ikeGPS design, develop and manufacture high end measurement hardware and software to manage one of the world’s most important invisible assets - the utility pole.
Recognising the importance of these assets, ikeGPS strives to significantly improve the efficiency, accuracy, safety and consistency of utility pole data collection, measurement, and analysis.
The Challenge
ikeGPS’s products are used by over 400 electric utility and engineering companies around the world as single-source-of-truth tools.
Their measurement, analysis and cloud tool suite allow critical utility pole and attachment information such as height, span, ID and location to be quickly collected, verified and shared with principal parties, removing the need for multiple manual physical - and often dangerous - measurements.
In order to maintain its market leader position, ikeGPS set out to develop the next generation of their already strong product line up - the IKE 4. With a host of new high end hardware features, as well as using Android OS for the first time, the IKE 4 set out to continue ikeGPS’s legacy of producing best in class measurement tools.
“I really appreciated the fact that I could explain what was needed, and Spore Lab would always provide an excellent solution, with very little need for guidance.“
Jeremy Gold, Engineering Manager & Mad Inventor, ikeGPS
How We Helped
With the IKE 4 incorporating fresh new hardware - a 13MP wide angle camera, sub-meter accuracy GPS, compass and precision laser capable of high accuracy measurements - ikeGPS reached out to us to assist with three main areas:
Android OS Porting
Integrating peripheral drivers into the Android OS stack.
Porting device HAL into the Android code base.
Android system power management tuning and support.
Android OS OTA update support.
Linux Device Driver Support
Charger and fuel gauge drivers for battery management.
USB hub driver.
Software Development Systems Support
Provide advice on software systems to address the specific challenges around source code handling and development processes for large code bases.
Set up CI to build Android OS for continuous delivery.
“Our system is extremely complex, incorporating an Android baseboard and operating system from another partner, along with multiple advanced sensors.
Spore Lab had no problem taking on this challenge, assisting us in establishing a robust development environment, and proved to be masters of Android OS development, helping us to learn more about the system along the way.”
Outcome
With Spore Lab providing a strong Android base to work from, ikeGPS were able to successfully develop their custom measurement based apps for the new hardware platform and launch the fourth generation IKE 4.
Decidedly ruggedised to be snow, rain and dust storm proof with a 10 hour battery life, the myriad of onboard sensors coupled with a strong suite of cloud tools has helped set ikeGPS apart from competitors and become a recognisable standard in the utility and communication industries.
“I have found the team at Spore Lab to be extremely passionate and enthusiastic, which fits really well with the culture here at ikeGPS.
They are fantastic to work with, and will always be my first point of call when we need any further Android OS development work done.”
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