday River, Okemo, Smuggler’s Notch, and Stratton — host Tapped, a free app that allows you to locate yourself with GPS on each resort’s specific trail map. You will also have the ability to locate family members and friends with a sharing function, locate key resources at the mountain, get up-to-the-minute resort information including snowfall and lift status, and record your tracks and log your vertical for the day.
Steep and Cheap
A longtime favorite online retailer for outdoor enthusiasts, Steep and Cheap released its first app this year, providing some of the best deals available. If you have used Steep and Cheap, it’s the same deal with the free app, one item at a time for sale for a limited amount of time, or until supply runs out.
Skullcandy
Outdoor action sports retailer Skullcandy gets into the mobile business with its free 3-in-1 app, providing the latest weather and conditions related to surfing, skating, and skiing and riding. Additionally, you will be able to stream music from over 50 artists, and watch action sports videos created by the Skullcandy team. Due to some mature material, this app is recommended for those over age 12.
The North Face Snow Report
Since its launch last year, North Face’s free Snow Report has widely become the go-to app for conditions, with a mix of social media so users can see what others are saying about snowfall totals and other resort-related news with the built-in Twitter feature. The link to a resort’s webcam provides an instant look at the mountain, and mapping technology allows the user a hassle-free location feature. For backcountry enthusiasts, North Face this year released the free Trailhead, an app that finds trails and hikes based on your location and tracks your speed, distance, and elevation with GPS (Global Positioning System).
Ski and Snow Report
While not quite as dynamic as North Face’s version, the free Ski and Snow Report from Skireport.com tends to load a lot quicker. The app allows you to search and save your favorite resorts for easy access. Each resort report contains first-hand accounts and photos from others, both of which are nice resources, especially if you don’t always buy the resort’s ballooned snow report.
OnTheSnow Gear Guide
Thanks to OnTheSnow’s comprehensive app, prospective equipment buyers can head to their retail shop with all the information they need. The Gear Guide features detailed information on more than 230 pieces of ski and snowboard gear. Get reviews, pricing, and technical specifications, all of which you can compare against other products.
RealSki
Like a technological window, RealSki utilizes augmented reality technology to provide enhanced details about one’s surroundings. The free application, which requires a minimum of 3GS on the iPhone, will label trails, chairlifts, and other resort amenities simply by holding your phone as if you were going to snap a photo. Data pertaining to your immediate location will pop up on the screen, providing a precise way to determine locale. The technology can’t be used everywhere, but a handful of New England resorts are RealSki-ready, including Sunday River, Stowe, Jay Peak, and Loon.
Theodolite
Diving a little deeper into augmented reality technology is Theodolite, which displays real-time information about altitude, position, and inclination. If lost in the backcountry, it could provide a valuable tool for navigating back to civilization, provided you have a signal, of course. Three versions are available: Free, Basic ($1.99), and Pro ($3.99).
ITrailMap
The days of fumbling with a map on a windy lift ride are over. ITrailMap compiles the official maps for more than 650 resorts worldwide into one convenient app. While the free version allows the ability to download and store maps, iTrailMap 3D ($4.99) goes a step further, combining the traditional maps with GPS and 3-D technology, allowing you to track your vertical and distance skied, and upload those stats to Google Earth.
The Weather Channel
No weather app delivers so much simplicity with so many options. The Weather Channel remains the gold standard for pinpointing outdoor plans with its ease of use and the ability to transition between stored locations instantly, a tool that allows skiers and riders to try to discover which area is forecast to get more snow on any given day. The free version also includes animated radar and regionalized video forecasts. Upgrade to The Weather Channel Max ($3.99), and you’ll also receive traffic cameras and customizable maps.
Adaptunes
Whether you should be cruising down the mountain with your earbuds in is probably arguable. But in any case, the 99-cent Adaptunes will make sure you hear the music over the wind with an app that automatically adjusts your volume based on speed. Simply select the sort of activity you’re performing and volume control will be based on your movements.
Backcountry
For those thinking about getting into the backcountry experience, Backcountry provides invaluable tools for the novice. Find hikes in your area, including a GPS-led guide leading you to your start point, as well as tips and a checklist for venturing out into the mountains. Free.
Tapped
A handful of New England resorts — Sunday River, Okemo, Smuggler’s Notch, and Stratton — host Tapped, a free app that allows you to locate yourself with GPS on each resort’s specific trail map. You will also have the ability to locate family members and friends with a sharing function, locate key resources at the mountain, get up-to-the-minute resort information including snowfall and lift status, and record your tracks and log your vertical for the day.
Steep and Cheap
A longtime favorite online retailer for outdoor enthusiasts, Steep and Cheap released its first app this year, providing some of the best deals available. If you have used Steep and Cheap, it’s the same deal with the free app, one item at a time for sale for a limited amount of time, or until supply runs out.
Skullcandy
Outdoor action sports retailer Skullcandy gets into the mobile business with its free 3-in-1 app, providing the latest weather and conditions related to surfing, skating, and skiing and riding. Additionally, you will be able to stream music from over 50 artists, and watch action sports videos created by the Skullcandy team. Due to some mature material, this app is recommended for those over age 12.
Monday 8 November 2010
Lessons from an Awalkhed school
Tucked in a small hamlet of Maharashtra, a primary school for tribal children has displayed that collective efforts can reap benefits for the entire village. Awalkhed is a small village in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. This village, which was otherwise reeling under acute water shortage, although being equated to Chirapunji, has made an effort to find a solution by successfully harvesting rain water for fulfilling its water needs.
With some parts of the country receiving heavy rainfall, while others getting less than normal rain, there is lower productivity, crop loss and agricultural distress. This state of affairs need not always be the case. One can harvest rain water and make sure that it percolates into the soil and replenishes ground water.
Aseema Educational Trust, an NGO working for the upliftment of tribal children, is running a primary school for the tribal children in Awalkhed village, Igatpuri taluk, Nasik district of Maharashtra. This school has made efforts to conserve water on its 14-acre campus. In spite of receiving an annual average rainfall of 3000-3500 mm in this village, there is an acute shortage of drinking water during the summer. The village was reeling under water crisis. A simple exercise on the school campus worked wonders for the community.
Aseema, with sought guidance from Raghavendra Rao, a consultant and an expert on organic agriculture and ecosystem development, took up the task of conservation of water on their school campus. The campus has an open well which fulfilled the drinking water needs of the communities around. It was important to keep the well recharged at all times.
The intention of the consultant was to demonstrate how plentiful rain water could be conserved through the summer to sustain both the well for drinking and the fields for agriculture, was translated into this. This was done in hope that the villagers could adopt these practices for water conservation in their own lands.
The entire plot was surveyed by Raghavendra Rao and a comprehensive rain-water harvesting plan was drawn up. Raghavendra says, “this was done by walking around and deciding on appropriate places where run-off rainwater could be harvested.” Since the topography is undulating and the hill sides are steep, contour lines were marked using a theodolite, a measuring instrument, and trenches were dug along them. He adds, “the bunding was done starting from the ridge to the valley. This ensured that the rainwater was harvested where it fell, and the run-off, if any, did not acquire erosive force to wash the top soil away.”
In the valleys between the hillocks, a series of check dams were constructed to slow down the run-off water and give it a chance to infiltrate into the ground.
Ecologically self-sustaining system
Once the earthwork was completed and physical structures were constructed, the task of planting a diversity of fast-growing nitrogen-fixing and multi-purpose tree, shrub and herb species was undertaken so as to make the entire area a self-sustaining ecological system producing food, fruit, fibre, fertiliser and fuel wood was undertaken. Species like mango, guava, jackfruit, jamun, sapota, fig, ber, etc were planted to transform the patch into a fruit orchard. Soon, a small area of the flat land will be turned in to a green patch of diverse vegetables, cereals and pulses. This will ensure nutritious food for the children. Besides, the children get to know a thing or two about farming and water conservation practices.
Raghavendra exclaims, “the well is now getting recharged by subterranean streams, when it doesn't rain.” This gets rejuvenated because of the water harvesting work undertaken in the campus. The task has been accomplished in less than two years. As the ecosystem evolves and gets more complex, it will produce a diversity of food, fodder for livestock and serve as a habitat for birds, reptiles and insects.
Raghavendra Rao asserts that similar work can be accomplished in all the vastly degraded areas of our country. A demonstration such as this was accomplished with the participation of the community. This may also have the added effect of encouraging villagers in the surrounding communities to do similar things on their lands. With a little effort one can convert unproductive lands into oases of productivity - a mission for a greener, food and water secure country.
With some parts of the country receiving heavy rainfall, while others getting less than normal rain, there is lower productivity, crop loss and agricultural distress. This state of affairs need not always be the case. One can harvest rain water and make sure that it percolates into the soil and replenishes ground water.
