Digital RoamAbouts

Computer communications are critical to the ThrustSSC project. While the air-conditioned Pit Station Trailer is fitted out with a 24-port 10Base-T network to link all the operations computers and the satellite link to the Internet, a number of requirements remained to access both the Internet and the operations computers from outside on the desert.

(The Aireshelta's Web Camera and Access Point. Photo: Jeremy Davey. Image taken with a Fujifilm DS-515A Digital Card Camera)

In particular, the Aireshelta Web Camera which shows work in progress on ThrustSSC needed to be linked to the Internet, while the team laptops required access to the Internet for email and data transfer. The Web Camera could have been attached to the Pit Station by running a long network cable to its external sockets, but this would be prone to physical damage, as well as being time-consuming to set-up each time the camera had to be moved. Laptops could be taken into the Pit Station for connection to the network, but this would be inconvenient when working on the car or elsewhere. Space is always at a premium in the Pit Station, so anything that would keep people and computers out would be most welcome!

Having pondered this problem, and considered setting up an external network in the Desert Pits, Jeremy Davey remembered the RoamAbout equipment used by Digital at the first ThrustSSC Press Day to link the Internet Kiosks to the World Wide Web. He approached Digital who were delighted to be able to assist with the load of equipment.

(ThrustSSC's Mechanical Designer Glynne Bowsher doing his emails in the desert via RoamAbout. Photo: Jeremy Davey. Image taken with a Fujifilm DS-515A Digital Card Camera)

Each laptop that requires it is fitted with a RoamAbout transmitter attached to a PC-Card adapter. Users can move around the Desert Pits at will - Richard Noble can often be seen doing his emails from his Land-Rover Discovery. The Aireshelta Web Camera does not have a PC-Card slot so is connected to a RoamAbout 'Access Point' instead which transmits on its behalf. This Access Point also provides plug-in network connections for other computers that are not equipped with RoamAbouts.

(The master Access Point and desert Web Camera on the Pit Station roof. Photo: Jeremy Davey. Image taken with a Fujifilm DS-515A Digital Card Camera)

Linking the laptop RoamAbouts and the Access Point is the 'master' Access Point on the Pit Station roof. Housed in a sealed box to protect it from the harsh environmental conditions, it can be easily identified from the Digital logo on the front.

Once again high-technology has come to the assistance of the ThrustSSC project, making the Web Site more interesting for the viewers, saving time for the already overworked ThrustSSC team members, and maximising the space available in the busy Pit Station. Thank-you Digital!

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