Walkabout Mode (Safety Feature)

[Chavannigans]

I brought this up in another thread, but think it would be a life saver and worth Scout Motors attention.

Base Camp Mode, Walkabout Mode, Check Ins, IDK about the name but it's a working title.

The idea is essentially a software deadman switch to help keep people alive.

If you are camping or hunting in a remote area with no cell signal you can use the map to save your intended destination, and enter how long you think you'll be gone.



If you don't return before the time or days run out, the Scout can use the satellite comms to send a text to one of your contacts, or emergency services with the location of your vehicle and intended location.

People die every year by getting lost, running out of water, being stranded due to injuries, stranded on their boat etc. and this could help get search and rescue operations in motion preemptively.

With the only vehicles in their lineup being focused on the outdoorsy/overlanding market this would be a big selling point and could save some lives along the way.

You could take it a step further by having the marker lights flash SOS every 3-5 minutes so the vehicle is easier to locate once the system activates that protocol.

There could also be an emergency SOS feature triggered by hitting a button in the car or your phone app if you are nearby that triggers the SOS visual cues and also sends your location to emergency services and contacts.

You could also opt to send a text when you make it back to the vehicle and disable it so your family and/or friends know you made it back safe.

I would love to see more safety focused features that enhance the experience for users and give families peace of mind.

Cheers!

 

[R1TVT]

Technically, it sounds like you are asking Scout to provide satellite connectivity and GPS functionality, akin to a Garmin InReach? But with notifications set on a timer to make the SOS call from the truck (instead of making an InReach call from your person if you get in trouble)?

I guess this is why I carry a Garmin InReach when outside of coverage or in the backcountry or offshore (and I'm not always on-time getting back to the truck).

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Technically, it sounds like you are asking Scout to provide satellite connectivity and GPS functionality, akin to a Garmin InReach? But with notifications set on a timer to make the SOS call from the truck (instead of making an InReach call from your person if you get in trouble)?

I guess this is why I carry a Garmin InReach when outside of coverage or in the backcountry or offshore (and I'm not always on-time getting back to the truck).

This is the same reason I have a Spot on me when I’m in the woods.

 

[Chavannigans]

Technically, it sounds like you are asking Scout to provide satellite connectivity and GPS functionality, akin to a Garmin InReach? But with notifications set on a timer to make the SOS call from the truck (instead of making an InReach call from your person if you get in trouble)?

I guess this is why I carry a Garmin InReach when outside of coverage or in the backcountry or offshore (and I'm not always on-time getting back to the truck).

I do not believe Garmin offers scheduling. Not a call, but a text that you may be lost or injured along with location data.

iPhones, Pixels, and a few other Androids offer satellite messaging, but it isnt widely adopted yet and they dont have a scheduling feature that I am aware of.

Having an inReach on your person may offer some comfort, but if you are injured or unconscious and unable to pull it out and use it, its kind of useless.


This is an automated approach that wont rely on you to request assistance.

 

[nolen]

It won’t be great when there’s no signal, but Road iD has an app that sends eCrumbs to people you designate so they can track you on your run and it has an SOS button. But it also has a stationary warning so that if you’ve been still for too long and don’t respond to the countdown it sends an alert to those people. They don’t have to have the app - it uses SMS or email.

 

[THil08]

It won’t be great when there’s no signal, but Road iD has an app that sends eCrumbs to people you designate so they can track you on your run and it has an SOS button. But it also has a stationary warning so that if you’ve been still for too long and don’t respond to the countdown it sends an alert to those people. They don’t have to have the app - it uses SMS or email.

Scouts have satellite compatibilities via it roof rack.

 

[R1TVT]

I do not believe Garmin offers scheduling. Not a call, but a text that you may be lost or injured along with location data.

Correct, I have not seen any scheduling with Garmin, but you can text and connect to the Garmin app on your phone. My sense is that an automated call based on a timer might generate excessive SOS calls, as people are never on time and might forget to "disable" a notification (even if alerted on their mobile device)! All I know is that SAR is expensive!

 

[THil08]

I think there will be a lot of false alarms. The average percentage of Americans that are late to work or events is 30%. Now 1 in 5 Americans are late to work every week. Pretty high percentage rate.

 

[Chavannigans]

I think there will be a lot of false alarms. The average percentage of Americans that are late to work or events is 30%. Now 1 in 5 Americans are late to work every week. Pretty high percentage rate.

I dont think people that go trekking or hunting on Federal Land for days at a time are the type of people to be late to work.

 

[THil08]

I dont think people that go trekking or hunting on Federal Land for days at a time are the type of people to be late to work.

The point of my comment is that people are late no matter what.