Aseema Educational Trust, an NGO working for the upliftment of tribal children, is running a primary school for the tribal children in Awalkhed village, Igatpuri taluk, Nasik district of Maharashtra. This school has made efforts to conserve water on its 14-acre campus. In spite of receiving an annual average rainfall of 3000-3500 mm in this village, there is an acute shortage of drinking water during the summer. The village was reeling under water crisis. A simple exercise on the school campus worked wonders for the community.
Aseema, with sought guidance from Raghavendra Rao, a consultant and an expert on organic agriculture and ecosystem development, took up the task of conservation of water on their school campus. The campus has an open well which fulfilled the drinking water needs of the communities around. It was important to keep the well recharged at all times.
The intention of the consultant was to demonstrate how plentiful rain water could be conserved through the summer to sustain both the well for drinking and the fields for agriculture, was translated into this. This was done in hope that the villagers could adopt these practices for water conservation in their own lands.
The entire plot was surveyed by Raghavendra Rao and a comprehensive rain-water harvesting plan was drawn up. Raghavendra says, “this was done by walking around and deciding on appropriate places where run-off rainwater could be harvested.” Since the topography is undulating and the hill sides are steep, contour lines were marked using a theodolite, a measuring instrument, and trenches were dug along them. He adds, “the bunding was done starting from the ridge to the valley. This ensured that the rainwater was harvested where it fell, and the run-off, if any, did not acquire erosive force to wash the top soil away.”
In the valleys between the hillocks, a series of check dams were constructed to slow down the run-off water and give it a chance to infiltrate into the ground.
Ecologically self-sustaining system
Once the earthwork was completed and physical structures were constructed, the task of planting a diversity of fast-growing nitrogen-fixing and multi-purpose tree, shrub and herb species was undertaken so as to make the entire area a self-sustaining ecological system producing food, fruit, fibre, fertiliser and fuel wood was undertaken. Species like mango, guava, jackfruit, jamun, sapota, fig, ber, etc were planted to transform the patch into a fruit orchard. Soon, a small area of the flat land will be turned in to a green patch of diverse vegetables, cereals and pulses. This will ensure nutritious food for the children. Besides, the children get to know a thing or two about farming and water conservation practices.
Raghavendra exclaims, “the well is now getting recharged by subterranean streams, when it doesn't rain.” This gets rejuvenated because of the water harvesting work undertaken in the campus. The task has been accomplished in less than two years. As the ecosystem evolves and gets more complex, it will produce a diversity of food, fodder for livestock and serve as a habitat for birds, reptiles and insects.
Raghavendra Rao asserts that similar work can be accomplished in all the vastly degraded areas of our country. A demonstration such as this was accomplished with the participation of the community. This may also have the added effect of encouraging villagers in the surrounding communities to do similar things on their lands. With a little effort one can convert unproductive lands into oases of productivity - a mission for a greener, food and water secure country.
Saturday 6 November 2010
Newest iTunes Featured with Theodolite Augmented Reality Viewfinder App
Hunter Research and Technology has announced that its Theodolite app series is included in the new "The World Around You - Augmented Reality Apps" feature in the iTunes App Store. Theodolite serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. The app became the #1 selling navigation app in the US iTunes store in December 2009 and September 2010.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone's live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated electronic viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, and the app is great for navigation, outdoor sports, home projects, and photography. Theodolite is used in the field by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, military personnel, competitive sportsmen, and search and rescue workers around the world.
Theodolite comes in three versions - Free, Basic, and Pro - to cover a range of customer needs. The flagship Theodolite Pro includes features for serious users, such as a zero reference angle mode, an A-B calculator for height, distance, heading, position, triangulation, and relative angles, e-mail export with KML data, system-wide clipboard integration, percent grade display, optical rangefinders, military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates, universal transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, and four latitude/longitude formats.
Theodolite runs on any iPhone with iOS 4 and also works on the new 4th generation iPod touch. On iPhone 4, the software implements an advanced "fusion" algorithm that combines gyro and magnetometer data. This fusion approach provides a more accurate, more responsive, and more robust compass measurement that automatically corrects for gyro drift and minimizes effects of magnetic interference. By simultaneously using the iPhone 4's three-axis gyro and three-component magnetometer, Theodolite is able to provide stable compass bearing to any landmarks visible in the camera viewfinder, regardless of how the user holds or points the device. This provides a significant increase in utility over traditional palm held compasses and compass apps.
Pricing and Availability:
As the name suggests, the demo version "Theodolite Free" is available for free on the iTunes App Store. The mid level "Theodolite Basic" costs $1.99 (USD), and the full featured "Theodolite Pro" is $3.99. More information, including screenshots, is available on the Hunter Research and Technology website. Media professionals interested in reviewing Theodolite can request a promotional code to download the apps from iTunes at no cost.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone's live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated electronic viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, and the app is great for navigation, outdoor sports, home projects, and photography. Theodolite is used in the field by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, military personnel, competitive sportsmen, and search and rescue workers around the world.
Theodolite comes in three versions - Free, Basic, and Pro - to cover a range of customer needs. The flagship Theodolite Pro includes features for serious users, such as a zero reference angle mode, an A-B calculator for height, distance, heading, position, triangulation, and relative angles, e-mail export with KML data, system-wide clipboard integration, percent grade display, optical rangefinders, military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates, universal transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, and four latitude/longitude formats.
Theodolite runs on any iPhone with iOS 4 and also works on the new 4th generation iPod touch. On iPhone 4, the software implements an advanced "fusion" algorithm that combines gyro and magnetometer data. This fusion approach provides a more accurate, more responsive, and more robust compass measurement that automatically corrects for gyro drift and minimizes effects of magnetic interference. By simultaneously using the iPhone 4's three-axis gyro and three-component magnetometer, Theodolite is able to provide stable compass bearing to any landmarks visible in the camera viewfinder, regardless of how the user holds or points the device. This provides a significant increase in utility over traditional palm held compasses and compass apps.
Pricing and Availability:
As the name suggests, the demo version "Theodolite Free" is available for free on the iTunes App Store. The mid level "Theodolite Basic" costs $1.99 (USD), and the full featured "Theodolite Pro" is $3.99. More information, including screenshots, is available on the Hunter Research and Technology website. Media professionals interested in reviewing Theodolite can request a promotional code to download the apps from iTunes at no cost.
Tuesday 24 August 2010
iTunes has Theodolite 2.0
Virginia based Hunter Research and Technology today announces Theodolite 2.0 on the iTunes App Store. This novel multi-function augmented reality app serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Version 2.0 adds multitasking support and background task completion for iOS 4, a new optical-mechanical calibration, use of the iPhone 4 gyro for improved inclinometer measurements, and high resolution artwork for the iPhone 4 Retina display.
Williamsburg Virginia – Hunter Research and Technology today announces the immediate worldwide availability of Theodolite 2.0 on the iTunes App Store. This novel multi-function augmented reality app for the iPhone serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite became the #1 selling navigation app in the US and UK App Stores in December 2009 after being featured by Apple in the New and Noteworthy category of the iTunes App Store, and broke into the Top 40 Paid Apps ranking in the US and Top 20 in the UK.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone’s live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, and the app is great fornavigation , construction, hiking, boating, hunting, sightseeing, photography, and sports. The app is used in specialty fields by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, military personnel, and search and rescue workers around the world.
Theodolite comes in three versions – Free, Basic, and Pro – to cover a range of customer needs. The flagship Theodolite Pro includes features for serious users, such as a zero reference angle mode, an A-B calculator for height, distance, heading, position, triangulation, and relative angles, e-mail export with KML data, system-wide clipboard integration, percent grade display, optical rangefinders, military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates, universal transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, and four latitude/longitude formats.
Version 2.0 of Theodolite adds multitasking support and background task completion for iOS 4, along with revised graphics and a new optical-mechanical calibration. The app now makes use of the iPhone 4 gyro for improved inclinometer measurements, and includes high resolution artwork for the iPhone 4 Retina display. The result is a more accurate, more responsive display with amazing visual fidelity and detail.
“The iPhone 4 is an amazing sensor device, with improved horizontal and vertical GPS accuracy, a more robust magnetometer implementation, an improved 12-bit accelerometer, and a new MEMS gyro”, said Dr. Craig Hunter, Theodolite developer. “Combined with the stunning Retina display and an advanced SDK, it’s an engineer’s dream device that is ideal for augmented reality applications. I’m pleased that Theodolite is continuing its role as a technology demonstrator, showcasing the latest and greatest in iPhone hardware and software capabilities”.
Pricing and Availability:
As the name suggests, the demo version “Theodolite Free” is available for free on the iTunes App Store. The mid level “Theodolite Basic” costs $1.99 (USD), and the full featured “Theodolite Pro” is $3.99. The apps run on iPhones with OS 4.0 or later. GPS functionality requires an iPhone 3G, 3GS, or 4. Compass functionality requires an iPhone 3GS or 4. More information, including screenshots, is available on the Hunter Research and Technology website. Media professionals interested in reviewing Theodolite can request a promotional code to download the apps from iTunes at no cost.
