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First Wireless "MeshBus" takes the road in Cumbria rally

Live pictures from the cab of a classic bus can now be seen over the Internet, with the installation of a wireless bus-cam by Locustworld for the Classic Commercial Vehicle Rally in Kirkby Steven, in Cumbria.

In conjunction with the Eden Faster project, bringing broadband to rural Cumbria with wireless networking, LocustWorld has set up a wide ranging wireless mesh network in the town of Kirkby Steven, to add to the fun of the Rally, which is being held in and around the town over this Easter Weekend.

Heather, a 1953 Commer bus, is fixed up as a "MeshBus", with a wireless networking node installed and a WiFi antenna on her roof. "Heather has been converted to run on LPG, which makes her Green on the inside as well as the outside" says Will Hamer of Cumbria Classic Coaches. "Heather now has a mesh camera fitted to her windscreen, so we can beam moving video from the bus back to the Kirkby Steven wireless mesh. She has a mix of historic 20th Century engineering and futuristic 21st century wireless networking."

Kirkby Steven High Street now has an extended wireless network, with three wireless mesh nodes installed along the length of the street, providing wireless network access to businesses, residents and rally visitors. The wireless mesh branches off from the high street into the Auction Mart at the back of the town, making the link through the node mounted in the roof space of the Pink Geranium Cafe.

"The wireless mesh covers a large area of the town" says Richard Lander from LocustWorld. "Mesh networking with multiple nodes provides excellent coverage and helps to deliver wireless broadband into hard to reach areas. Each mesh node is inexpensive, so the wireless mesh network is excellent value."

The Rattan and Rush cafe, which doubles as an upmarket music venue and internet cafe, has an Internet connection. Normally, this is a dialup modem link; but for the mesh and the Rally, the owners have been able to get a temporary upgrade to Broadband.

High Street Antiques they have a MeshBox in their upstairs gallery, which provides excellent wireless networking coverage to the town square. Their mesh box also has a webcam, transmitting live video of the happenings in the square to the wireless mesh throughout the town.

Other local businesses also benefit. Steve Messam, who runs the Fold Gallery, says: "My work in photography relies on computers and the internet. I am really looking forward to getting Broadband internet, it will be a great boost to my business."

Lindsey Annison, from Eden Faster, is sending pictures from her cameraphone directly to the projector screen in the Rattan and Rush cafe. "There is a free bus service during the rally that runs in a circuit up to Brough, which is about 4 miles away. We can relay pictures from the bus ride to the cafe using Bluetooth. It's another example of wireless networking with a practical result on the day".

Sending pictures to the screen from the camera phone uses the Bluetooth Cameraphone support in the meshbox. This function lets people beam pictures using the wireless bluetooth network directly to the big display.