 

[Chavannigans]

Correct, I have not seen any scheduling with Garmin, but you can text and connect to the Garmin app on your phone. My sense is that an automated call based on a timer might generate excessive SOS calls, as people are never on time and might forget to "disable" a notification (even if alerted on their mobile device)! All I know is that SAR is expensive!

That still depends on you to utilize that feature. If you take a bad fall and the phone and Garmin are in your bag, it may not do much good.

I did a 2,000 mile round trip from Texas to the Alpine Loop in Colorado and camped off grid for a week on a motorcycle with no support. Even with a Garmin it got me thinking about these things, and I cant always count on myself if I were to get injured.

 

[Chavannigans]

The point of my comment is that people are late no matter what.

Thats an opinion and youre entitled to it.

If I am late people get worried. Punctuality is something that was drilled into me as a kid and in the military.

"If youre on time, youre late."

 

[R1TVT]

That still depends on you to utilize that feature. If you take a bad fall and the phone and Garmin are in your bag, it may not do much good.

Of course, no disagreement there. Just feels like an extreme edge case that would fall far to the bottom of a roadmap for an OEM that is just getting started, but I like your thinking.

 

[TreeKiller]

This is the same reason I have a Spot on me when I’m in the woods.

Yep, several guys I know in the wheeling community carry SPOT devices. I've even seen it used on the trail to summon a medevac to the middle of nowhere, miles from cell service.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

These kinds of suggestions are great and all, but I really hope Scout Motors doesn't spend research/developer time or money on them.

They should be a truck manufacturer and should focus on making the best vehicles they can possibly make. Don't make it a kitchen-sink for everyone. Make it tight, focused, well-developed, capable.

For satellite stuff, the big two cell phone manufacturers have satellite connectivity embedded in their newest phones. A DIYer can build a Raspberry Pi to do something similar. SPOT and similar devices are relatively cheap and are known to work. There are solutions out there and I'd rather not see Scout redevelop a solution that's been done better by others.

For similar reasons, I don't understand auto manufacturers building their own mapping software instead of using one of the several mapping applications that are readily available. Buy the solution from the experts, don't re-invent something that took decades to build.

Scout needs to survive their first 10 years of being an automobile manufacturer. Then, if they're in the black, they might have time to get into accessories and 3rd party integration and etc. I don't even want to see them adding tonneau covers, bed caps, rock lights, etc to their vehicles from the factory. Make their communications open, create a 3rd party upbuilder interface, and give all the specs to anyone and everyone so the 3rd party developers can do that development work on their own dime. If it was me, I'd make the bed, the bumpers, the frame mount points, etc of the Terra exactly the same dimensions as the F-150 or something similarly popular so all of those 3rd party accessories can be bolted directly on.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

These kinds of suggestions are great and all, but I really hope Scout Motors doesn't spend research/developer time or money on them.

They should be a truck manufacturer and should focus on making the best vehicles they can possibly make. Don't make it a kitchen-sink for everyone. Make it tight, focused, well-developed, capable.

For satellite stuff, the big two cell phone manufacturers have satellite connectivity embedded in their newest phones. A DIYer can build a Raspberry Pi to do something similar. SPOT and similar devices are relatively cheap and are known to work. There are solutions out there and I'd rather not see Scout redevelop a solution that's been done better by others.

For similar reasons, I don't understand auto manufacturers building their own mapping software instead of using one of the several mapping applications that are readily available. Buy the solution from the experts, don't re-invent something that took decades to build.

Scout needs to survive their first 10 years of being an automobile manufacturer. Then, if they're in the black, they might have time to get into accessories and 3rd party integration and etc. I don't even want to see them adding tonneau covers, bed caps, rock lights, etc to their vehicles from the factory. Make their communications open, create a 3rd party upbuilder interface, and give all the specs to anyone and everyone so the 3rd party developers can do that development work on their own dime. If it was me, I'd make the bed, the bumpers, the frame mount points, etc of the Terra exactly the same dimensions as the F-150 or something similarly popular so all of those 3rd party accessories can be bolted directly on.

Good points here. Well said. The more toys and options that are brewed into the overall batch, the higher the price of all trims most likely. Each notch the entry price goes up, the smaller the pool of buyers gets.

 

[J Alynn]

These kinds of suggestions are great and all, but I really hope Scout Motors doesn't spend research/developer time or money on them.

They should be a truck manufacturer and should focus on making the best vehicles they can possibly make. Don't make it a kitchen-sink for everyone. Make it tight, focused, well-developed, capable.

For satellite stuff, the big two cell phone manufacturers have satellite connectivity embedded in their newest phones. A DIYer can build a Raspberry Pi to do something similar. SPOT and similar devices are relatively cheap and are known to work. There are solutions out there and I'd rather not see Scout redevelop a solution that's been done better by others.

For similar reasons, I don't understand auto manufacturers building their own mapping software instead of using one of the several mapping applications that are readily available. Buy the solution from the experts, don't re-invent something that took decades to build.

