By Ron Coates, 28 April 2004 17:30
NEWS Team Fujitsu were first to the North Pole in a two team finish to clinch the Fujitsu Polar Challenge 2004 after 19 days, 280 miles and temperatures down to -60 C with wind chill.
Only two teams of the six entered in the race finished; the others had to withdraw for injuries or because they had fallen an unsafe distance behind the leaders.
And the Fujitsu team kept in touch using PDAs kept in special pouches close to their bodies to keep them warm in the -40 degree weather.
Fujitsu technical solution lead, Tony Gale, said: "Traditionally the teams used voice communications. We developed the solution in five man-days and only seven iterations."
The PDAs used low bandwidth and very efficient GPRS technology to contact the Iridium satellite and communicate with their ISP.
Gale said: "It uses high compression and it's very efficient. I use it myself to keep in touch with my emails and my monthly bill is never over £5 a month."
The emails were kept short because of bandwidth and battery life issues. The team had to take care to preserve battery life between solar-powered charges.
Fujitsu Polar Challenge 2005 is looking for competitors and says that it only costs £10,200 to participate or £30,000 for a team of three, a saving of £600.
"It costs from $25,000 to climb Everest; over 1500 people have done it. To take part in an Ocean Rowing race you need to budget £50,000, over 100 people have done an Ocean race... by 2005 only 30 people will have raced to a pole."
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below