Theodolite 2.0: http://hunter.pairsite.com/theodolite/
Purchase and Download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/theodolite-pro/id339393884?mt=8
Media Assets: http://hunter.pairsite.com/pr/
Hunter Research and Technology is run by Dr. Craig Hunter, a practicing engineer with 20 years of experience in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, and software development. Craig received the 2004 NASA Software of the Year Award and a 2004 Apple Design Award (Best Scientific Computing Solution on Mac OS X) for his work in softwaredevelopment . Craig founded Hunter Research and Technology in 2008 to create innovative and compelling apps that take advantage of the advanced hardware and software capabilities of iPhone OS devices. The company has 15 apps available on the iTunes App Store, and develops software and apps for a range of clients worldwide. iTunes, iPhone, iPod, and Retina display are registered trademarks of AppleComputer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Williamsburg Virginia – Hunter Research and Technology today announces the immediate worldwide availability of Theodolite 2.0 on the iTunes App Store. This novel multi-function augmented reality app for the iPhone serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite became the #1 selling navigation app in the US and UK App Stores in December 2009 after being featured by Apple in the New and Noteworthy category of the iTunes App Store, and broke into the Top 40 Paid Apps ranking in the US and Top 20 in the UK.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone’s live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, and the app is great fornavigation , construction, hiking, boating, hunting, sightseeing, photography, and sports. The app is used in specialty fields by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, military personnel, and search and rescue workers around the world.
Theodolite comes in three versions – Free, Basic, and Pro – to cover a range of customer needs. The flagship Theodolite Pro includes features for serious users, such as a zero reference angle mode, an A-B calculator for height, distance, heading, position, triangulation, and relative angles, e-mail export with KML data, system-wide clipboard integration, percent grade display, optical rangefinders, military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates, universal transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, and four latitude/longitude formats.
Version 2.0 of Theodolite adds multitasking support and background task completion for iOS 4, along with revised graphics and a new optical-mechanical calibration. The app now makes use of the iPhone 4 gyro for improved inclinometer measurements, and includes high resolution artwork for the iPhone 4 Retina display. The result is a more accurate, more responsive display with amazing visual fidelity and detail.
“The iPhone 4 is an amazing sensor device, with improved horizontal and vertical GPS accuracy, a more robust magnetometer implementation, an improved 12-bit accelerometer, and a new MEMS gyro”, said Dr. Craig Hunter, Theodolite developer. “Combined with the stunning Retina display and an advanced SDK, it’s an engineer’s dream device that is ideal for augmented reality applications. I’m pleased that Theodolite is continuing its role as a technology demonstrator, showcasing the latest and greatest in iPhone hardware and software capabilities”.
Pricing and Availability:
As the name suggests, the demo version “Theodolite Free” is available for free on the iTunes App Store. The mid level “Theodolite Basic” costs $1.99 (USD), and the full featured “Theodolite Pro” is $3.99. The apps run on iPhones with OS 4.0 or later. GPS functionality requires an iPhone 3G, 3GS, or 4. Compass functionality requires an iPhone 3GS or 4. More information, including screenshots, is available on the Hunter Research and Technology website. Media professionals interested in reviewing Theodolite can request a promotional code to download the apps from iTunes at no cost.
Theodolite 2.0: http://hunter.pairsite.com/theodolite/
Purchase and Download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/theodolite-pro/id339393884?mt=8
Media Assets: http://hunter.pairsite.com/pr/
Hunter Research and Technology is run by Dr. Craig Hunter, a practicing engineer with 20 years of experience in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, and software development. Craig received the 2004 NASA Software of the Year Award and a 2004 Apple Design Award (Best Scientific Computing Solution on Mac OS X) for his work in softwaredevelopment . Craig founded Hunter Research and Technology in 2008 to create innovative and compelling apps that take advantage of the advanced hardware and software capabilities of iPhone OS devices. The company has 15 apps available on the iTunes App Store, and develops software and apps for a range of clients worldwide. iTunes, iPhone, iPod, and Retina display are registered trademarks of AppleComputer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Friday 25 June 2010
Gyrotheodolite
A gyrotheodolite is used when the north-south reference bearing of the meridian is required in the absence of astronomical star sights. This mainly occurs in the underground mining industry and in tunnel engineering. For example, where a conduit must pass under a river, a vertical shaft on each side of the river might be connected by a horizontal tunnel. A gyrotheodolite can be operated at the surface and then again at the foot of the shafts to identify the directions needed to tunnel between the base of the two shafts. Unlike an artificial horizon or inertial navigation system, a gyrotheodolite cannot be relocated while it is operating. It must be restarted again at each site.
The gyrotheodolite comprises a normal theodolite with an attachment that contains a gyroscope mounted so as to sense rotation of the Earth and from that the alignment of the meridian. The meridian is the plane that contains both the axis of the Earth’s rotation and the observer. The intersection of the meridian plane with the horizontal contains the true north-south geographic reference bearing required. The gyrotheodolite is usually referred to as being able to determine or find true north.
A gyrotheodolite will function at the equator and in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The meridian is undefined at the geographic poles. A gyrotheodolite can not be used at the poles where the Earth’s axis is precisely perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the spinner, indeed it is not normally used within about 15 degrees of the pole because the east-west component of the Earth’s rotation is insufficient to obtain reliable results. When available, astronomical star sights are able to give the meridian bearing to better than one hundred times the accuracy of the gyrotheodolite. Where this extra precision is not required, the gyrotheodolite is able to produce a result quickly without the need for night observations.
Sunday 20 June 2010
The strange huge meteor-procession
What did American poet Walt Whitman mean by "the strange huge meteor-procession" that went "shooting over our heads" with "its balls of unearthly light"? These phrases appear in a short poem from Whitman's Leaves of Grass titled "Year of Meteors. (1859-60)."
It's 150 years later, and now we know. The July 2010 issue of Sky & Telescope gives full details of a new finding by Texas State University astronomer Donald W. Olson and colleagues. This press release summarizes their results, and the article is already making waves in the general media, such as New Scientist, the Los Angeles Times, or even the Tehran Times.
The Texas team links Whitman's words to a very rare celestial spectacle — a string of fireballs that marched, duckling style, across the evening sky for residents of the U.S. Northeast on July 20, 1860. The researchers clinch their case with a little-known but beautiful painting, The Meteor of 1860, by Frederic Church.
Frederic Church's home, Olana, offers a spectacular vista over the Hudson River.
Roger Sinnott
This is the latest in a remarkable series of projects that Olson and his honors classes have tackled during the past two decades. And this time, I got to tag along and see them in action.
For last summer's research trip, Olson headed to the Hudson/Catskill area of New York with coauthor (and English professor) Marilynn Olson, colleague Russell Doescher, and honors student Ava Pope. The prime attraction was Church's magnificent home, Olana, now a museum. The staff let us spend a whole day, poring through archives to look for clues about Church's
comings and goings in the summer of 1860.
Church was on his honeymoon, and Olana was still but a gleam in his eyes. So the newlyweds might have stayed in Catskill with Theodore Cole, a close friend and the son of Thomas Cole, a fellow artist of the Hudson River Valley School. It's tempting to imagine the couple enjoying the night air, perhaps on the Cole house's wide porch, when the meteors soared by.
The Texas researchers check out the home of Thomas and Theodore Cole, situated in Catskill, New York, directly across the Hudson River from Olana. In 1860, unlike today, there would have been a grand view from this porch to the south, where the meteor procession passed.
Roger Sinnott
Porches! Does anyone use them anymore? People certainly did in 1860, as we learned while going through an extensive paper by James H. Coffin in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge (Vol. XVI). Coffin trudged across New England with a theodolite, interviewing all the eyewitnesses he could. He found 16 in his own hometown of Easton, Pennsylvania, crediting his good luck to "the prevalent custom of our people, to sit at the front doors of their houses in summer evenings."
Coffin's exhaustive study helped the team get a clear idea how the meteor procession must have looked, not just to Frederic Church in Catskill, but also to Walt Whitman in New York City.
This is not the first time an Olson-led team has identified a chance celestial event as the catalyst for a great poet or artist's work. Six years ago they showed that Edvard Munch's haunting painting, The Scream, was not entirely a fantasy of the Norwegian artist's troubled mind. The Texas researchers learned that Munch was likely an eyewitness to a blood-red sky a few months after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, an event that vivified sunsets around the world and caused lurid twilights as far north as Oslo. The most famous versions of The Scream were painted several years after 1883.
Hey — want to hear the actual voice of Walt Whitman? The foremost American poet of his age died in 1892, but not before reciting a few lines from another poem of his, "America," into a wax-cylinder Edison phonograph
It's 150 years later, and now we know. The July 2010 issue of Sky & Telescope gives full details of a new finding by Texas State University astronomer Donald W. Olson and colleagues. This press release summarizes their results, and the article is already making waves in the general media, such as New Scientist, the Los Angeles Times, or even the Tehran Times.
