Image Courtesy of LFM Software One feature touted by LFM is a real-time, smooth 3D view of raw point-cloud data that eases the visual selection of scanned assets. Related Links: LFM Software Software Automatically Translates Some Point Cloud Data to CAD Drawings Automating the laborious process of manually tagging building infrastructure assets within laser-point cloud data is a Holy Grail ideal that promises to save time and money. A recently updated suite of software eases that manual workflow and allows hardware and software platforms from various vendors to work in conjunction."We go straight from the laser-scan data to intelligent 3D
By Luke Abaffy The 360 Panorama app for iPhone and Android allows for not only panorama shots but actual 360-degree views of the user's surroundings. Related Links: 360 Panorama App Interior Shot of St. John's Baptist Church in Midtown NYC. Google uses 360-degree cameras mounted on vans that drive the streets of the world to collect data. The data populates Google's "street view" feature in Google Maps. The mobile app 360 Panorama can deliver the same interactive, 360-degree view from a mobile device as well as streamline the process of sharing detailed site photos. "We take many site photos and then
Photo Courtesy of Conti Construction Corp. Contractors survey the heating, electricity and hot water of a Superstorm Sandy-ravaged home by using iPad minis and e-Builder, a construction program management system. Screenshot Courtesy of eBuilder Inc. Related Links: e-Builder To define the extent of Superstorm Sandy's damage to residential properties, New York City and the Federal Emergency Management Administration last fall issued a request for proposals for a rapid repair program. One of the winning contractors now credits its use of a mobile construction program management app and a fleet of iPad minis for its ability to meet the city's exacting
A new photo management feature turns jobsite photos into jobsite data that is searchable in a content management system. Related Links: Viewpoint's Construction Imaging Viewpoint Reels in 4Projects While smart phones with great cameras make site documentation a cinch, it can be a challenge to manage thousands of construction photos. A new photo management feature in an enterprise content-management software update addresses the problem by turning photos into mineable data assets.The management feature allows users to tag and categorize photos by site number, employee number and user-defined tag names."Companies turn to consumer tools, like [Google's] Picasa, for photo management, but
Image Courtesy of Bentley Systems Bentley System's iPad app can capture images and file code-compliant transportation infrastructure asset reports on the go. Related Links: ASCE Infrastructure Report Card InspectTech Collector App More than two hundred million vehicles cross deficient bridges in America's 102 largest metropolitan areas every day, says the American Society of Civil Engineers' most recent report card on the nation's infrastructure. Although the ASCE gave bridges a C+ overall—better than the other infrastructure categories rated—there is still much bridge work to be done. Using data gathered from state departments of transportation across the nation, ASCE's report calls for
Related Links: Infographic: How Biometric Security was Deployed at London's Olympic Park Tracking Gear on the Jobsite, Big and Small Big Brother? Workers React to Monitoring Georgia Tech RAPIDS Lab Imagine a world in which construction workers' daily routine includes gaining access to their jobsites only after a machine scans the unique biological makeup of their irises or the geometry of their hands. In conjunction with the biometric scan, a security-pass lanyard is used. Each security pass carries a worker's information, including all the worker's credentials, OSHA certifications, ethnicity, gender—and even their home zip code. Multiply that scenario by 9,000
Photo Courtesy of University of Alberta Roving Pilot Trailing up to 200 meters behind a tunnel-boring machine as it moves through the earth, a surveying robotic total station computes the TBM's geospatial position to within 3-mm accuracy in real time. Related Links: New Alignment System for Tunneling Machines To Be Tested The Inventor's Upcoming Fiatech Presentation After more than six months of full-scale field testing on the construction of a 1,000-meter sewage tunnel, a geomatics-based survey guidance system for tunnel-boring machines shows promise for reducing interruptions in surveying while delivering real-time as-builts of the tunnel's interior."We can easily save 10%
Image Courtesy of university of california, berkeley Shock Waves Harmless shock waves known as primary waves (yellow circle) come seconds before slower, destructive secondary waves (red circle). Related Links: Video of ShakeAlert in Action Detailed ShakeAlert Proposal An early warning system that predicts an earthquake's approaching shock wave up to a minute before it strikes is ready to become operational throughout California. Further, a recently proposed bill would fund expansion of the system.The bill, introduced by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D), would support the ShakeAlert system, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and an international coalition of universities. It is
Related Links: Why NYC is Outsourcing Crane Exams 2012 Updated Requirements for New York City Crane Operators N ew York City building officials imposed $64,000 fines against a crane operator and a contractor for failing to inspect and improperly operating a mobile crane that collapsed in the borough of Queens. The accident injured seven workers on an apartment-building jobsite on Jan. 9."The operator was attempting to lift a load of more than double the weight capacity for this particular crane," said Robert LiMandri, the buildings commissioner, in a statement.At the project site on Jan. 9, Paul Geer, the crane operator,
Photo Courtesy of APM Terminals Port of Callao workers circle a piece of equipment to demonstrate the 30-ft range of RFID sensors, manufactured by Avonwood Developments. Related Links: Avonwood's ZoneSafe Proximity Warning System APM Terminal's Callao Port In construction, radio-frequency identification devices, or RFIDs, are used for security purposes to monitor jobsites and track workers. At Peru's Port of Callao, the largest port on the Pacific side of South America, RFID technology is being used to avoid collisions between workers and loading equipment."In most ports all over the world, there has, for many years, been a problem to effectively separate
