Laser scanning as a method of storage of spatial information is used in various economic sectors. In this article, we will focus on laser scanning for industrial design, or more precisely on the execution of a 3D scan of the petrochemical complex for the production of synthetic rubber.

The goal was to create a three-dimensional digital model of the four plants for the production of isoprene (raw material for rubber). The TogliattiKauchuk  factory is located in Togliatti, Russia and is one of the largest petrochemical enterprises producing rubber.

The project was executed by company “Acropol-Geo” with a process inspection and support of 3DLS’s specialists.

For our clients, we have successfully restored the factory-built documentation, conducted a survey of industrial facilities, performed accurate measurements for the control of construction, created topographical plans and maps, calculated volumes of mining and storage of bulk products, performed architectural measurements of buildings, scanned and simulated emergency hydraulic power units, captured the linear objects of pipeline transportation, carried out a three-dimensional modeling of complex industrial structures, and performed other activities in order to meet the objective of 3D scanning.

At the present time, many progressive development organizations use modern computer technology design in three dimensions in order to carry out these types of projects. Modern 3D-capable technology is able to rigorously account for the actual geometry of the existing facilities. They are aimed at improving the quality of the final projects, at reducing the timing of the overall scanning process and at continuous support and supervision for the entire period of the object improvement project beyond scanning.

Enterprises increasingly use 3D solutions leading vendors such as Autodesk, AVEVA, Bentley, ESRI and Intergraph for the design, engineering and project management of industrial management. The leading enterprises that use these technologies are players primarily in the oil, gas and energy industries.

Using this new technology in the object survey phase of the project, a designer receives an accurate computer copy of the real object in the form of a three-dimensional model. And dozens of workers that were previously doing this work manually are easily replaced with only one instrument, operated by one operator. Moreover, all these measurements are performed without any contact between the operator and the object, so the process of measurement does not prevent the plant from continuing to conduct its business as usual. Such measurements at the TogliattiKauchuk plant was carried out by laser scanner FARO Laser Scanner Focus-3D and Leica ScanStation C10.

The field work of the scanning of the plant was carried out by a team of four specialists in 34 working days, and consisted of two parts:

Creation of the geodetic net Laser scanning of the object’s elements.

The technology allows to perform these two processes in parallel. 

Pict1. Working meeting

The work was carried out on an area of 5 hectares. However, multi-level interlocking of cables and tubes of different diameters, hundreds of technology setup areas, equipment, facilities, tanks and furnaces increased the technological complexity of the object and its scanning. Shooting conditions were close to extreme: functioning harmful production process, vibration, noise, high temperature piping, the presence of high-pressure steam, harmful chemical emissions, etc. 

Pict2. Laser scanner positioning

All elements of the object were subject to scanning, including each flange. Scanning was done from a total of 8,158 positions to achieve the maximum coverage of the elements of the measurement object. The total number of single measurements (in the point cloud) exceeded 12.5 billion. In order to reduce the time, in which this field phase of work was completed, the technology approach of “total scan” was used. The use of a standard survey methods (the use of the order of 7 spheres or marks on each scan) and merge of such a large amount of data would have required 5-6 times more time. Additionally, the use of propriatary software allowed to solve successfully the problem of compensation for fluctuations and vibrations.

The postprocessing phase consisted of the following:

Pretreatment of scans using FARO Scene software

Alignment of the scans in InnovMetric PolyWorks software

Registration of scans in the coordinate system of the plant

Build and control of scan alignment performed in Leica Cyclone software

Creating 3D models in Bentley MicroStation software

Conversion of 3D model into PDMSmac format.

We used software Leica Cyclone 7.3.3 64-bit for final merging of aligned scans. The advantage of Leica Cyclone version 64-bit is to use all available RAM (we had RAM 128Gb). Unlike analogous software Leica Cyclone works faster and more correctly with huge point clouds: visualize, registration quality control, merge point clouds, cut clouds by parts to pass it to modelers.

It should be noted that the final cloud of points contains not only the structure of the scan but also the transformations of the scans that have taken place during the alignment process in Leica Cyclone. If necessary, this alignment can be re-registered and transformed into a different coordinate system, where new elements of related objects can be added (for example in the case of continuing reconstruction work at the factory).

