Connecting the Community During COVID

Challenges

Like many communities around the globe, Amherst, NY was anticipating their post COVID-19 reopening with bated breath. One major topic of conversation was getting their little league up and running so children could get back to playing and the community could have one of their favorite pastimes back.

The issue at hand was how to kick off the little league season safely. While the thought of having a Summer 2020 little league season was exciting to the community, it had to be done carefully. They wanted to keep at-risk family members and friends safe and continue abiding by social distancing guidelines, while allowing everyone to enjoy baseball again.

Solution

The community wanted to implement live streaming to solve this problem, but exploring that option uncovered an additional challenge. Being a nonprofit organization, they needed a cost-effective way to connect and manage cameras on all the baseball diamonds.

A Vandis mobility engineer used his knowledge and problem-solving to come up with a unique solution. His extensive experience with wireless technology led him to develop the following solution:

• Installation of 4 Aruba Networks Outdoor IAPs around the ballpark that would provide full coverage across all baseball fields
• Utilization of Aruba Networks outdoor mesh
• Configuration of GoPro cameras

Aruba was selected for this outdoor Wi-Fi project because their technology is easy to configure and provides excellent connectivity. Aruba’s outdoor IAPs provide a high-performance wireless environment while withstanding even the harshest outdoor conditions. Paired with their inconspicuous design and lifetime warranty, these IAPs were the best way to deliver top-notch wireless connectivity. With only one network-connected AP, Aruba’s mesh technology was utilized to extend the network to cover the entire ballpark.

The cameras were configured in a way that when they are powered on, they automatically begin a Facebook Live stream. Families are given access to the hosting page of the Facebook Live stream prior to the game so they can tune in if they are unable to attend in person. Once they tune in, they have the same view of the game as if they were sitting in the bleachers.

Image Source: LynkSpyder

Results

The Aruba Networks APs provided full coverage for all six baseball diamonds in the little league’s park. With the custom cameras in place and connected to the wireless network, the little league can now stream games to keep at risk family and friends out of the park this summer.

The entire project was executed in eight weeks from concept development to final deployment while incurring minimal costs for the little league organization. It also opened the door for other community organizations to consider similar solutions to keep at-risk individuals safe yet connected to community events.