ILCHASE Projects? Why?
The ILCHASE team is devoted to making storm chasing and storm spotting as safe and successful as possible. As such, we are working on a number of projects to help chasers and spotters at little or no cost to them. The ILCHASE Special Projects team consists of Electrical Engineers, Meteorologists, Programmers, Technicians, and Emergency Management Professionals.
Storm chasing can be a dangerous and/or frustrating hobby. Every chaser’s needs while chasing are different based on the individuals knowledge of weather and chasing experience. Most ILCHASE projects revolve around communications as they promote safety through situational awareness and are beneficial to the greatest number of storm chasers.
Project Development Lifecycle
Let’s face it: technology is evolving fast. Yet some storm chaser and spotter activities are still being done manually. ILCHASE team members have these same issues. So if we can make something that works well for us, we will share it with others.
And we are serious about our projects since we have devoted both time and money towards them. As such, we periodically take a look at what is on our plate and determine where to allocate resources through different project phases. We basically mark our projects being:
- Analysis – This is the back-of-the-napkin/brainstorming/high-level information gathering phase
- Design – This is the phase where we document actual layouts/functionality/etc. , often using prototypes
- Development – This is the build phase
- Implementation – This is the phase where we roll out the project
- Improve – Nothing is perfect and this is where we make a good thing better
Current projects include:
- M.O.O.C.H. Command Truck
- Online Chase Partner System
- Automated WX Product Compilation/Archiving System
If you would like to find out how you can help or for more information on these projects, email us at:keenan@ilchase.org or dan@ilchase.org