The Texas team links Whitman's words to a very rare celestial spectacle — a string of fireballs that marched, duckling style, across the evening sky for residents of the U.S. Northeast on July 20, 1860. The researchers clinch their case with a little-known but beautiful painting, The Meteor of 1860, by Frederic Church.
Frederic Church's home, Olana, offers a spectacular vista over the Hudson River.
Roger Sinnott
This is the latest in a remarkable series of projects that Olson and his honors classes have tackled during the past two decades. And this time, I got to tag along and see them in action.
For last summer's research trip, Olson headed to the Hudson/Catskill area of New York with coauthor (and English professor) Marilynn Olson, colleague Russell Doescher, and honors student Ava Pope. The prime attraction was Church's magnificent home, Olana, now a museum. The staff let us spend a whole day, poring through archives to look for clues about Church's
comings and goings in the summer of 1860.
Church was on his honeymoon, and Olana was still but a gleam in his eyes. So the newlyweds might have stayed in Catskill with Theodore Cole, a close friend and the son of Thomas Cole, a fellow artist of the Hudson River Valley School. It's tempting to imagine the couple enjoying the night air, perhaps on the Cole house's wide porch, when the meteors soared by.
The Texas researchers check out the home of Thomas and Theodore Cole, situated in Catskill, New York, directly across the Hudson River from Olana. In 1860, unlike today, there would have been a grand view from this porch to the south, where the meteor procession passed.
Roger Sinnott
Porches! Does anyone use them anymore? People certainly did in 1860, as we learned while going through an extensive paper by James H. Coffin in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge (Vol. XVI). Coffin trudged across New England with a theodolite, interviewing all the eyewitnesses he could. He found 16 in his own hometown of Easton, Pennsylvania, crediting his good luck to "the prevalent custom of our people, to sit at the front doors of their houses in summer evenings."
Coffin's exhaustive study helped the team get a clear idea how the meteor procession must have looked, not just to Frederic Church in Catskill, but also to Walt Whitman in New York City.
This is not the first time an Olson-led team has identified a chance celestial event as the catalyst for a great poet or artist's work. Six years ago they showed that Edvard Munch's haunting painting, The Scream, was not entirely a fantasy of the Norwegian artist's troubled mind. The Texas researchers learned that Munch was likely an eyewitness to a blood-red sky a few months after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, an event that vivified sunsets around the world and caused lurid twilights as far north as Oslo. The most famous versions of The Scream were painted several years after 1883.
Hey — want to hear the actual voice of Walt Whitman? The foremost American poet of his age died in 1892, but not before reciting a few lines from another poem of his, "America," into a wax-cylinder Edison phonograph
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Antaresky's earth station antenna
Antesky Corporation is a Chinese multinational producer of communications devices. Antesky is a global designer, manufacturer, and supplier of communications equipment, services, and systems.
Antesky has introduced a new 7.3m C/Ku-band earth station antenna. This antenna is suitable for all systems integrators seeking to bring their systems on line faster and more economically. The new antenna features advanced dual-reflector technology with 16-piece precision formed aluminum reflector assembly. The main reflector is self-aligning, eliminating the requirement for field alignment.
The 7.3-meter earth station antenna gives high gain and has closely controlled radiation pattern characteristics. Antesky ensures that the antenna can be field deployed, with minimal testing of G/T performance, to be fully certified on site.
For high durability and low upkeep, the 7.3m earth station antenna is constructed from precision-formed aluminum with a hot-dipped galvanized. For additional assurance, Antesky Corporation provides a 3-year warranty as a standard on the antenna's structural components.
The benefits of selecting Antesky antennas are: self-aligning reflectors without using theodolite and easy to install, guaranteed high-qualified antenna structure, lower commissioning costs, and an assurance of superior performance, and faster and cheaper system implementation.
Antesky Corporation's satellite earth station system portfolio offers a complete RF solution to companies that are planning broadband satellite networks and companies implementing satellite systems for government, corporate or public communications networks.
Antesky Satellite Antenna Systems and Service
Antesky Science Technology Inc. is specially engaged in designing, manufacturing and installing satellite communication earth station antenna and relevant servo equipments. We can offer a complete line of earth station antenna products and systems, such as Satellite communication antennas, TVRO antennas, SNG Antennas, Flyaway antennas, antenna control system and tracking system.
Enduring Design
Antesky antenna reflector has the characteristic of good structure and mechanical properties. It adopts precision formed aluminum reflectors, extensive use of hot-dipped galvanized steel, and multi-layer protective painting. These high-qualified material and multi-layer protective measures improve anti-corrosion ability and extend the antenna life.
Performance
Antesky earth station antenna systems are designed by advanced CAD technology so that the antenna can get high effective, low noise temperature and low sidelobe. Due to the optimization design, it can achieve superior performance in a wide frequency.
All Antesky earth station antennas include a three-year limited warranty which is the longest in the industry.
Services
Round out your system package with full service program management, design, documentation, installation, and testing. The Antesky comprehensive service philosophy guarantees the final turnkey system solution meets or exceeds specified requirements.
Satisfaction
Antesky designs each system individually, engineering, installing and testing to meet or exceed customer requirements and system specifications. Antesky ESA satellite communications systems deliver the ultimate in performance and dependability in a single cost-effective package.
Faster, Easier Installation
Antesky antennas are specifically engineered to simplify and quicken installation, resulting in significant cost savings to our customers.
Antesky has introduced a new 7.3m C/Ku-band earth station antenna. This antenna is suitable for all systems integrators seeking to bring their systems on line faster and more economically. The new antenna features advanced dual-reflector technology with 16-piece precision formed aluminum reflector assembly. The main reflector is self-aligning, eliminating the requirement for field alignment.
The 7.3-meter earth station antenna gives high gain and has closely controlled radiation pattern characteristics. Antesky ensures that the antenna can be field deployed, with minimal testing of G/T performance, to be fully certified on site.
For high durability and low upkeep, the 7.3m earth station antenna is constructed from precision-formed aluminum with a hot-dipped galvanized. For additional assurance, Antesky Corporation provides a 3-year warranty as a standard on the antenna's structural components.
The benefits of selecting Antesky antennas are: self-aligning reflectors without using theodolite and easy to install, guaranteed high-qualified antenna structure, lower commissioning costs, and an assurance of superior performance, and faster and cheaper system implementation.
Antesky Corporation's satellite earth station system portfolio offers a complete RF solution to companies that are planning broadband satellite networks and companies implementing satellite systems for government, corporate or public communications networks.
Antesky Satellite Antenna Systems and Service
Antesky Science Technology Inc. is specially engaged in designing, manufacturing and installing satellite communication earth station antenna and relevant servo equipments. We can offer a complete line of earth station antenna products and systems, such as Satellite communication antennas, TVRO antennas, SNG Antennas, Flyaway antennas, antenna control system and tracking system.
Enduring Design
Antesky antenna reflector has the characteristic of good structure and mechanical properties. It adopts precision formed aluminum reflectors, extensive use of hot-dipped galvanized steel, and multi-layer protective painting. These high-qualified material and multi-layer protective measures improve anti-corrosion ability and extend the antenna life.
Performance
Antesky earth station antenna systems are designed by advanced CAD technology so that the antenna can get high effective, low noise temperature and low sidelobe. Due to the optimization design, it can achieve superior performance in a wide frequency.
All Antesky earth station antennas include a three-year limited warranty which is the longest in the industry.
Services
Round out your system package with full service program management, design, documentation, installation, and testing. The Antesky comprehensive service philosophy guarantees the final turnkey system solution meets or exceeds specified requirements.
Satisfaction
Antesky designs each system individually, engineering, installing and testing to meet or exceed customer requirements and system specifications. Antesky ESA satellite communications systems deliver the ultimate in performance and dependability in a single cost-effective package.
Faster, Easier Installation
Antesky antennas are specifically engineered to simplify and quicken installation, resulting in significant cost savings to our customers.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
Whales hunting uses theodolite
The odd underwater noise, an upsweeping "whoop," will start as quietly as conversation, rise as loud as traffic and peak at the din of a rock concert, all within one second.
Chances are, whales will listen. And without doubt, scientists will watch.
All of it is part of an experiment that Oregon State University marine researchers plan early next year during gray whale migrations. They hope to learn whether low-power acoustic devices -- this one emitting a single "whoop," then a rising "whoop-whoop-whoop," -- can prevent whales from approaching wave-energy platforms and cables that might one day occupy waters off Oregon and elsewhere.
But results could reach much farther, leading to help for marine mammals in peril worldwide.
"There are no tools of this nature in existence," says Bruce Mate, the director of the OSU's Marine Mammal Institute.
But first things first.
The $410,000 pilot project, paid for by the U.S. Energy Department, is a first step toward reducing potential risk to marine mammals by wave-energy technology.
