1111111111111111111111111111111 PB98-103245 Using Handheld Data Collectors in Highway Construction for Accounting and Materials Management By Peter J. Bosscher & Dean A. Yeazel In Cooperation With The Wisconsin Department of Transportation And The Federal Highway Administration February, 1997 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON Geotechnical Engineering Program Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Using Handheld Data Collectors in Highway Construction for Accounting & February, 1997 Materials Management 6. Performing Organization Code k.....,--,.--c-.,-----------------------------i 8. Performing Organization Report No. 7. Author(s) Peter J. Bosscher & Dean A. Yeazel SPR-0092-45-74 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison 11. Contract or Grant No. Madison, WI 53706 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Wisconsin Department of Transportation 4802 Sheboygan Avenue P.O. Box 7965 14. Sponsoring Agency Code I Madison, WI 53707-7965 15. Supplementary Notes Research perfomed in cooperation with WisDOT and FHWA Research Title: Using Handheld Data Collectors in Highway Construction for Accounting & Materials Management WisDOT Contact: Sharon 1. Bremser, P.E. 608-266-0564 16. Abstract The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) mounted a multi-year study beginning in 1994 entitled, "Using Handheld Data Collectors in Highway Construction for Accounting and Materials Management" to determine the feasibility of deploying a new system for collecting pay quantity information on WisDOT construction projects. The first phase of this study was market research to select a software development environment and a pen-based computer hardware platform to deploy. PenRight! Pro 3.6 was selected for the software development environment. Two types of hardware were selected: full-sized tablet PC's and the Casio loomer, a handheld Personal Digital Assistants (PDA). The study was extended in December 1995 to gain additional user feedback and allow time for migration from the loomer to the Apple MessagePad. In all, three software applications were developed. The first provided integration with WisDOT's Item Record Account. The second was written in PenRight! Pro for the loomer, the third was written in the Newton Toolkit for the MessagePad. These applications were field deployed to seven construction projects in the Madison, WI area. During the second year, the staff for one project used both the loomer and the MessagePad to provide contrasted feedback. The testers felt that this system was an asset to their fieldwork. It provided a simpler way of entering many of their field measurements, and reduced the amount of time required to generate contractor payments and final out a project. Cost analyses indicated a timesaving sufficient to pay for the devices and development within one construction season. Based upon the findings of this study, the future use of handheld data collectors in highway construction for accounting and materials management is dependent upon: integration with WisDOT database software, the ability to customize the hardware for use by WisDOT for other applications such as bridge inspection, highway inventory and maintenance, and time sheets, suitability for use by field inspectors (relates to weight, screen visibility, and power requirements), and continued support of hardware platforms by manufacturer. Due to the rapid advances of the handheld computing industry, continued evaluation of applications of these devices is mandatory. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Construction Management, Pen-based Computers, Casio No Restriction. loomer, Apple MessagePad, Newton OS, Newton This document is available to the public through: Toolkit, PenRight! Pro, Handheld PC National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authonzed This form was eleclronically produced by Eme Federal Forms. inc. Final Report Using Handheld Data Collectors in Highway Construction for Accounting and Materials Management by Peter 1. Bosscher Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dean Yeazel Graduate Student Civil and Environmental Engineering Report to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation February 27, 1997 This research is funded by the Wisconsin Council on Research of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration under Project #SPR-0092-45-74. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation or the Federal Highway Administration at the time of publication. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade and manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the object of the document. Executive Summary This is the final report and recommendations from the study, "Using Handheld Data Collectors in Highway Construction for Accounting and Materials Management." The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of deploying a new system for collecting pay quantity information on WisDOT construction projects. The first phase of this project was market research to select a software development environment and a hardware platform to deploy. PenRight! Pro 3.6 was selected for the software development environment. Two types of hardware were selected: full-sized tablet PC's and the Casio Zoomer, a handheld Personal Digital Assistants (PDA). The study was extended in December, 1995 to gain additional user feedback and allow time for migration from the Zoomer to the Apple MessagePad. In all, three applications were developed. The first provided integration with WisDOT's Item Record Account. The second was written in PenRight! Pro for the Zoomer. the third was written in the Newton Toolkit for the MessagePad. These applications were field deployed to seven construction projects in the Madison area. During the second year, the staff for one project used both the Zoomer and the MessagePad to provide contrasted feedback. The testers felt that this system was an asset to their field work. It provided a simpler way of entering many of their field measurements, and reduced the amount of time required to generate contractor payments and final out a project. Based on their estimation of how much time was saved per entry, it was estimated that about $3,600 per contract could be saved. This would allow for each hardware unit to be paid for in about 6 weeks. Because of this, we recommend implementing such a system. The software written under this study was developed to the point that it was clean enough for testing purposes. Some additional work will be required to deploy it on a widespread basis. Additional work will also be required to integrate it with WisDOT's new field package, FieldManager. We recommend that the system be phased in over a period of two to three construction seasons to ensure that it is 100% ready for the field. In addition to the features originally specified for this study, other applications, such as remote timesheet recording, could be added to further increase the value of the hardware. Based upon the findings of this project, future use of handheld data collectors in highway construction for accounting and materials management is dependent upon: • integration with FieldManager software, • the ability to customize the hardware for use by WisDOT for other applications such as bridge inspection, highway inventory and maintenance, and time sheets, • suitability for use by field inspectors (relates to weight, screen visibility, and power requirements), • continued support of hardware platform by manufacturer, • usability of interface in terms of issues such as handwriting recognition vs. keyboarding and selectable lists. Due to the rapid advances of the handheld computing industry, continued evaluation of applications of these devices is needed. For example, the advent of WinCE demands an evaluation with respect to the issues listed above. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 SUMMARY OF PHASE I REPORT 3 Software Selection Criteria 3 Hardware Selection Criteria......•........•........•.................•.•......•.......•....•.....•..•.........•.•...............•........•.•.•....••..3 Development Environment 4 Hardware Platforms 4 EXTENSION OF STUDy.................................•.................•...............................••.......6 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT 7 Field Applications 7 PenRight! Pro 3.6 for DOS 14 Newton Toolkit 16 Advanced Revelation (AREV) interface 18 HARDWARE PLATFORMS 20 Tablet PC's 20 PDA's 21 ANALYSIS 30 Projects Tested 30 User Feedback 31 Cost Analysis 31 RECOMMENDATIONS