Leica Geosystems has released its new DX Office Vision utility post processing software for mapping ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data from the field into a CAD drawing.
DX Office Vision allows even non-experienced users to obtain professional 3D CAD drawings and visualize the detected underground utilities in a simple way, according to Leica. The intuitive interface enables users to filter, select, identify and make annotations of the located targets. With DX Office Vision, post-processing for all ground-penetrating data requires no add-on or third party software.
“Following the demo of the new DX Office Vision I have to say I am impressed. The user interface is very intuitive with key processing views easily manipulated for fast interpretation of ground penetration radar data. I was particularly impressed with the DX Office Vision feature that allowed me to clean up the scan and highlight certain areas to give a clearer view of hyperbolae,” said Alex Rampton, surveyor at Plowman Craven.
DX Office Vision was developed by utility surveyors who know what is needed from a post processing software. The software was created to reduce the post processing time and eliminate all unnecessary steps to convert data or chose parameters. The software guides the user to create a reliable 3D map of the underground detected utilities with minimal training.
“DX Office Vision aims to make interpretation of GPR data easy to master for constructors and surveyors who are not familiar with how to interpret it,” said Tughan Telatar, product manager, Construction Tools for Leica Geosystems. “DX Office Vision is so simple to learn that anyone from the crew can take over data processing into professional CAD drawings in five steps and 50 per cent faster than traditional methods.”
On March 15, drone-maker MMC strung power lines across the Ragged Mountain in Thailand using its Spider drone and specialized wire-pulling tools.
The project was carried out for EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) and served as a transnational demonstration for MMC. By cooperating with MMC, EGAT hopes to use professional drones to string more lines helps the nation in its quest for 100 percent electrification in Thailand.
In recent years, the Thai government has increased the investment in the development of power projects to meet the requirement of its rapid economic growth. The traditional method of stringing power lines using human labor doesn’t fit with the green economy and humanism, wasting time, human resources and sacrificing the environment, EGAT said.
Using UAVs, TUV India, under TÜV Nord Group, is conducting an assessment of a 25-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power project 160 kilometers from Bengaluru spread across 90 acres. TÜV Nord Group is a technical service provider working in 70 countries.
For the Indian solar project, the first phase involved a site assessment, flight planning, undertaking drone flights, uploading data from the drone to advanced software, data processing, analysis, documentation, interpretation and delivering the final report. The second phase will take place after installation of solar modules and operation of PV power projects for at least six months.
Having executing this solar PV power project successfully with the drone, TUV India is confident it can use UAV technology for assessment, surveillance and inspection of infrastructure projects such as rail, roads, seaporta, airports and utilities.
Geoscience Australia, an agency of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Lockheed Martin have entered into a collaborative research project to show how augmenting signals from multiple GNSS constellations can enhance positioning, navigation and timing for a range of applications.
The research project aims to demonstrate how a second-generation Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) testbed can — for the first time — use signals from both GPS and the Galileo constellation, as well as dual frequencies, to achieve greater GNSS integrity and accuracy.
Over two years, the testbed will validate applications in nine industry sectors: agriculture, aviation, construction, maritime, mining, rail, road, spatial and utilities.
To improve precision navigation, a second-generation SBAS will use signals from both GPS and Galileo, and dual frequencies, to achieve even greater GNSS integrity and accuracy. (Graphic: Lockheed Martin)
“Many industries rely on GNSS signals for accurate, safe navigation. Users must be confident in the position solutions calculated by GNSS receivers. The term ‘integrity’ defines the confidence in the position solutions provided by GNSS,” says Vince Di Pietro, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand. “Industries where safety-of-life navigation is crucial want assured GNSS integrity.”
Ultimately, the second-generation SBAS testbed will broaden understanding of how this technology can benefit safety, productivity, efficiency and innovation in Australia’s industrial and research sectors, according to Lockheed.
“We are excited to have an opportunity to work with Geoscience Australia and Australian industry to demonstrate the best possible GNSS performance and proud that Australia will be leading the way to enhance space-based navigation and industry safety,” Di Pietro adds.
Basic GNSS signals are accurate enough for many civil positioning, navigation and timing users. However, these signals require augmentation to meet higher safety-of-life navigation requirements. The second-generation SBAS will mitigate that issue.
Once the SBAS testbed is operational, basic GNSS signals will be monitored by widely-distributed reference stations operated by Geoscience Australia. An SBAS testbed master station, installed by teammate GMV of Spain, will collect that reference station data, compute corrections and integrity bounds for each GNSS satellite signal, and generate augmentation messages.
“A Lockheed Martin uplink antenna at Uralla, New South Wales, will send these augmentation messages to an SBAS payload hosted aboard a geostationary Earth orbit satellite, owned by Inmarsat,” says Rod Drury, director of international strategy and business development for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. “This satellite rebroadcasts the augmentation messages containing corrections and integrity data to the end users. The whole process takes less than six seconds.”