Little is known about whether or how such technology might affect marine life. But some people worry about whales' potential to become entangled in underwater cables or debris attached to them, or to hurt themselves by ramming into platforms holding wave-energy gear.
"We're not saying wave energy devices have been shown to cause a problem" says Barb Lagerquist, an OSU senior faculty research assistant working with Mate on the project. "We're just saying it would be prudent to have something on the shelf."
Oregon hopes to become a leader in wave-energy technology. In 2007, OSU launched a test run of a wave-energy buoy. In 2008, the university won a five-year, $6.25 million grant to establish an ocean energy research center in Newport. At least one test device is expected to be anchored to the sea floor near Reedsport before the end of this year.
Mate and his crew applied for permits from the National Marine Fisheries Service to test acoustic devices. They expect to earn approval, in part because they plan to keep the noise to a level that carries no possibility of injuring the animals, simply of altering their behavior ever-so-slightly, Lagerquist says.
The entire population of eastern North Pacific gray whales -- an estimated 18,000 animals -- migrates past Oregon twice a year, heading south to breed and calve off Baja, Mexico, in winter, and returning north to feed in spring. In a 2008 study, Mate and his colleague, Joel Ortega, found that 61 percent of migrating gray whales spotted off the coast passed within three nautical miles of shore.
In proposals for wave energy, devices would be placed in that same slice of ocean.
Next year's study will run Jan. 1 through mid-April, ending before mothers and calves migrate north in May. Scientists will moor a sound device about the size of a carry-on suitcase a little shy of three miles offshore, due west of Yaquina Head. They plan to program the device so it emits the whoop sound three times a minute during a six-hour stretch each day. Otherwise, it will be silent.
On shore, observers will be equipped with binoculars and an instrument called a theodolite, which will allow them to scan the horizon and calculate distance to the whales, and the whales' latitude and longitude. They'll map the animals locations, determine their traveling speed, then compare how differently whales move when noise is being emitted, versus when the device is silent.
"Ideally," Mate says, "we'd like to see the whales respond to these pings by moving about 500 meters around the device, which adds just a tiny bit -- one 100th of 1 percent -- to their migration distance.
Acoustics have been used for many years to prevent entanglements in fishing nets, to reduce bycatch of dolphins and other marine mammals. And wildlife managers routinely use acoustic harassment to keep seals and sea lions away from aquaculture facilities or prime recreational salmon runs.
In 1985, after a humpback whale dubbed Humphrey wandered into San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento River, numerous attempts to coax him back into salt water failed. He appeared to be dying when an acoustic specialist offered recordings he'd made of humpback feeding vocalizations, hoping it would lure the whale back to sea. The U.S. Navy provided the required underwater sound device.
After it was lowered into the river and the sounds filled the water, Humphrey surfaced, followed the boat carrying the device many miles back to the bay and finally, under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific, where he belonged.
Chances are, whales will listen. And without doubt, scientists will watch.
All of it is part of an experiment that Oregon State University marine researchers plan early next year during gray whale migrations. They hope to learn whether low-power acoustic devices -- this one emitting a single "whoop," then a rising "whoop-whoop-whoop," -- can prevent whales from approaching wave-energy platforms and cables that might one day occupy waters off Oregon and elsewhere.
But results could reach much farther, leading to help for marine mammals in peril worldwide.
"There are no tools of this nature in existence," says Bruce Mate, the director of the OSU's Marine Mammal Institute.
But first things first.
The $410,000 pilot project, paid for by the U.S. Energy Department, is a first step toward reducing potential risk to marine mammals by wave-energy technology.
Little is known about whether or how such technology might affect marine life. But some people worry about whales' potential to become entangled in underwater cables or debris attached to them, or to hurt themselves by ramming into platforms holding wave-energy gear.
"We're not saying wave energy devices have been shown to cause a problem" says Barb Lagerquist, an OSU senior faculty research assistant working with Mate on the project. "We're just saying it would be prudent to have something on the shelf."
Oregon hopes to become a leader in wave-energy technology. In 2007, OSU launched a test run of a wave-energy buoy. In 2008, the university won a five-year, $6.25 million grant to establish an ocean energy research center in Newport. At least one test device is expected to be anchored to the sea floor near Reedsport before the end of this year.
Mate and his crew applied for permits from the National Marine Fisheries Service to test acoustic devices. They expect to earn approval, in part because they plan to keep the noise to a level that carries no possibility of injuring the animals, simply of altering their behavior ever-so-slightly, Lagerquist says.
The entire population of eastern North Pacific gray whales -- an estimated 18,000 animals -- migrates past Oregon twice a year, heading south to breed and calve off Baja, Mexico, in winter, and returning north to feed in spring. In a 2008 study, Mate and his colleague, Joel Ortega, found that 61 percent of migrating gray whales spotted off the coast passed within three nautical miles of shore.
In proposals for wave energy, devices would be placed in that same slice of ocean.
Next year's study will run Jan. 1 through mid-April, ending before mothers and calves migrate north in May. Scientists will moor a sound device about the size of a carry-on suitcase a little shy of three miles offshore, due west of Yaquina Head. They plan to program the device so it emits the whoop sound three times a minute during a six-hour stretch each day. Otherwise, it will be silent.
On shore, observers will be equipped with binoculars and an instrument called a theodolite, which will allow them to scan the horizon and calculate distance to the whales, and the whales' latitude and longitude. They'll map the animals locations, determine their traveling speed, then compare how differently whales move when noise is being emitted, versus when the device is silent.
"Ideally," Mate says, "we'd like to see the whales respond to these pings by moving about 500 meters around the device, which adds just a tiny bit -- one 100th of 1 percent -- to their migration distance.
Acoustics have been used for many years to prevent entanglements in fishing nets, to reduce bycatch of dolphins and other marine mammals. And wildlife managers routinely use acoustic harassment to keep seals and sea lions away from aquaculture facilities or prime recreational salmon runs.
In 1985, after a humpback whale dubbed Humphrey wandered into San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento River, numerous attempts to coax him back into salt water failed. He appeared to be dying when an acoustic specialist offered recordings he'd made of humpback feeding vocalizations, hoping it would lure the whale back to sea. The U.S. Navy provided the required underwater sound device.
After it was lowered into the river and the sounds filled the water, Humphrey surfaced, followed the boat carrying the device many miles back to the bay and finally, under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific, where he belonged.
Monday 19 April 2010
How high Mt. Everest is?
Any general knowledge buff will tell you that Mount Everest, straddling the border between China and Nepal, stands at precisely 8,848m, or 29,029ft, above sea level.
Except that this is not necessarily so.
The Nepalese and Chinese governments have agreed to disagree on its height after negotiations in Kathmandu this week over a question that has fascinated and frustrated cartographers for more than 150 years.
Nepal will continue to say that the world’s highest peak is 8,848m, based on an Indian survey in 1955 that measured it from the top of its cap.
China, meanwhile, will use a new figure of 8,844.43m, calculated in 2005 by its State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, which measured the height of the rock beneath the layers of snow and ice.
The two countries agreed to recognise each other’s figures and to acknowledge that they measured different things. Nepal, however, is still refusing to accept a figure of 8,850m that was calculated by an American expedition in 1999 using satellite positioning for the first time, and is now used by the US National Geographic Society.
Nor does the controversy end there. Many scientists believe that the mountain is becoming up to 4mm higher every year as the Indian sub-continent pushes into the rest of the Asian continent. Rising sea levels attributed to global warming are also confusing traditional methods of estimating sea level — the base from which the height of Everest and all other points on land are measured.
The debate over Everest’s height has been going on since the peak was identified in the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India that began in 1802 and lasted most of the 19th century.
Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor-General of India, was the first to note in 1847 that there appeared to be a peak even taller than Mount Kanchenjunga, in Sikkim — until then considered the world’s highest. He was unable to take an accurate theodolite reading, however, because Nepal would not allow British surveyors to enter.
In 1852 a young Indian mathematician called Radhanath Sickdhar became the first person to calculate the height of the mountain — then named Peak XV — at 8,840m. In 1856, after averaging out several readings,Waugh publicly declared that the mountain was “most probably the highest in the world”.
At the same time he sparked another controversy by proposing to name the mountain after his predecessor as Surveyor-General, Sir George Everest.
Everest opposed the idea because he said that local people could not pronounce his name but the Royal Geographic Society approved it in 1865 on the ground that there were too many different local names.
Except that this is not necessarily so.
The Nepalese and Chinese governments have agreed to disagree on its height after negotiations in Kathmandu this week over a question that has fascinated and frustrated cartographers for more than 150 years.
Nepal will continue to say that the world’s highest peak is 8,848m, based on an Indian survey in 1955 that measured it from the top of its cap.
China, meanwhile, will use a new figure of 8,844.43m, calculated in 2005 by its State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, which measured the height of the rock beneath the layers of snow and ice.
