Becky Heath

@Becky_Heath
| She/ Her

Imperial College London

Interdisciplinary scientist working in field data collection methods and tropical agriculture

Groups

Heya - I'm after modernising our field data collection process from paper records to directly digitised recording. I'm planning on getting 2-3 tablets, and am looking for apps that can be used to reliably collect and store data. We'll have stable internet connection most evenings, but otherwise access to the internet will be choppy at best. At each field visit we'll take quite a few different measures so ideally an app where you can do multiple different survey types.

I've used epicollect before, but is there anything better out there? We've some money available for this!

Thanks!!

Carlos Abrahams

@CarlosAbrahams | He/him

Baker Consultants

Director of Bioacoustics and Senior Lecturer

8 September 2023 12:59pm

Becky,

Hi - I use Epicollect with students at Uni, but at work we pay for Fulcrum, and have been using it successfully for a number of years. It's very good, lots of potential data types, you can set default/required entries, include your own selection lists, can upload your own base maps as MBtiles, etc, etc. Also the interface on screen is better than Epicollect as you can have an entire form on one screen, rather than having multiple questions each on their own screen. Makes data entry much easier and quicker. ta!

Field Data Collection and Field Inspection Software | Fulcrum

Easily capture data, integrate with GIS, and customize forms with the Fulcrum field data collection and process management platform.

Fulcrum

Colin Cook

@Colin_Cook

Friends of Brisbane Ranges

8 September 2023 1:07pm

Have a look at this Australian app and form builder. They are soon to bring out an upgrade for the website side to allow users to construct their own forms to link to the app. For now, they can easily modify an existing one to suit your needs.

Kate Tindall

@kate_alchemysoftware_co_za

Working on object detection and species recognition in camera trap images in the Southern African region.

9 September 2023 10:53am

Try CyberTracker Online - you can register here - Register - CyberTracker Online

Free to use, build your (multiple) apps on the web, and deploy to mobile devices/tablets for your data collectors. Supports offline data collection on the mobile and then later synching of data to server once there is a connection.

There is a User Guide here: CyberTracker Online User Guide — CyberTracker Online User Guide documentation

And Help Videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/@CyberTrackerOnline

Lars Holst Hansen

@Lars_Holst_Hansen

Aarhus University

Biologist and Research Technician working with ecosystem monitoring and research at Zackenberg Research Station in Greenland

11 September 2023 4:14pm

We are using the no longer updated Arcpad (fully fledged GIS solution) on Windows based rugged tablets from the company Juniper.

ArcPad has the advantage that it will work with standard .shp files for further processing and analysis in Desktop based ArcGIS programmes (or QGIS).

The rugged Mesa 2 tablets (predecessor to the current model) are a bit heavy but the battery lasts "forever" and they are surely rugged and waterproof. We also use them for interfacing with field loggers (like TinyTag or TOMST via USB for downloading and settings. Only disadvantages are their limited screen resolution 1280*800 px and that the link to the internal GPS sometimes gets lost requiring a restart (could be a Windows issue but nevertheless annoying).