By augmenting signals from multiple GNSS constellations — both Galileo and GPS — second-generation SBAS is not dependent on one GNSS. It will also use signals on two frequencies — the L1 and L5 GPS signals, and their companion E1 and E5a Galileo signals — to provide integrity data and enhanced accuracy for industries that need it.
Research partners
Lockheed Martin will provide systems integration expertise in addition to the Uralla radio frequency uplink. GMV-Spain will provide its magicGNSS processors. Inmarsat will provide the navigation payload hosted on the 4F1 geostationary satellite. The Australia and New Zealand Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information will coordinate the demonstrator projects that test the SBAS infrastructure.
Lockheed Martin has significant experience with space-based navigation systems. The company developed and produced 20 GPS IIR and IIR-M satellites. It also maintains the GPS Architecture Evolution Plan ground control system, which operates the entire 31-satellite constellation.
TerraGo is partnering with CompassTools, a provider of integrated GIS, GPS and wireless solutions for field data collection across numerous industries, including government, utility, natural resources, transportation, architecture and construction.
“We help our customers build the best bundled solution for their GIS and GPS goals, whatever they may be, and TerraGo’s mobile solutions give us the flexibility we need for the wide spectrum of accuracy, workflow and data collection requirements,” said Andrew Carey, manager of Geospatial Solutions at CompassTools. “TerraGo provides out-of-the-box integration for all the leading platforms, while enabling customizable precision, basemaps, forms and workflows, which fits well with our customer-focused approach.”
“CompassTools helps organizations identify and implement the best combination of GPS receivers, hardware and software to meet their unique requirements,” said John Timar, vice president, Worldwide Sales, TerraGo. “TerraGo Edge and TerraGo Magic were designed from the ground up to support that type of customization; which makes it easy for customers to get the benefit of CompassTools’ expertise to help them deploy a solution tailored to their mission.”
TerraGo is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 12 p.m. ET with a live demonstration of mobile GIS and GPS solutions available from TerraGo and CompassTools.
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, has awarded Raytheon multiple contracts to research and develop technologies that will detect and respond to cyber attacks on the U.S. power grid infrastructure.
The contracts, which total $9 million, were awarded under DARPA’s Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation and Characterization Systems program.
“During the last two decades, industrial control systems have evolved so that most are now connected to the Internet, making them vulnerable to cyber attack,” said Jason Redi, vice president for the Raytheon BBN Technologies Networking and Communications unit. “A significant power disruption would have profound economic and human costs in the U.S, so our goals are to prevent attacks and to reduce the time required to restore power after an attack.”
Raytheon BBN will create technologies to enhance situational awareness by providing early warning of an impending attack and detecting adversary spoofing of power grid data collection and communication. These technologies will also maintain situational awareness in the immediate aftermath of an attack.
The company will also examine methods to maintain secure emergency communication networks in the aftermath of an attack. Raytheon BBN’s approach seeks to isolate affected organizations from the internet and establish a secure emergency network to coordinate power restoration without depending on external networks.
Raytheon BBN Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company.
Trimble is offering office software, site positioning and machine control solutions designed for site and utility contractors and owner/operators. These solutions offer small to mid-sized contractors a reliable, flexible and affordable option to leverage construction technology.
Many contractors already use SketchUp Pro for layout and visualization. SketchUp’s affordable price point and ease of use make it an ideal solution for small site and utility contractors who do not have a software specialist on staff.
Now, SketchUp files can be exported to Trimble SCS900 Site Controller Software using the new Trimble Site Contractor extension for use in site positioning applications.
Site Positioning
Trimble Site Positioning Systems have also made significant improvements for smaller contractors. Trimble SCS900 Site Controller Software has introduced two new capabilities, EZ Level and BaseAnywhere.
EZ Level replaces traditional laser transmitters with GNSS or total stations for easy elevation checking when no design is available. BaseAnywhere allows contractors to quickly set up their Trimble SPS585 GNSS Smart Antenna as a base station anywhere on the site, with no survey control necessary, making it much simpler and faster for a non-surveyor to use GNSS.
In addition, corrections can now be streamed to the SPS585 using BaseAnywhere and Wi-Fi. No radio is needed, so smaller contractors have a very affordable way to receive GNSS corrections on site.
Machine Control
The Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System can now be installed on many skid steer loader grading attachments from a variety of manufacturers. The installation includes integration to the machine’s joystick controls, so contractors can take full advantage of the technology on their machine to increase productivity and accuracy.
“Trimble has made it easier than ever for smaller contractors to take advantage of construction technology,” said Scott Crozier, director of marketing for Trimble’s Civil Engineering and Construction Division. “With office software, site positioning and machine control solutions designed to make the technology easier to use and more affordable, site and utility contractors are able to enjoy increased productivity gains and efficiency that larger companies benefit from today.”