The two countries agreed to recognise each other’s figures and to acknowledge that they measured different things. Nepal, however, is still refusing to accept a figure of 8,850m that was calculated by an American expedition in 1999 using satellite positioning for the first time, and is now used by the US National Geographic Society.
Nor does the controversy end there. Many scientists believe that the mountain is becoming up to 4mm higher every year as the Indian sub-continent pushes into the rest of the Asian continent. Rising sea levels attributed to global warming are also confusing traditional methods of estimating sea level — the base from which the height of Everest and all other points on land are measured.
The debate over Everest’s height has been going on since the peak was identified in the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India that began in 1802 and lasted most of the 19th century.
Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor-General of India, was the first to note in 1847 that there appeared to be a peak even taller than Mount Kanchenjunga, in Sikkim — until then considered the world’s highest. He was unable to take an accurate theodolite reading, however, because Nepal would not allow British surveyors to enter.
In 1852 a young Indian mathematician called Radhanath Sickdhar became the first person to calculate the height of the mountain — then named Peak XV — at 8,840m. In 1856, after averaging out several readings,Waugh publicly declared that the mountain was “most probably the highest in the world”.
At the same time he sparked another controversy by proposing to name the mountain after his predecessor as Surveyor-General, Sir George Everest.
Everest opposed the idea because he said that local people could not pronounce his name but the Royal Geographic Society approved it in 1865 on the ground that there were too many different local names.
Sunday 4 April 2010
graduated magna cum laude from Wentworth Institute of Technology
Andrew Meade, graduated magna cum laude from Wentworth Institute of Technology in May 2009. He received a bachelor of science degree in construction management.
A 2004 graduate of Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, he son of Donna Meade of New Bedford.
Meade successfully completed a rigorous course load including construction project management, control and scheduling, advanced estimating and bid analysis, construction safety and risk management, construction business and finance, law and government regulations, materials and methods of construction I and II, electrical and mechanical building systems, surveying I, structural design I, II, and III, materials testing and quality control, and labor relations.
His training included work with the LEED/BIM seminar, Habitat for Humanity, ASC/AGC Northeast regional student competition, CMAA National conferences, AGC mentor program, ASCE workshop for student chapter leaders, the electronic total station, electronic theodolite, automatic level, and CNC/manual machining. He is also trained in software including Primavera, On-Screen Takeoff, Prolog Manager, Timberline, AutoCAD, iBidPro, Revit, BID2WIN, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Outlook, SolidWorks, Mastercam, and PC/Mac operating systems.
Meade has been certified in 10/30-hour OSHA, CPR/FA/AED, and has received his Class 1C/2A hoisting engineer license.
While at Wentworth, Meade was the president of the Sigma Lambda Chi International Construction Honor Society and vice president of the Wentworth Construction Management Club. He was also a member of the Associated General Contractors of America, the Omicron IV Chapter of Sigma Lambda Chi International Honor Society, the Massachusetts Alpha Chapter of Tau Alpha Pi National Honor Society, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Construction Management Association of America.
He has also been awarded the CMAA Education and Research Foundation National Scholarship, the Edward T. Kirkpatrick Cooperative Education Award, the Massachusetts Construction Advancement Program Scholarship, the AGC Education and Research Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship and, most recently, the Wentworth Alumni Association Graduate Recognition.
Meade is currently employed by Hensel Phelps Construction Company in Fayettville, NC. Previously, he worked as an assistant project engineer for Gilbane Building Company and as an assistant superintendent for P.J. Keating Company.
A 2004 graduate of Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, he son of Donna Meade of New Bedford.
Meade successfully completed a rigorous course load including construction project management, control and scheduling, advanced estimating and bid analysis, construction safety and risk management, construction business and finance, law and government regulations, materials and methods of construction I and II, electrical and mechanical building systems, surveying I, structural design I, II, and III, materials testing and quality control, and labor relations.
His training included work with the LEED/BIM seminar, Habitat for Humanity, ASC/AGC Northeast regional student competition, CMAA National conferences, AGC mentor program, ASCE workshop for student chapter leaders, the electronic total station, electronic theodolite, automatic level, and CNC/manual machining. He is also trained in software including Primavera, On-Screen Takeoff, Prolog Manager, Timberline, AutoCAD, iBidPro, Revit, BID2WIN, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Outlook, SolidWorks, Mastercam, and PC/Mac operating systems.
Meade has been certified in 10/30-hour OSHA, CPR/FA/AED, and has received his Class 1C/2A hoisting engineer license.
While at Wentworth, Meade was the president of the Sigma Lambda Chi International Construction Honor Society and vice president of the Wentworth Construction Management Club. He was also a member of the Associated General Contractors of America, the Omicron IV Chapter of Sigma Lambda Chi International Honor Society, the Massachusetts Alpha Chapter of Tau Alpha Pi National Honor Society, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Construction Management Association of America.
He has also been awarded the CMAA Education and Research Foundation National Scholarship, the Edward T. Kirkpatrick Cooperative Education Award, the Massachusetts Construction Advancement Program Scholarship, the AGC Education and Research Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship and, most recently, the Wentworth Alumni Association Graduate Recognition.
Meade is currently employed by Hensel Phelps Construction Company in Fayettville, NC. Previously, he worked as an assistant project engineer for Gilbane Building Company and as an assistant superintendent for P.J. Keating Company.
Saturday 3 April 2010
Now its maps are available on the web, Jonathan Brown plots a path through the history of the Ordnance Survey
British wildernesses may be few and far between nowadays, but the urge to experience nature in the raw remains a primal impulse among the nation's hikers, bikers and fitness enthusiasts. And for anyone looking to venture into the great outdoors this weekend, an Ordnance Survey (OS) map remains the prerequisite piece of kit to be packed alongside an apple, a cagoul and a box of corned beef and pickle sandwiches to ensure a safe return from a day yomping across hill and dale.
Yesterday campaigners calling for greater availability of official data were joined by lovers of the British countryside in hailing a partial victory against the venerable state-mapping company, after it agreed to offer free and unrestricted access to most of its maps online.
The landmark decision by the OS followed a long public consultation designed to open up information sources gathered at the taxpayer's expense and to make them available to a new generation of users without charge. Among those welcoming the initiative was the creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who has been advising Gordon Brown on ways to liberate the Government's vast data banks to a new wave of entrepreneurs who, it is hoped, may be able to use them to create cutting-edge industries.
Ministers were forced to waive the long-guarded copyright in response to the huge amount of mapping information already available on the internet free of charge. Services such as Google Earth, Street View and Multimap have revolutionised the way that the public perceives and pays for cartographical information.
OS OpenData, which went online yesterday, will exist alongside an earlier data-sharing scheme called OS OpenSpace, which is also free to groups looking to create and reproduce their own maps. It has brought an end to the absurdity of schoolchildren having to write for permission to photocopy a map from their public library.
The popularity of the service was immediately evident as the OS website became locked up with users rushing to download maps of their area for the first time.
But not everyone was entirely happy. The Ramblers, a charity which represents Britain's army of hikers and walkers, criticised the omission of the most popular scale paper maps after it was confirmed that the free datasets would not include digital versions of 1:25,000 Explorer and 1:50,000 Landranger series.
The charity's chief executive, Tom Franklin, accused the Government of "losing its nerve". He said: "We know one of the reasons people don't walk more is that they don't know good places to walk, and access to mapping is essential in overcoming that barrier. And more people walking more often is something the Government agrees is a good thing, helping tackle obesity and even climate change."
The OS said the decision to leave out the best-selling paper maps, which retail for anything up to £15 each, was "in the national interest" and could "undermine the continued provision of a nationwide paper map series".
Today, the geographically curious among us love nothing more than poring over the exquisitely drawn contour lines and triangulation marks of an OS map. Yet while modern-day OS maps may be viewed as documents of peace, beneficial to health and the environment, their origins are soaked in the blood of Jacobite suppression.
According to Dr Richard Oliver's A Short History of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, the first modern maps took shape between 1747 and 1755. Their instigator was an ambitious military officer named Colonel David Watson, who served with the Army and also the Engineers of the Board of Ordnance. The painstaking work was carried out by the Lanarkshire-born surveyor William Roy, who went on to become the father of modern cartography, and the pioneering water colourist Paul Sandby, who helped turn the first maps into beautifully realised artworks. It was a primitive process by modern satellite-driven standards. The contour line was yet to be invented, and all distances were measured by 66ft lengths of chain.
The Jacobite uprising of 1745 had caused consternation to King George II, who urgently commissioned the Highlands survey as a means of pacifying the insurgent clansmen north of the border. Overseeing the project was the formidable figure of the Duke of Cumberland, later to achieve notoriety as the "Butcher" of Culloden, architect of the murderously one-sided battle where 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded at the cost of just 50 government lives.