Scout needs to survive their first 10 years of being an automobile manufacturer. Then, if they're in the black, they might have time to get into accessories and 3rd party integration and etc. I don't even want to see them adding tonneau covers, bed caps, rock lights, etc to their vehicles from the factory. Make their communications open, create a 3rd party upbuilder interface, and give all the specs to anyone and everyone so the 3rd party developers can do that development work on their own dime. If it was me, I'd make the bed, the bumpers, the frame mount points, etc of the Terra exactly the same dimensions as the F-150 or something similarly popular so all of those 3rd party accessories can be bolted directly on.

Generally I agree but this example is intriguing because if engineered and expanded it could become a tool for emergency responders who also use scouts as a point to point community connection. I’d say forest services too but may be a moot point. If the right tech is there imagine Scouts being used around the country for emergency services.
Also back to the reaper name-would be great as a blacked out police interceptor vehicle

 

[Chavannigans]

These kinds of suggestions are great and all, but I really hope Scout Motors doesn't spend research/developer time or money on them.

They should be a truck manufacturer and should focus on making the best vehicles they can possibly make. Don't make it a kitchen-sink for everyone. Make it tight, focused, well-developed, capable.

For satellite stuff, the big two cell phone manufacturers have satellite connectivity embedded in their newest phones. A DIYer can build a Raspberry Pi to do something similar. SPOT and similar devices are relatively cheap and are known to work. There are solutions out there and I'd rather not see Scout redevelop a solution that's been done better by others.

For similar reasons, I don't understand auto manufacturers building their own mapping software instead of using one of the several mapping applications that are readily available. Buy the solution from the experts, don't re-invent something that took decades to build.

Scout needs to survive their first 10 years of being an automobile manufacturer. Then, if they're in the black, they might have time to get into accessories and 3rd party integration and etc. I don't even want to see them adding tonneau covers, bed caps, rock lights, etc to their vehicles from the factory. Make their communications open, create a 3rd party upbuilder interface, and give all the specs to anyone and everyone so the 3rd party developers can do that development work on their own dime. If it was me, I'd make the bed, the bumpers, the frame mount points, etc of the Terra exactly the same dimensions as the F-150 or something similarly popular so all of those 3rd party accessories can be bolted directly on.

Scout is going to join Rivian in the "Software Defined" vehicle front.

One of the main draws to these vehicles is they are constantly getting new features and tweaks in regular updates unlike most of the car industry. This is a major selling point. Your car you already paid for today will become even more useful next year.

This proposed idea could be done in a few days with a handful of people. Its not rocket surgery. Just a few software triggers with very basic information using existing hardware.

Scout Motors head of the UX team said the software is mostly finalized already. Do you think its a better use of their time to do nothing for the next two years?

You must have also missed a few things in the conversation before replying because we have already covered Garmin NOT HAVING the ability to schedule messages without input from the user. So no, there is not a solution out there like it.

Your universal proposal for accessories is interesting, but you are also not taking into consideration that most steel and aluminum aftermarket bumpers would look terrible even if they bolted up, because they dont use the same body lines or share the same overall dimensions. You could end up with an ugly bumper that contacts fenders, the grill, or smashes the headlights.

Its kind of weird to shame them for product development leading up to the launch thats two years away. Nor do we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to new software implementations. If you dont want a feature they add, just dont use it. Simple.

I do agree with the maps integration though. Many manufacturers have tried, and failed to come up with a better alternative for navigation.

Another thing that could set them apart is being able to use the Scout App to upload GPX files directly to the Scout Navigation system for offroad trails that are normally accessed by apps like ONX on an iPad that people mount on their dash.

 

[oldgeeksguide]

Scout is going to join Rivian in the "Software Defined" vehicle front.

…

Scout Motors head of the UX team said the software is mostly finalized already.

Software is like great art, it’s never finished

But seriously, it is nice that even if a feature is not initially available it can be added later.

 

[R1TVT]

These are the core Garmin features FYI (since I mentioned the InReach):

TRACKING AND WEATHER​

Track your trip, share your location, retrace your steps back to camp, or check the weather ahead. Select inReach® devices can provide all these functions and more1.

LOCATION TRACKING​

You can use the tracking feature on your inReach device to record track points and transmit them over the Iridium® satellite network at a specified send interval. With the tracking function activated on your inReach device, you can bring peace of mind to family and friends by enabling them to follow your journey via your web-based LiveTrack™ page. You can turn the tracking function on or off from your inReach device or through your paired compatible device or app. Note: There is a charge for sending track points on some inReach satellite service plans, while other plans include unlimited tracking.

MAPSHARE™ FEATURE​

MapShare is an additional inReach feature that gives your friends and family a means to ping the location of your inReach device and send you messages.