Drones could soon be inspecting powerlines in India, thanks to a partnership between Sharper Shape and Sterlite Power.
Sharper Shape, based in Palo-Alto, California, offers automated drone-based asset inspections. Sterlite Power is a power transmission company in India.
The Sharper Shape Sharper A6 drone is designed for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights.
Sharper Shape has already spearheaded the adoption of long-distance commercial drone flights for utilities in Europe. In the U.S., Sharper Shape is part of the EEI Sharper Utility partnership, an industry collaboration aimed at demonstrating and developing commercial long-distance drone flights for electric companies.
As part of the cooperation, Sterlite Power will make a minority investment in Sharper Shape to foster Indian market growth and continued technology development. The companies signed a partnership agreement during Make in India Week in Mumbai in February, an event held to spur innovation, design and sustainability.
Sterlite Power and Sharper Shape are awaiting approvals from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation for large-scale, long-distance inspection flights. Long-distance drone flights could provide significant benefits with safe, efficient and fast inspections compared to manned helicopter flights.
Utilities in India. The partnership also intends to provide services for other utilities in India. India has a power transmission network of more than a million circuit kilometers, which undergoes double-digit growth annually. The use of drones will increase the uptime of the grid, reduce transmission tariffs, avoid grid blackouts, and save the environment by reducing deforestation along the line corridors.
Sterlite Power has already introduced lidar for surveys and helicopters to avoid disturbances to farm activities and speed the process to commission much-needed infrastructure in India. Soon, it will deploy heli-cranes to erect transmission towers in the challenging terrains of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the United States…
In August, Sharper Shapesubmitted a waiver application to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), requesting approval to perform beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights. The waiver would allow members of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI)-Sharper Shape partnership to demonstrate and develop commercial long-distance flights for electric company asset inspections.
BVLOS flights are able to travel 10–20 miles, compared to roughly one-third of a mile under visual-line-of-sight regulations.
The test flights will leverage Sharper Shape’s new Sharper A6 drone and Sharperscope 5.0 payload. The A6 is optimized for BVLOS asset inspections, using four redundant cellular networks to make it virtually impossible for the drone to lose communication with ground-control operators, the company said.
Sharper Shape leverages the LTE commercial multi-billion-dollar networks, while other vendors use point-to-point, which can’t communicate beyond line of sight, or satellite connection, which suffers from high costs and invariable latency that increases the response time and impedes a pilot’s ability to make quick adjustments during flight.
Sharper Shape has submitted a waiver application to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), requesting approval to perform beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights.
In coordination with the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and SkySkopes, a drone service provider in North Dakota, the waiver would allow members of the EEI-Sharper Shape partnership to demonstrate and develop commercial long-distance flights for electric company asset inspections.
In addition to submitting one of the first waiver requests, Sharper Shape and SkySkopes are working with Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Minnkota Power Cooperative, Houston Engineering, Northern Plains Railroad, University of North Dakota and the Edison Electric Institute to conduct test flights.
BVLOS flights are able to travel 10–20 miles, compared to roughly 1,500 feet (one-third of a mile) under visual-line-of-sight regulations.
The test flights will leverage Sharper Shape’s new Sharper A6 drone and Sharperscope 5.0 payload. The Sharper A6 drone is optimized for BVLOS asset inspections, using four redundant cellular networks to make it virtually impossible for the drone to lose communication with ground-control operators, the company said.
The Sharper A6 from Sharper Shape.
Sharper Shape leverages the LTE commercial multi-billion-dollar networks, while other vendors use point-to-point (P2P), which cannot communicate beyond line of sight, or satellite connection, which suffers from high costs and invariable latency which increases the response time and impedes a pilot’s ability to make quick adjustments during the flight.
The A6 drone can collect a comprehensive variety of useful data (including information from its high-definition cameras, infrared sensors, corona detector, lidar sensor, etc.), and is to this day the only platform capable of doing so in a single flight. The sensors have been carefully selected and integrated into the Sharperscope 5.0, a system that Sharper Shape has engineered specifically for electric company BVLOS inspections and which syncs directly to the Sharper Shape cloud.
In conjunction with submitting the waiver application, SkySkopes and Sharper Shape kicked off a string of test flights including:
The first flight using the new Sharper A6 drone via a line-of-sight demonstration to inspect the Xcel Energy Bison Substation
A final flight with a fleet of drones to celebrate the day’s events.
“These test flights have contributed to a monumental day for the U.S. drone industry,” said SkySkopes President and CEO Matt Dunlevy. “We look forward to continuing to pioneer new developments for drone flights in the U.S. alongside Sharper Shape.”
