Ireland’s national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey Ireland, has published a tender seeking 35 robust tablet computers capable of working in all weather conditions for field data capture and compilation.
According to the tender documents published on the Irish Government’s eTenders website, the hardware will be required by the last quarter of this year with Ordnance Survey Ireland reserving the right to call down additional units as required.
Ordnance Survey Ireland is the State’s national mapping agency and creates scale maps of urban, suburban and rural areas of the country.
The organisation was established in 1824 in Dublin’s Phoenix Park with the objective of providing large-scale maps for the purpose of updating land valuations for taxation.
The original survey, which was carried out at a scale of six inches to one mile, was completed in 1846 and Ireland was the first country in the world to have such a large-scale mapping series covering the entire country.
Looking clearly to the dynamic mapping demands of the century ahead, the tablet PC devices must be capable of operating in all weather conditions, withstand rough handling and the screens must provide sufficient contrast to be legible in full daylight.
Among the requirements are a minimum one-year warranty, a direct line to technical support and agreed turnaround times.
Technically, the devices must have a 800-933MHz Pentium III processor, an Intel 830MX chipset and a 133MHz system bus. The devices must also have 512MB of RAM as well as a 60GB shock-mounted rotating hard disk.
The devices must have a Windows XP Tablet operating system. be capable of 10.4-inch 800×600 colour display, have a transflective colour display for outdoor use and be capable of 100 dots per inch (DPI) resolution.
The tablet PCs must also have “hot swappable” batteries for uninterrupted use in the field and the batteries must operate for a minimum of four hours continuously.
The devices must also be capable of Bluetooth and wireless LAN connectivity and the housing must be fully sealed and moisture- and dust-proof.
By John Kennedy
