ITT Exelis XLS Geospatial Systems announced it has delivered GeoEye’s next-generation commercial imaging system for the GeoEye-2 satellite to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Sunnyvale, Calif. When operational in 2013, GeoEye-2 will deliver the highest resolution and most accurate color imagery to GeoEye’s commercial, government and international customers.
According to the announcement, the Exelis-built imaging payload for GeoEye-2 includes a telescope, sensor subsystem and outer barrel assembly and has the potential to capture panchromatic ground sample distance imagery of the Earth’s surface at 0.34-meter, or 13.38-inch, ground resolution.
“Exelis was instrumental in helping Lockheed Martin revolutionize the commercial remote sensing market by designing and manufacturing the imaging system for GeoEye’s IKONOS satellite, launched in 1999. More than a decade later, Exelis is proud to deliver the imaging system for GeoEye’s next-generation satellite,” said Rob Mitrevski, vice president and general manager, Environmental Intelligence and Integrated Geospatial Sensing Systems at Exelis Geospatial Systems. “Exelis has long relationships with Lockheed Martin and GeoEye, and together, we look forward to the next phase of integrating the Exelis-built imaging system into the GeoEye-2 spacecraft.”
ITT reported that GeoEye-2 will have significant improvements in capability compared with current systems, including enhanced tasking; longer focal length, which enables better resolution; advancements to the sensor subsystem, which improves image quality; and the ability to collect more imagery at a faster rate. The GeoEye-2 satellite will provide cost-effective, increased coverage and easier access to high-resolution satellite imagery for intelligence analysts, warfighters, map producers and commercial customers. GeoEye-2 will surpass the performance of the GeoEye-1 satellite, launched in 2008, in resolution, capacity and agility. GeoEye selected Exelis to begin work on the GeoEye-2 imaging system in October 2007.
Bill Schuster, GeoEye’s chief operating officer, said, “We commend Exelis for completing this next milestone of our GeoEye-2 program with a superbly performing camera and an on-time delivery of the imaging system to Lockheed Martin. Commercial satellite imagery plays a fundamental and essential role in our country’s national security, disaster response and humanitarian efforts. Soldiers depend on it on the battlefield every day for the most up-to-date situational awareness and to meet many of their operational mission requirements. Commercial imagery is unclassified, and as such, is easily shared with coalition forces.”
The GeoEye-2 satellite bus is being assembled at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, Calif. Its propulsion system has been installed and many of the subsystems are completed and being integrated into the spacecraft.
“Delivery of the imaging payload is a major milestone for the team and another critical step forward in our objective to deploy this cutting-edge satellite in a timely fashion,” said Allen Anderson, GeoEye-2 program director for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “We look forward to integrating the payload with the GeoEye-2 space vehicle and achieving mission success for our customer.”
Navitel, navigation provider for Russia and Eastern Europe, and global mapping company AND announce a strategic partnership in developing car navigation maps for Navitel Navigator.
Navitel and AND will combine their knowledge, experience and know-how to develop navigation products, the annoucement said. Navitel can now introduce Western European maps for their navigation solution. Thanks to this cooperation, Navitel will offer the market extremely detailed, precise, and actual Western European maps with all Navitel online-services support.
In 2012, in addition to maps of all Eastern Europe, CIS and Asia countries, Navitel will expand its cartographic coverage and release new maps of all Western Europe countries. Thus, Navitel will offer users navigation on the territory of all Eurasia from Pacific to Atlantic Ocean.
My first exposure to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) was in 1972, serving as a young Ensign on a WWII class destroyer. The UAV was called DASH(Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter). It was a small, counter-rotating rotor drone helicopter used to extend the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) reach of a destroyer. It carried Mark46 torpedoes but could also carry nuclear depth charges. The disappointing characteristic of DASH is that it had a nasty habit of either disappearing over the horizon never to be seen again or, worse yet, crashing into the superstructure of its mother ship. 1970s technology just wasn’t up to the complex task of controlling such a vehicle.
Enter 2012, and UAV technology looks like science fiction. My recent participation at the USSOCOM TNT exposed me to some new developments in military technology and UAVs in particular. Most of you are familiar with the better known UAVs such as the Predator, Global Hawk, or smaller Shadows, but the number of UAVs has grown exponentially with some of the most interesting developments occurring in small UAVs and persistent surveillance. With more than 100 UAVs in today’s market, it’s impossible to do a comprehensive column about UAVs, but just like the blind men looking at an elephant, the following is one GIS guy’s view of this growing market.
Hot New UAV Systems
Building on early lessons learned with vehicles like DASH, the Boeing A160 is a UAV helicopter, but the similarity to DASH ends there. Its design incorporates new technologies not previously used in helicopters, allowing for greater payload, endurance, and altitude than any helicopter currently in operation. The experimental program has ambitious goals of a 2,500-mile range and 24-hour endurance with a 1,200 pound payload. The 35-foot helo flies autonomously rather than relying on real-time human control with speeds over 140 knots.
A reoccurring theme that has been presented at GEOINT and other ISR conferences is that many UAVs currently in use are proving to be almost as expensive to operate as manned aircraft. Because of this, engineers have been looking into alternate technology, including persistent surveillance. One example is the Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) a hybrid blimp and aircraft.
The Lockheed Martin vehicle shown here will be tested in-theater this year. It is designed to operate unmanned and untethered at 20,000 ft. for weeks at a time carrying a 2,500-lb. intel payload. On first glance the LEMV looks like a sitting duck, but based on actual tests the low static pressure, lighter than air, aerodynamic lifting body is very survivable. At GEOINT, Maj. Gen. James O. Poss, USAF, said that if you are lucky enough to hit it from the ground with small-arms fire, it might come down next week.
UAVs at TNT
There were numerous UAVs at TNT, but the two that particularly caught my attention and imagination were two inexpensive vehicles that I believe could be game changers for the GIS community.
One was a very light weight UAV from a small Ohio company called UAVision.They were flying UAVs that on first glance looked like toys, but the composite skins and advanced electronics quickly shattered that first impression. The vehicles are battery powered and almost silent in flight with loiter times of about 30 minutes. Weighing 4-8 pounds, they were easily hand launched and fly autonomously once in the air.
The operator programs the flight path into a GIS display and the aircraft follows the programed path, ultimately doing a soft landing on to the grass next to the operator. Shown here is the live video feed from the camera on the UAV overlaid with the programed flight path (orange polygon). The resolution of the video was excellent and the image was surprisingly stable. They were also testing the ability to locate, identify, and track RFID tags from the air.
This vehicle is designed to ultimately meet new UAS standards that are included in a recent FAA Bill. The bill, signed by the President February 14, includes important provisions regarding the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the national airspace system. One provision could have a very rapid impact on the GIS community. It allows government agencies and first responders to fly very small UAS (4.4lbs or less) within 90 days if they meet certain requirements. The goal is to permit law enforcement and firefighters immediate access to these small systems for lifesaving purposes and to increase public safety. Some believe that this technology may be readily available for surveying and mapping within three years.
Although 4.4 pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, UAVision’s current aircraft already has shown the ability to capture and geo-reference the imagery. 4.4 pounds seems to be a safety benchmark that puts the UAV in the same category as birds. Statistically, most manned aircraft can survive a collision with birds up to 4.4 pounds, so the low-flying UAV would pose a minimal hazard to manned aircraft. Unlike current big UAVs that have six- and seven-figure price tags, a complete UAVision system can come in as cheap as $30,000. I could easily envision GIS operations using these systems for surveillance or even low-cost imagery capture.
The second vehicle that caught my attention was a hybrid air system from Sofcoast. Sofcoast created an aerostat the combines the benefits of a tethered balloon with the stability and directionality of an aircraft with control surfaces. This could be the most elegantly simple and low=cost solution to persistent aerial surveillance I’ve seen.
The operator launches the aerostat silently using a modified fishing rod and reel. Once in position, the clear vehicle is very unobtrusive. It silently monitors the area below and has the added benefit of being almost invisible at night. I can easily see this being used for security during large public events or in response to natural disasters as a survivor search tool or to catch or deter would-be looters. To get an idea of the quality and stability of the video feed from the system, click on the following video:
Future Systems
There are numerous articles on the Internet that explain some rather exotic UAVs in development.