Sharper Shape, EEI and SkySkopes are optimistic to test BVLOS flights in the U.S. by the end of the year.
Geneq Inc. has released the SXPad 800H, which the company describes as a feature-packed, rugged handheld GPS data collector at an affordable price.
The SXPad 800H is specifically designed for mobile GIS users in applications ranging from water, electric and gas utilities, transportation, mining, agriculture and forestry.
The high-performance 800-MHz device is designed to give users all the power needed to work with maps and large data sets in the field. It is designed for rugged outdoor use, the company says, with a waterproof seal (IP65) and ability to survive a 5-foot (1.5-meter) drop to concrete. Its 3.7-inch color touchscreen (full VGA) is sharp and is sunlight readable.
Standard features include an extra-long battery life of more than 12 hours on a charge, slots for MicroSD cards and SIM cards, and the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.
The SXPad 800H offers features typically seen in more costly mobile devices, the company says, including GSM/GPRS cellular modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 5-megapixel camera, and an internal GPS receiver with external GPS antenna port.
The SXPad 800H is optimized for GPS/GIS field data collection using its 1 to 3 meter accuracy internal GPS receiver or one of Geneq’s high-performance SXBlue GPS receivers for sub-meter and centimeter-level accuracy.
Ubisense Group plc, an enterprise location-intelligence solution company, has released version 2 of myWorld Inspection & Survey. Version 2 of the software offers a host of new features to transform the way utility and telecommunications teams conduct inspections and surveys.
myWorld Inspection & Survey enables field workers to collect inspection data on any mobile device, eliminating paper-based processes and is a dramatic improvement on first-generation software solutions, Ubisense said. Users now have the flexibility to run the system on iOS, Android or Windows and dynamically push both data and application code updates, significantly reducing IT management costs, UbiSense said.
Based on discussions with existing customers, Ubisense has also incorporated a range of new workflow and data capture features to make day to day inspections and management even easier. Users of myWorld Inspection & Survey are now able to:
Carry out multiple surveys concurrently, significantly improving productivity.
Assign multiple crews or surveyors to a single survey or inspection order, enabling support of a wider range of existing business processes without requiring any product customization.
Support for “dual pass” surveys, in which each survey item needs to be visited twice in order for the survey to be regarded as complete.
Enhanced map filtering, to allow users to only display items relevant to the survey(s) that they are currently working on.
Process checks to automatically turn off surveying when the vehicle speed exceeds a specified value, avoiding accidentally marking something as surveyed incorrectly.
“We know that our customers want the flexibility to use any device in the field,” said Peter Batty, Geospatial CTO at Ubisense. “We allow them to run iOS, Android or Windows with a single application giving them more flexibility in device selection and future proofing their hardware decisions.”
TerraGo has released TerraGo Edge 3.9.3, which features full support for OGC GeoPackage, a universal format for sharing maps and geographic data across mobile devices and all platforms.
TerraGo Edge enables users to import and export OGC GeoPackage as a SQLite database optimized for performance on iOS and Android devices.
“Because we listened to our customers, we designed TerraGo Edge from the ground up to be an open solution for exchanging field engineering, GIS, GPS and asset management data across vendor platforms and devices,” said John Timar, vice president, Worldwide Sales at TerraGo. “GeoPackage is an important win for customers because it’s a dramatic shift away from proprietary formats and technology. GeoPackage breaks through user dependence based on vendor data lock-in, enables platform-independent data exchange and refocuses customer value on software features and performance.”
The latest TerraGo Edge 3.9.3 release closes the loop for a complete GeoPackage collaboration workflow by allowing Edge app users to import GeoPackage data from a mobile device, collect location-tagged field data and roundtrip the information back to the GIS or other enterprise systems of record.
BYOD GPS Gets Real: Lessons Learned with the New Rules of GPS Data Collection
Thursday, April 14, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
In this GPS World webinar, join us as we examine how five organizations from five industries (oil & gas, engineering, water utility, transportation and natural resources) made the switch from GPS handhelds to smartphones and tablets for their field data collection needs. Speakers are Michael Gundling and David Basil, TerraGo.
Version 3.9.3 features these enhancements:
Advanced GIS Integration
Deliver GeoPackage data to any TerraGo Edge mobile app user
Create offline map when GeoPackage is embedded in a GeoPDF
Simultaneously import GeoPDF and GeoPackage data back to Edge server
Improved Mapping Experience with EdgeMap Optimizer
Automatic detection of best resolution (DPI) for offline maps upon import by mobile user
Manually select the optimal resolution upon import
Data collection enhancements with the New Form Template Selection, including a new search function in form fields to improve user productivity and data integrity.
Leica Geosystems has released its new DX Office Vision utility post processing software for mapping ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data from the field into a CAD drawing.