Perhaps inevitably, however, it was to be events across the Channel that were to drive the next stage in development. A dispute between the Royal Societies of London and Paris saw the great and the good of the learned bodies try to resolve a long-running disagreement over the relative positions of their astronomical observatories. The system of triangulation settled the debate – a process whereby distances across water and other obstacles were measured for the first time using the angles of a fixed point.
Yet throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, conflict continued to fuel the need for ever more accurate and detailed maps. In England, the first charting of the rolling farmland of Kent and the marshes of Essex appeared amid mounting concern over the prospect of invasion by Napoleon's forces.
By the time that the Battle of Waterloo was won, everywhere south of Birmingham was mapped. The work was physically demanding and progress was slow. It was not until 1823 that the survey had inched its way northwards armed with the advanced Ramsden theodolite for measuring vertical angles. Thomas Colby, the longest serving Director General of the Ordnance Survey, walked 586 miles in 22 days during one reconnaissance journey.
In 1841, at the time of the railway boom, officials were granted the right by Parliament to enter property in order to measure it. But disputes over which scale to adopt and the distractions of mapping Ireland failed to stem the advance of the theodolite-wielding geodesists, who continued to press ahead with their task and who have been carefully measuring, mapping and remapping the whole of the UK on a near-constant basis ever since.
Dr Christopher Board, chairman of the Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, said the process of mapping the UK would never be complete and needed to remain largely state-funded. "If you left it to private industry you would find the most popular tourist areas would be mapped regularly and kept up to date, but there would be huge areas of agricultural land, moor or croft that would be left untouched," he said.
Yesterday campaigners calling for greater availability of official data were joined by lovers of the British countryside in hailing a partial victory against the venerable state-mapping company, after it agreed to offer free and unrestricted access to most of its maps online.
The landmark decision by the OS followed a long public consultation designed to open up information sources gathered at the taxpayer's expense and to make them available to a new generation of users without charge. Among those welcoming the initiative was the creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who has been advising Gordon Brown on ways to liberate the Government's vast data banks to a new wave of entrepreneurs who, it is hoped, may be able to use them to create cutting-edge industries.
Ministers were forced to waive the long-guarded copyright in response to the huge amount of mapping information already available on the internet free of charge. Services such as Google Earth, Street View and Multimap have revolutionised the way that the public perceives and pays for cartographical information.
OS OpenData, which went online yesterday, will exist alongside an earlier data-sharing scheme called OS OpenSpace, which is also free to groups looking to create and reproduce their own maps. It has brought an end to the absurdity of schoolchildren having to write for permission to photocopy a map from their public library.
The popularity of the service was immediately evident as the OS website became locked up with users rushing to download maps of their area for the first time.
But not everyone was entirely happy. The Ramblers, a charity which represents Britain's army of hikers and walkers, criticised the omission of the most popular scale paper maps after it was confirmed that the free datasets would not include digital versions of 1:25,000 Explorer and 1:50,000 Landranger series.
The charity's chief executive, Tom Franklin, accused the Government of "losing its nerve". He said: "We know one of the reasons people don't walk more is that they don't know good places to walk, and access to mapping is essential in overcoming that barrier. And more people walking more often is something the Government agrees is a good thing, helping tackle obesity and even climate change."
The OS said the decision to leave out the best-selling paper maps, which retail for anything up to £15 each, was "in the national interest" and could "undermine the continued provision of a nationwide paper map series".
Today, the geographically curious among us love nothing more than poring over the exquisitely drawn contour lines and triangulation marks of an OS map. Yet while modern-day OS maps may be viewed as documents of peace, beneficial to health and the environment, their origins are soaked in the blood of Jacobite suppression.
According to Dr Richard Oliver's A Short History of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, the first modern maps took shape between 1747 and 1755. Their instigator was an ambitious military officer named Colonel David Watson, who served with the Army and also the Engineers of the Board of Ordnance. The painstaking work was carried out by the Lanarkshire-born surveyor William Roy, who went on to become the father of modern cartography, and the pioneering water colourist Paul Sandby, who helped turn the first maps into beautifully realised artworks. It was a primitive process by modern satellite-driven standards. The contour line was yet to be invented, and all distances were measured by 66ft lengths of chain.
The Jacobite uprising of 1745 had caused consternation to King George II, who urgently commissioned the Highlands survey as a means of pacifying the insurgent clansmen north of the border. Overseeing the project was the formidable figure of the Duke of Cumberland, later to achieve notoriety as the "Butcher" of Culloden, architect of the murderously one-sided battle where 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded at the cost of just 50 government lives.
Perhaps inevitably, however, it was to be events across the Channel that were to drive the next stage in development. A dispute between the Royal Societies of London and Paris saw the great and the good of the learned bodies try to resolve a long-running disagreement over the relative positions of their astronomical observatories. The system of triangulation settled the debate – a process whereby distances across water and other obstacles were measured for the first time using the angles of a fixed point.
Yet throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, conflict continued to fuel the need for ever more accurate and detailed maps. In England, the first charting of the rolling farmland of Kent and the marshes of Essex appeared amid mounting concern over the prospect of invasion by Napoleon's forces.
By the time that the Battle of Waterloo was won, everywhere south of Birmingham was mapped. The work was physically demanding and progress was slow. It was not until 1823 that the survey had inched its way northwards armed with the advanced Ramsden theodolite for measuring vertical angles. Thomas Colby, the longest serving Director General of the Ordnance Survey, walked 586 miles in 22 days during one reconnaissance journey.
In 1841, at the time of the railway boom, officials were granted the right by Parliament to enter property in order to measure it. But disputes over which scale to adopt and the distractions of mapping Ireland failed to stem the advance of the theodolite-wielding geodesists, who continued to press ahead with their task and who have been carefully measuring, mapping and remapping the whole of the UK on a near-constant basis ever since.
Dr Christopher Board, chairman of the Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, said the process of mapping the UK would never be complete and needed to remain largely state-funded. "If you left it to private industry you would find the most popular tourist areas would be mapped regularly and kept up to date, but there would be huge areas of agricultural land, moor or croft that would be left untouched," he said.
Monday 8 March 2010
GPS instruments, Total Station, Theodolite, levelling instrument and topographical maps were on display
It is not certain whether one would attribute any mala fide intention to the Kerala and Lakshadweep Geo-Spatial Data Centre (K & LGDC)’s exhibition of survey equipment and maps organised in the capital on Monday. For, the timing was not that perfect with reports of the disputes over the actual land holdings of Tata and Harrisons Malayalam Limited filling the air.
None of the curious visitors, however, asked the supervisors at the exhibition stall at Poonkulam, near Thiruvallom, that with all these equipment why couldn’t they find out how many acres of land were under the illegal possession of Tata in Munnar. But, the expo - a rare event - was more than enough to provide a comprehensive knowledge on the functioning of the agency under the Survey of India Department.
Civil Engineering students from various engineering colleges, school children, PG students and local people turned up in big numbers at the agency’s office at CGO Complex at Poonkulam on the outskirts of the city to witness and understand the functioning of the equipment used for geophysical surveys and preparation of topographical maps, general maps, special purpose maps and thematic maps.
GPS instruments, Total Station, Theodolite, levelling instrument and topographical maps were on display.
For Maria Dainy, Kavitha Kamal, Siji and Priya, PG students from the Agricultural College, Vellayani, the exhibition provided an opportunity to learn the real-time working of these instruments. ‘‘As part of learning Soil Science, we learned about the use of GPS instrument, Theodolite and levelling instrument. Here, we got a chance to use these instruments,’’ Kavitha Kamal said.
‘‘Only now did I realise that such a huge effort was required for preparing maps. The officials should be appreciated for this attempt,’’ said Durga, a housewife residing at Vavvamoola who accompanied her daughter to the exhibition.
The exhibition showcased the various stages of digitisation of maps. ‘‘At first, maps are scanned and a soft copy is created. With the help of softwares, various symbols can be placed on the copy and it can be reproduced with better quality,’’ said Geo-Spatial Data Centre Technical Officer S. Jayakumar.
Visitors were also provided information on the techniques of Conventional Photogrammetry.
Besides, there was a display of topographical maps. The Open Series maps of Lakshadweep were also exhibited.
‘‘Earlier, maps of border areas of the country were classified as ‘Restricted’ maps. Recently, owing to public protests, the Union Government decided to produce Open Series and Defence Series maps of these areas. Open Series maps with limited data are made available to the public. The Open Series maps of the State are in the production stage,’’ Jayakumar said.
K & LGDC Director T. Sanjeev Kumar said the centre was now working on the National Urban Information System. ‘‘It is the large-scale mapping of particular cities of the country. Our centre has been entrusted with the mapping of districts including Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kollam,’’ he said.
The exhibition was organised in connection with the National Science Day celebrations.
None of the curious visitors, however, asked the supervisors at the exhibition stall at Poonkulam, near Thiruvallom, that with all these equipment why couldn’t they find out how many acres of land were under the illegal possession of Tata in Munnar. But, the expo - a rare event - was more than enough to provide a comprehensive knowledge on the functioning of the agency under the Survey of India Department.
