Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are an affordable and practical option for field survey use. They can be programmed with your own survey form and questionnaire, and have touch sensitive screens to allow easy input of data. The units are robust, low-cost and reliable.

• No paper forms to print, carry around, get wet or blow away in the wind.
• Re-structure of long and complicated survey forms to give simple, easy to use screens.
• Automatic downloading means no manual data entry saving errors and time.
• 'Intelligent' forms make sure that only sensible data is accepted by the PDA and saves time cleaning data later on.
• Multiple surveyors can participate in a survey, each with their own PDA
• Direct connection to Global Positioning Systems for accurate grid references.
• Tough, weatherproof PDA units called Nomads  are an excellent choice, as they do everything a standard PDA can, but also include a built in digital camera and GPS, and are resistant to damage in the field.

exeGesIS SDM have set-up and delivered many surveys for clients using PDAs, including the survey of over 15,000 km of public rights of way and other paths across England, Wales and Scotland.

• How is it used?
  Mapping and paths for survey are uploaded to the PDA, along with any existing furniture and obstruction issues.
• Surveyors select the path for survey and can record furniture, obstructions, and surface information along with condition and works assessments.
• Surveyors can record photographs of the surveyed items, if the hardware is available
• Each path survey is completed with an optional Best Value Performance Indicator assessment.
• On returning to the office the data is uploaded to your database and GIS.
• exeGesIS's CAMS users benefit from automatic full processing of data back into the system ready for easy analysis and reporting.

Path surveyors on an exeGesIS survey training course