The Propulsive Wing is a new patented aerodynamic platform that integrates an embedded, distributed cross-flow fan propulsion system within a thick wing. It looks like a fat flying wing but has the potential to carry very heavy payloads with very stable flight characteristics and short takeoff and landing.
The Nano Hummingbird or Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) is a tiny remote-controled aircraft built to resemble and fly like a hummingbird, developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Hummingbird is equipped with a small video camera for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes and, for now, operates in the air for up to 11 minutes. It can fly outdoors, or enter a doorway to investigate indoor environments.
Honeywell completed delivery of an initial order for 90 RQ-16 T-Hawk “hover and stare” micro air vehicle (MAV) systems to the U.S. Navy in December 2011, for use in detecting roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Zephyr is a lightweight solar-powered UAV which was originally designed and built by the United Kingdom defense firm Qinetiq. The carbon-fiber aircraft uses sunlight to charge a lithium sulfur battery during the day, which powers the aircraft at night. It holds the current UAV endurance record with an 82-hour flight at an altitude of 61,000 feet.
On the really creepy side are rumors of Nano UAVs the size of insects. Following is a video clip from the University of Pennsylvania showing a swarm of UAV quad copters flying in formation and showing an almost collective intelligence.
The “fly on the wall” may soon be a reality, controlled by your GIS technician.
Trimble announced that it has acquired privately-held Gatewing of Gent, Belgium, a provider of lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for photogrammetry and rapid terrain mapping applications. The acquisition broadens Trimble’s industry-leading platforms for surveying solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
According to the announcement, UAVs in combination with photogrammetry are an emerging technology providing an innovative platform for flexible aerial imagery acquisition. Easy to use and flexible, UAVs provide users the ability to create orthophotos and Digital Surface Models (DSM) from aerial imagery for mid-sized areas previously only accessible at higher costs and with longer planning cycles. UAVs are used in a variety of applications including preliminary surveys for corridors and rights-of-way, volumetric surveys, high-level topographic surveys, land fill inspection, and much more.
Trimble reports that Gatewing’s solutions include the X100 UAV and Stretchout desktop software for digital image processing and analysis. The X100 is an ultra-light, 2 kg (approximately 4.4 lbs) class UAV that allows fast and simple image acquisition. It consists of an airframe; an integrated GPS, inertial system and a radio; a 10 megapixel camera; and battery. Using the Trimble Yuma tablet computer, a predefined area is planned and the flight of the UAV is fully automated from launch to landing. The terrain is mapped through parallel flight paths and consecutive, overlapping camera shots during flight. The ground control station (GCS) is used to monitor the mission and allows an on-site image quality check. In addition, the GCS provides the operator with the option to intervene and abort the flight if needed. The image set consists of a number of digital images that are tagged with the GPS coordinates.
Gatewing’s Stretchout desktop software uses advanced computer vision technology which automates raw image processing to deliver georeferenced orthophotos and accurate DSM. As an alternative to the desktop software, users can upload images to Gatewing’s cloud solution, which automatically processes the images based on the users’ requirements. After a few hours, users can download their georeferenced orthophotos and DSMs from the cloud server including feedback about the results for quality assurance.
“The combination of UAVs and low-altitude photogrammetry as an image collection platform opens up new opportunities for surveyors to use aerial imagery for the rapid acquisition of high-density geospatial data,” said Anders Rhodin, director of Trimble’s Survey Business. “We are excited to add Gatewing’s unique aerial mapping system to Trimble’s portfolio of survey solutions.”
“The Gatewing team is excited about the new ownership,” said Maarten Vandenbroucke, CEO and one of three founders of Gatewing. ”For Trimble to see the value in unmanned aerial systems for surveying and mapping applications means that the industry is truly ready for this exciting new technology. We are enthusiastic about how UAVs can revolutionize the landscape and open a complete new spectrum in remote sensing applications. I believe that being a part of Trimble will accelerate the pace in which UAVs will further be adopted by professionals.”
The Gatewing business will be reported as part of Trimble’s Engineering and Construction segment.
GeoMobile Innovations announced that expert ArcPad Mobile GIS instructor Craig Greenwald is back for a ArcPad Bootcamp on May 14/15th in Portland Oregon.
This 2-day hands-on ArcPad 10 Bootcamp is a must for new ArcPad users or users migrating to ArcPad 10. It is also great for GIS administrators who manage and support field crews using ArcPad.
Immediately become productive with ArcPad 10’s core functions with hands-on field and office exercises. Dig into the enhanced ArcGIS Desktop data management tools and enrich your field experience with free ArcGIS Online basemaps and Bing Maps. Learn how to use ArcPad Studio to create custom toolbars, data entry forms, and task lists, tailored to your specific projects and workflows – all with no programming required.
When: May 14-15, 2011, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: $795 for 2 days – includes course materials and media to take home.
Location: Metro Regional Center in Portland, OR, 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland, OR 97232
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain a few weeks ago, a company called Loctronix introduced meter-level indoor positioning technology. “In 50 meters, turn left to find Macy’s Department store” is not very far in our future. This technology and others one step closer to making accurate indoor navigation possible so you can navigate from store-to-store inside a shopping mall or even navigate to particular items within a particular store.
It’s all about sensor fusion. CSR’s SiRFstar V/SiRFusion technology uses data from all available satellite navigation systems from the U.S., Europe, Russia, China and Japan, as well as WiFi, cellular systems, accelerometers, gyros, and compasses. Loctronix calls their technology Doppler Aided Inertial Navigation (DAIN) and Spectral Compression Positioning (SCP) which allows them to obtain one meter positioning outdoors, indoors, and even underground without relying on external servers with the following features:
Client-based, sensor fusion software platform producing real-time position, speed, direction of motion, and heading information.
Optional integrated GPS/GNSS signal and navigation processing – using Loctronix’ SCP hybrid technology.
Fully integrated map-matching functionality with support for third-party map data.
Optional WiFi RSSI location and access point profiling.
Third-party LBS API support.
Multiple implementation options supporting existing smartphones and next-generation wireless devices.
Think about what would happen if indoor positioning is actually implemented per the above, able to deliver one meter accuracy. Less than ten years ago, the automobile Personal Navigation Device (PND) market was in its infancy. GPS positioning was clearly able to deliver the accuracy required for point-to-point street navigation. What makes the PND valuable is the outdoor map database. These are the highly detailed digital maps from Navteq/Nokia and TeleAtlas/TomTom that are inside 90% of the PNDs in the world. Drawing from this experience, it’s obvious that indoor mapping databases are going to be huge, not only the location of stores, but the location of items on the shelves within stores. A friend of mine works for a large national retail chain in the U.S. He said they’ve tried aisle-to-aisle navigation technology before, and it failed. It was too difficult for the shopper to use. What that tells me is that the demand is there, in a big way.
The PND market in the 1990s was messing around too, trying to arrive at a technology and price point for mass adoption. Indoor navigation is on the same path, only this time it won’t be Navteq/Nokia and TeleAtlas/TomTom leading the pack.
Blom announced that BlomURBEX imagery was integrated into Finland’s most popular web mapping service, Fonecta’s Enrio.fi. Integration was done using BlomURBEX’s API (Application Programming Interface) tools.
According to the announcement, the oblique imagery served from BlomURBEX provides users with a rich, interactive and highly informative view of the area of interest. For example, before setting off to a destination, users can inspect Eniro.fi’s routing services. The oblique imagery provides a broader visual understanding of the area, and helps users to easily locate themselves within their surroundings.
“We are developing all of our services to help people and companies in everyday tasks, and customer feedback is very important for us. For some years Blom has provided us with oblique images and these have always generated a lot of interest with an established user base,” states Toni Wistbacka, the Product Manager of Eniro.fi –service.
Blom reported that in addition to oblique and ortho imagery, several types of map layers, and routing service functionality, Fonecta’s improved Eniro.fi service also provides tools for searching contact information of companies and individuals in Finland.
Karlsruhe, Germany — Geoinformation holds enormous potential: “Geoinformation plays an important role in all key sociopolitical issues,” said Karl-Friedrich Thöne at the Intergeo Round Table in Karlsruhe. All participants were in agreement with the President of the German Society for Geodesy, Geoinformation and Land Management (DVW), the organization responsible for hosting Intergeo October 9-11, 2012, in Hanover.
However, the experts — including representatives from the worlds of politics and industry — backed different approaches for the leading international industry forum with conference and trade fair. Georg Thiel from the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) called for a “national geoinformation strategy,” while Ernest McCutcheon, managing director of Karlsruhe-based DDS Digital Data Services GmbH, said that “too great an emphasis” was placed on data protection, favouring instead an approach highlighting the benefits of employing geoinformation.
During the discussion held under the banner “Smart Geoinformation — Intelligent Geoinformation for the Future,” Thomas Haupt, responsible for sustainability in his position as the director of PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG in Karlsruhe, gave an example demonstrating that easier access to data improves the “robustness of systems.” He said that anonymous mobile data could be used instead of models for planning traffic flows, which would also help find a way out of the “data jungle” and into a “healthy mixed forest.” However, DVW President Thöne warned against focusing exclusively on the benefits of geoinformation. The debate on Google Street View, he said, showed that potential risks also had to be included in any discussion. He proposed that “Intergeo should also serve as a platform for adopting an offensive strategy for data protection and data security.”
The first national Inspire Conference will held at the 18th Intergeo in Hanover this year. Inspire is an EU directive for creating a common geodata infrastructure. Under this directive, high-quality geodata from the public bodies of member states should be made available under uniform conditions to support the formulation, implementation and evaluation of European and national areas of policy. “It is our job to put data protection in Europe on a new footing,” Georg Thiel said. The Inspire Conference and Intergeo, he added, are ideal platforms for launching discussions with a view to developing a national geoinformation strategy.
But how does Inspire affect smartphone owners? “Inspire will generate added value,” said Thiel, referring to the simple example of intelligent lawn-mowing robots. “These lawnmowers can use Inspire, for example, to incorporate weather data into their planning and wait for a storm to pass before automatically starting to mow the lawn.” Public administration bodies will make decisions based almost 100 percent on geoinformation, Thiel said.
Hartmut Rosengarten, from Hexagon Geosystems and spokesman for the Intergeo Exhibitor Advisory Board, acknowledged the event as both an international communication platform for the industry and a bridge between professionals and end consumers. “At Intergeo, we have to offer solutions so they can be understood and utilised by everyone,” he said.
allows users to record, export, and import routes and landmarks together with information such as photos, videos, audios, or text directly to an iPhone. The product is intended both for professional survey teams and outdoor adventurers. Key features include:
Enjoy recording your trip routes and pinning impressive landmarks, with multimedia files and descriptions.
Advanced functions; export/import, geotag/geocode, along with Multiple Recording Filters.
Versatilely edit the saved track/point; crop, move, copy, merge, or change properties.
Share and develop your trips with friends easily via iTunes or email.
Available in two versions: The Basic (TMX) and The In-App (TMX, GPX, MID/MIF, or Shapefiles.)
Leica Geosystems Geospatial Solutions Division is pleased to announce the release of its new mission planning software, Leica MissionPro. The software provides mission planning capability for all airborne sensors including LiDAR, line and frame sensors and is fully integrated into existing Z/I Imaging and Leica Geosystems workflows.
The company reported that in addition to the core planning functionality, Leica MissionPro includes an exciting range of new features such 3D virtual Globe View and tools for project management and evaluating missions.
“Leica MissionPro combines the best features from Z/I Mission and Leica FPES into a comprehensive and highly productive planning software”, says Jacques Markram, Product Manager for Leica MissionPro. “Leica MissionPro represents an exciting first step in our combined product roadmap and is truly the result of synergies across the new division. Leica MissionPro simplifies planning for any type of airborne sensor mission and allows our combined customer base to further enhance their productivity.”
According to Leica, MissionPro supports integrated multi-sensor and LiDAR planning in a true 3D mission planning environment and exports flight plans for both Z/I Inflight and Leica FCMS. In addition, Leica MissionPro provides access to Web Map Services and uses worldwide SRTM data.
Leica MissionPro replaces Z/I Mission and Leica FPES software. A free upgrade is provided to all Leica FPES and Z/I Mission maintenance customers.
Fabric Engine Inc announced that it has officially launched v1.0 of its high-performance computing platform, Fabric Engine. Having recently earned Judge’s Choice at January 2012’s NodeJam, the server- and client-side Fabric Engine technology is now available to programmers under the AGPL license.