Civil Engineering students from various engineering colleges, school children, PG students and local people turned up in big numbers at the agency’s office at CGO Complex at Poonkulam on the outskirts of the city to witness and understand the functioning of the equipment used for geophysical surveys and preparation of topographical maps, general maps, special purpose maps and thematic maps.
GPS instruments, Total Station, Theodolite, levelling instrument and topographical maps were on display.
For Maria Dainy, Kavitha Kamal, Siji and Priya, PG students from the Agricultural College, Vellayani, the exhibition provided an opportunity to learn the real-time working of these instruments. ‘‘As part of learning Soil Science, we learned about the use of GPS instrument, Theodolite and levelling instrument. Here, we got a chance to use these instruments,’’ Kavitha Kamal said.
‘‘Only now did I realise that such a huge effort was required for preparing maps. The officials should be appreciated for this attempt,’’ said Durga, a housewife residing at Vavvamoola who accompanied her daughter to the exhibition.
The exhibition showcased the various stages of digitisation of maps. ‘‘At first, maps are scanned and a soft copy is created. With the help of softwares, various symbols can be placed on the copy and it can be reproduced with better quality,’’ said Geo-Spatial Data Centre Technical Officer S. Jayakumar.
Visitors were also provided information on the techniques of Conventional Photogrammetry.
Besides, there was a display of topographical maps. The Open Series maps of Lakshadweep were also exhibited.
‘‘Earlier, maps of border areas of the country were classified as ‘Restricted’ maps. Recently, owing to public protests, the Union Government decided to produce Open Series and Defence Series maps of these areas. Open Series maps with limited data are made available to the public. The Open Series maps of the State are in the production stage,’’ Jayakumar said.
K & LGDC Director T. Sanjeev Kumar said the centre was now working on the National Urban Information System. ‘‘It is the large-scale mapping of particular cities of the country. Our centre has been entrusted with the mapping of districts including Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kollam,’’ he said.
The exhibition was organised in connection with the National Science Day celebrations.
GPS instruments, Total Station, Theodolite, levelling instrument and topographical maps were on display
It is not certain whether one would attribute any mala fide intention to the Kerala and Lakshadweep Geo-Spatial Data Centre (K & LGDC)’s exhibition of survey equipment and maps organised in the capital on Monday. For, the timing was not that perfect with reports of the disputes over the actual land holdings of Tata and Harrisons Malayalam Limited filling the air.
None of the curious visitors, however, asked the supervisors at the exhibition stall at Poonkulam, near Thiruvallom, that with all these equipment why couldn’t they find out how many acres of land were under the illegal possession of Tata in Munnar. But, the expo - a rare event - was more than enough to provide a comprehensive knowledge on the functioning of the agency under the Survey of India Department.
Civil Engineering students from various engineering colleges, school children, PG students and local people turned up in big numbers at the agency’s office at CGO Complex at Poonkulam on the outskirts of the city to witness and understand the functioning of the equipment used for geophysical surveys and preparation of topographical maps, general maps, special purpose maps and thematic maps.
GPS instruments, Total Station, Theodolite, levelling instrument and topographical maps were on display.
For Maria Dainy, Kavitha Kamal, Siji and Priya, PG students from the Agricultural College, Vellayani, the exhibition provided an opportunity to learn the real-time working of these instruments. ‘‘As part of learning Soil Science, we learned about the use of GPS instrument, Theodolite and levelling instrument. Here, we got a chance to use these instruments,’’ Kavitha Kamal said.
‘‘Only now did I realise that such a huge effort was required for preparing maps. The officials should be appreciated for this attempt,’’ said Durga, a housewife residing at Vavvamoola who accompanied her daughter to the exhibition.
The exhibition showcased the various stages of digitisation of maps. ‘‘At first, maps are scanned and a soft copy is created. With the help of softwares, various symbols can be placed on the copy and it can be reproduced with better quality,’’ said Geo-Spatial Data Centre Technical Officer S. Jayakumar.
Visitors were also provided information on the techniques of Conventional Photogrammetry.
Besides, there was a display of topographical maps. The Open Series maps of Lakshadweep were also exhibited.
‘‘Earlier, maps of border areas of the country were classified as ‘Restricted’ maps. Recently, owing to public protests, the Union Government decided to produce Open Series and Defence Series maps of these areas. Open Series maps with limited data are made available to the public. The Open Series maps of the State are in the production stage,’’ Jayakumar said.
K & LGDC Director T. Sanjeev Kumar said the centre was now working on the National Urban Information System. ‘‘It is the large-scale mapping of particular cities of the country. Our centre has been entrusted with the mapping of districts including Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kollam,’’ he said.
The exhibition was organised in connection with the National Science Day celebrations.
None of the curious visitors, however, asked the supervisors at the exhibition stall at Poonkulam, near Thiruvallom, that with all these equipment why couldn’t they find out how many acres of land were under the illegal possession of Tata in Munnar. But, the expo - a rare event - was more than enough to provide a comprehensive knowledge on the functioning of the agency under the Survey of India Department.
Civil Engineering students from various engineering colleges, school children, PG students and local people turned up in big numbers at the agency’s office at CGO Complex at Poonkulam on the outskirts of the city to witness and understand the functioning of the equipment used for geophysical surveys and preparation of topographical maps, general maps, special purpose maps and thematic maps.
GPS instruments, Total Station, Theodolite, levelling instrument and topographical maps were on display.
For Maria Dainy, Kavitha Kamal, Siji and Priya, PG students from the Agricultural College, Vellayani, the exhibition provided an opportunity to learn the real-time working of these instruments. ‘‘As part of learning Soil Science, we learned about the use of GPS instrument, Theodolite and levelling instrument. Here, we got a chance to use these instruments,’’ Kavitha Kamal said.
‘‘Only now did I realise that such a huge effort was required for preparing maps. The officials should be appreciated for this attempt,’’ said Durga, a housewife residing at Vavvamoola who accompanied her daughter to the exhibition.
The exhibition showcased the various stages of digitisation of maps. ‘‘At first, maps are scanned and a soft copy is created. With the help of softwares, various symbols can be placed on the copy and it can be reproduced with better quality,’’ said Geo-Spatial Data Centre Technical Officer S. Jayakumar.
Visitors were also provided information on the techniques of Conventional Photogrammetry.
Besides, there was a display of topographical maps. The Open Series maps of Lakshadweep were also exhibited.
‘‘Earlier, maps of border areas of the country were classified as ‘Restricted’ maps. Recently, owing to public protests, the Union Government decided to produce Open Series and Defence Series maps of these areas. Open Series maps with limited data are made available to the public. The Open Series maps of the State are in the production stage,’’ Jayakumar said.
K & LGDC Director T. Sanjeev Kumar said the centre was now working on the National Urban Information System. ‘‘It is the large-scale mapping of particular cities of the country. Our centre has been entrusted with the mapping of districts including Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kollam,’’ he said.
The exhibition was organised in connection with the National Science Day celebrations.
Saturday 27 February 2010
Hunter Research and Technology has released Theodolite 1.2 on the iTunes App Store
Hunter Research and Technology has released Theodolite 1.2 on the iTunes App Store. This novel multi-function augmented reality app for the iPhone serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite became the top selling navigation app in the US and UK App Stores in December 2009 after being featured by Apple in the New and Noteworthy category of the iTunes App Store, and broke into the Top 40 Paid Apps ranking in the US and Top 20 in the UK.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone's live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated location-aware viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, from land surveying to basic navigation, and the app is great for hiking, boating, hunting, sightseeing, photography, and sports.
Theodolite 1.2 continues the steady progression of features being added to the app. New features include multiple position formats including absolute and relative latitude/longitude coordinates and Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) coordinates. A calibrated optical rangefinder reticle has been added to the augmented reality display, allowing users to quickly estimate distance to objects and landmarks in view. This is backed up by a more precise mechanical rangefinder in Theodolite's A-B calculator, which uses the device's accelerometer to estimate range from changes in elevation angle.
Based on the concept of a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone's live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated location-aware viewfinder. Theodolite lets users take geo-stamped camera images directly from the app with 2X and 4X digital zoom options, and contains a built-in map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views. Uses are endless, from land surveying to basic navigation, and the app is great for hiking, boating, hunting, sightseeing, photography, and sports.
Theodolite 1.2 continues the steady progression of features being added to the app. New features include multiple position formats including absolute and relative latitude/longitude coordinates and Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) coordinates. A calibrated optical rangefinder reticle has been added to the augmented reality display, allowing users to quickly estimate distance to objects and landmarks in view. This is backed up by a more precise mechanical rangefinder in Theodolite's A-B calculator, which uses the device's accelerometer to estimate range from changes in elevation angle.
Sunday 7 February 2010
Smart ETS
This is a really wonderful technology. An electronic total station (ETS) which helped by GPS to fine the location and help Geodesy Engineer.
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