The final 3D scan included every single one of the 12.5 billion real measurements that were captured during the scanning process. The customer got thin point clouds too to load it to AVEVA LFM for control. That data are in correct PTX format.

Pict3. Point clouds in Leica Cyclone

And now a few words about quality control of matching and modeling. Quality control is performed by visual analysis of cross-linked sections of the cloud of points in the software environment Leica Cyclone. Horizontal and vertical cross sections of the aligned point models have been built in order to assess the accuracy of the models. The points in these cross sections were highlighted in different colors that correspond to the various scanning stations. The quality control inspection results were positive: the maximum difference between the points of scans from different stations amounted to 12 mm compared with the desired tolerance of up to 15 mm in the assignment specification.

The high density of the cloud of points and the adequate coverage of the element measurements enabled the successful deciphering and modeling of the details of the object according to the required specifications. 3D modeling was performed by different softwares: Bentley MicroStation, Autodesk AutoCAD and Leica Cyclone. This process consisted of inserting vector geometric basics into the appropriate segmented point clouds. The final collecting and checking of 3D models was done in Bentley MicroStation.

The modeling was carried out under continuous monitoring of the results. The final step was the quality control process to determine the quality of the output results. Together, this provided for an exact match between the executed model and the real measurements of the object.

Thanks to complex and flexible tools of MicroStation it was done as a 3D modeling as collecting of 3D models from other softwares. Powerful tool of 3D visualizing and rendering created the final 3D model more demonstrable and realistic.

Pict4. Workshops 3D models for reengineering

Output of 3D modeling was converted to AVEVA PDMSmac format and passed to Customer for following executing of design and work documentation for reengineering of plant.

Pict5. Matching of 3D models and point clouds in AVEVA

The entire project was completed within 102 working days. As a result, the project management organization received a database in Leica Cyclone IMP-format, containing the normalized cloud of points along with credible 3D models of the plant in CAD and PDMS format within the coordinate system of the plant.

The project for the modernization of the plant will be implemented with the highest quality!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MDcIK37CJk&feature=youtu.be

info@3DLS.ru

acropolGEO@gmail.com

You can work with maps in the field using Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS app on your iPhone or Android smartphone.

You can also use maps to capture spatial and tabular data with the phone’s GPS or by tapping on the map, edit and update map features, plan routes, and upload photographs and videos.

To learn about Collector for ArcGIS, tune in to the free, live training seminar Smartphone GIS: Capturing Data with Collector for ArcGIS on May 30, 2013.

The presenters will demonstrate how to create, publish, and share maps with employees in the field. They also will show you how to incorporate edits made in the field into your enterprise GIS workflows.

After viewing this seminar, you will understand how to do the following:

• Use the Collector for ArcGIS app on your smartphone
• Make maps and share them with employees in the field
• Open maps from ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS and use them in field workflows

This live training seminar will be helpful to GIS managers and staff interested in using smartphones to work with maps and GIS data in the field. An understanding of ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS for Desktop, and smartphones is recommended but not required.

You will need a broadband Internet connection and an Esri Global Account to watch the live training seminar. Creating an Esri Global Account is easy and free.

                                             The decline of Alaska’s Columbia Glacier is one

                                                                      of the Earthchanges featured in the new Google

                                                                           imagery based on the Landsat data archive.

                                                                                     › More on Columbia Glacier

NASA Associate Administrator for Communications David Weaver issued the following statement about the Google announcement:

“The Landsat data record — humanity’s longest continuous record of our planet from space — has been an invaluable tool for scientists and decision-makers in many fields, from natural resources to agricultural productivity and climate change. The release today on Google’s Earth Engine of new Landsat time-lapse data animations shows key changes across our planet and helps share this remarkable U.S. resource with the public in an engaging new way.

“The Obama administration is committed to keeping this freely accessible archive of continuous global land observations growing for years to come. That’s why the president’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget includes funding to have NASA take the lead on the design of a new spaceborne system that will continue the acquisition of Landsat-quality measurements.

“NASA launched the newest Landsat satellite in February. Later this month, we will be handing over operations of this mission to our long-time partners at the U.S. Geological Survey. NASA is looking forward to beginning the work to extending this critically important national resource.”

