Smart Thumper (A Smartphone Application)
Description:
Technology Overview
This technology is a mobile application that uses already existing smartphone technologies to measure the property of wood material
Background
Smartphones are heavily used globally and in the US. The perception towards smartphones has become increasingly acceptable with the diversification of usage as the population continues to grow. However, smartphones are not regularly applied in the Forestry industry as yet, but there is definitely a plentiful opportunity for this to develop.
Technology Description
Wood materials such as lumber or plywood are heavily used in home building in the U.S, in which some wood species are preferred due to their specifications such as strength. A mobile application that replaces the inconvenience and unaffordability of property measuring devices. This application measures the property of wood material using a smartphone, thus ceasing the need to purchase a measuring device. This app utilizes the existing technology in smartphones of the microphone and accelerometer to measure the stiffness of wood material.
Benefits
- Cost effective
- Real‑time data
- Accurate measurements
Applications
To be useful in forestry applications, particularly useful in home building in order to determine which products would be suitable for the intended usage, which enables users to check this quickly and accurately
Opportunities
This application is tailored to target general consumers who use wood material including carpenters, architects, building inspectors, engineers and contractor.
The data package was approved as a machine evaluated lumber tool and is available on the app store currently.