According to the announcement, Fabric Engine taps into the power of modern, multi-core hardware to bring multi-threaded, compiled performance to dynamic languages such as JavaScript and Python. The benefits of dynamic languages are well-known – they’re easy to use and fast to work with. However, they are slow when compared to compiled languages. Until now, dynamic language applications have to be re-built using compiled languages in order to provide performance, which introduces significant costs. Fabric Engine gives the same performance as multi-threaded C++, yet retains the ease of use and speed of iteration of dynamic languages.
“With Fabric Engine’s technology, it’s possible to take current backend infrastructure and redeploy it to scale and gain impressive performance increases,” said Guido Vieira, General Manager at Nexalogy Environics, a company focused on social media analytics and an early user of Fabric Engine. “Fabric Engine has other advantages too. In addition to using a language very similar to JavaScript for the high-performance operators (vanilla JavaScript/node.js for everything else), which reduces the need to use C++, you can avoid the whole code-compile-run cycle with its sometimes long delays, and use a more immediate execute model.”
The company reported that on the desktop, Fabric Engine is ideal for high-performance applications, such as those used in game development, animation, film production, GIS, medicine, and other industries that are greedy for performance. Fabric Engine currently runs as a browser plug-in, and is currently in beta for a Python/QT desktop framework. On the server and in the cloud, Fabric Engine is ideal for addressing compute-bound problems that require raw execution performance. With node.js, Fabric Engine provides an asynchronous compute model that works well alongside the other services that node provides.
The company listed proven uses of Fabric Engine include:
“This launch marks the culmination of more than two years of hard work,” said Paul Doyle, CEO and co-founder of Fabric Engine. “We have many ideas of what can be achieved with our technology, but we also look forward to seeing all of the creative directions in which developers push Fabric. With our open-source licensing model, it is easy for developers to get started with Fabric Engine and start building high-performance applications.”
Intergraph released SmartPlant FreeView, a free .VUE viewer that allows users to display and navigate Intergraph 3D models and view associated plant properties.
According to the announcement, SmartPlant FreeView will open any Intergraph SmartPlant 3D and SmartMarine 3D projects published as a .VUE file. A user then may walk through the plant, ship or offshore model and select any object in the view to see its associated plant properties via the MDB2 package. Intergraph’s SmartPlant Review Publisher can convert and combine SmartPlant 3D and SmartMarine 3D, as well as other project types, into .VUE and MDB2 formats for viewing with SmartPlant FreeView or Intergraph’s full-capability visualization solution, SmartPlant Review.
Intergraph reports that the free .VUE viewer has a complete set of on-screen navigation controls for easy use, allowing even the most casual user to walk through complex 3D models with no training. Keyboard navigation is equally simple. An orientation axis is displayed in the view to help the user maintain direction. SmartPlant FreeView also has a surface measure command to display accurate distances between objects.
Vlad Savulian, engineering systems lead for AMEC Natural Resources and one of the many industry experts who worked with Intergraph on the requirements for a free .VUE viewer, said access to SmartPlant FreeView will benefit companies of all sizes, especially those collaborating on mega-projects.
“On the oil sands projects in Canada, AMEC works with a large number of clients, partners and subcontractors who could benefit from viewing the 3D model,” Savulian said. “With SmartPlant FreeView, they will be able to easily navigate the plant model, view properties, make comments on what they see or ask questions about what they don’t understand. With the introduction of SmartPlant FreeView, we will be able to extend model review capabilities to a much broader audience.”
Gerhard Sallinger, Intergraph Process, Power & Marine president, agreed: “SmartPlant FreeView enables our customers and their suppliers to increase productivity and competiveness without increasing costs. The use of SmartPlant 3D and SmartMarine 3D has doubled in the last two years. With that tremendous growth comes the need for a variety of users, including design, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance, to view these complex 3D models.
“Now, for example, an engineering company can provide a 3D model to a potential subcontractor who can use SmartPlant FreeView for a preliminary review and bid based on the actual model rather than a collection of drawings – without having to purchase viewing software,” Sallinger said. “Then once the work is awarded, the subcontractor can upgrade to SmartPlant Review for more in-depth review and analysis capabilities.”