Related Links

› More information about the new Google images
› NASA Landsat website
› USGS Landsat website

Steve Cole
NASA Headquarters

Although the ultimate goal of the PhoneSat mission was to determine whether a consumer-grade smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics for a satellite in space, the three miniature satellites (named Alexander, Graham and Bell) also took pictures of Earth and transmitted these “image-data packets” to multiple ground stations on Earth. Above photo was taken by the PhoneSat-1 (Bell) nanosatellite and reconstructed by the Ames Phonesat Team and multiple amateur radio operators around the world. Image credit: NASA Ames

For about one week, engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and amateur radio operators around the world collaborated to reconstruct an image of Earth sent to them from three smartphones in orbit. The joint effort was part of NASA’s nanosatellite mission, called PhoneSat, which launched on Sunday, April 21, 2013 aboard the Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia.

Although the ultimate goal of the PhoneSat mission was to determine whether a consumer-grade smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics for a satellite in space, the three miniature satellites used their smartphone cameras to take pictures of Earth and transmitted these “image-data packets” to multiple ground stations. Every packet held a small piece of “the big picture.” As the data became available, the PhoneSat Team and multiple amateur ham radio operators, who call themselves “hams,” pieced together a high-resolution photograph from the tiny data packets.

“During the short time the spacecraft were in orbit, we were able to demonstrate the smartphones’ ability to act as satellites in the space environment,” said Bruce Yost, the program manager for NASA’s Small Satellite Technology Program. “The PhoneSat project also provided an opportunity for NASA to collaborate with its space enthusiasts. Amateur radio operators from every continent but Antarctica contributed in capturing the data packets we needed to piece together the smartphones’ image of Earth from space.”

As part of their preparation for space, the smartphones were outfitted with a low-powered transmitter operating in the amateur radio band. They sent the image information to awaiting hams who worked with the Ames engineers to stitch together multiple, tiny images to restore the complete Earth view.

Piecing together the photo was a very successful collaboration between NASA’s PhoneSat team and volunteer amateur ham radio operators around the world. NASA researchers and hams working together was an excellent example of Citizen Science, or crowd-sourced science, which is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists. On the second day of the mission, the Ames team had received over 200 packets from amateur radio operators.

“Three days into the mission we already had received more than 300 data packets,” said Alberto Guillen Salas, an engineer at Ames and a member of the PhoneSat team. “About 200 of the data packets were contributed by the global community and the remaining packets were received from members of our team with the help of the Ames Amateur Radio Club station, NA6MF.”

The mission successfully ended Saturday, April 27, 2013, after predicted atmospheric drag caused the PhoneSats to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.

“The NASA PhoneSat Team would like to acknowledge how grateful we are to the amateur radio community for contributing to the success of this mission,” said Oriol Tintore, an engineer and a member of the PhoneSat Team at Ames who participated in the picture data processing.

The PhoneSat project is a technology demonstration mission funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and the Engineering Directorate at NASA Ames Research Center. The project started in summer 2009 as a student-led collaborative project between Ames and the International Space University, Strasbourg.

These results will encourage further research into applying low-cost terrestrial technologies to space applications and also may open space to a whole new generation of commercial, academic and citizen-space users, according to Yost. For more information about the PhoneSat mission and the participation of the radio amateur:

For more about information about NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program and the PhoneSat mission, visit:

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in future science and exploration missions. NASA’s technology investments provide cutting-edge solutions for our nation’s future. For more information about NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech 

Ruth Dasso Marlaire
650-604-4789
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

A GIS can be thought of as a system—it digitally creates and “manipulates” spatial areas that may be jurisdictional, purpose, or application-oriented. Generally, a GIS is custom-designed for an organization. Hence, a GIS developed for an application, jurisdiction, enterprise, or purpose may not be necessarily interoperable or compatible with a GIS that has been developed for some other application, jurisdiction, enterprise, or purpose. What goes beyond a GIS is a spatial data infrastructure, a concept that has no such restrictive boundaries.

In a general sense, the term describes any information system that integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays geographic information for informing decision making. GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data in maps, and present the results of all these operations. Geographic information science is the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems.