News http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/ Recent Certainty 3D News en-us Nucleus CMS v3.64 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://launch.certainty3d.com/news//nucleus/nucleus2.gif News http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/ TopoDOT Extends Reach to Seventh State DOT http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/
“TopoDOT’s rapid adoption by transportation agencies is not unexpected,” said Ted Knaak, president of Certainty 3D. "As a MicroStation application offering a comprehensive tool suite for LiDAR system data processing, TopoDOT is uniquely well positioned within the civil infrastructure market. Given the tough economic times, our customers also appreciate TopoDOT’s low cost and free web based training programs.”

Original Article here: Point Of Beginning]]> General Thu, 3 May 2012 12:23:25 -0600 TopoDOT Extracting Value Series - Clearance Measurement Tools and Techniques http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/
Clearance Measurement Tools and Techniques
Use TopoDOT to quickly measure bridge, cable and general structural clearances.

Register for the webinar here!
]]> Webinar Registration Tue, 1 May 2012 12:40:50 -0600 TopoDOT Extracting Value Series - Control Point to Data Analysis Tool http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/
Control Point to Data Analysis Tool
Use TopoDOT to quickly evaluate LiDAR project point clouds against survey control data.

Click here to download the webinar!
]]> Webinar Downloads Mon, 9 Apr 2012 17:49:00 -0600 TopoDOT Software Update v5.0.7.0 http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/

  • Added Bridge Clearance tool.

  • Added Edge Detection tool.

  • Added new Point Cloud Engine allowing view specific display settings.

  • New tool added to calculate clearance from power line attachment points.

  • Optimized processing speed when snapping to point cloud data.


And many more features!

Keep an eye out for an update email!]]> Software Updates Mon, 9 Apr 2012 17:44:56 -0600 Under the LiDAR http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/ New technology is taking cost, time and uncertainty out of highway design. For Virginians, this quiet revolution means less traffic disruption, lower costs and faster turn-around times on big projects.

by James A. Bacon

Last fall Fluor Transurban was negotiating a contract with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to build or upgrade 29 miles of express lanes on Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia. It was critical to get a better handle on how much the roughly $1 billion project would cost. To help out, the consortium hired HNTB, a Kansas City-based engineering firm, and Dayton-based Woolpert, a geospatial firm, to conduct a preliminary design.

Normally, a job like this would require a sub-contractor to assign dozens of surveyors to develop a detailed topographical map of the route. The job would take months as survey teams worked down miles of highway, making tedious measurements every step of the way. Traffic would have to be diverted, and the safety of the surveyors would be an ever-present concern. Frequently, the engineers would have to dispatch surveyors back into the field to take more measurements, creating delays. It wasn’t a pretty process.

But Fluor Transurban got a much faster turn-around because HNTB and Woolpert embraced a fast-evolving technology known as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). Invisible, pulsed laser beams emanating from rotating mirrors can acquire up to 1 million precise distance measurements per second of the roadway and surroundings. The resulting data, a “point cloud,” provides precise 3D digital images of the scene. Cameras mounted next to the LiDAR scanners acquire thousands of high-resolution 2D color images of the same terrain.

“LiDAR is faster and safer, and it’s better quality,” says Paul DiGiacobbe, director of strategic technology-incubation for HNTB. “We’re able to respond much more quickly. We’ve got our finger on the pulse much better than in the past.”

First and foremost the LiDAR revolution offers a productivity jump in surveying efficiency. But it also may help VDOT manage routine operations more effectively by making it easier to inventory road conditions. And in the long run, it could have a profound impact by supporting a strategic shift from conventional highway contracting methods to a design-build paradigm.

Traditionally, VDOT designed projects in-house and then put the jobs up for bid. Taking place in sequential steps, work took a long time and was subject to cost overruns. Under design-build, the contractor can perform design and construction work simultaneously, which cuts time and costs. The ability to compress construction schedules potentially could save Virginia taxpayers tens, even hundreds, of millions of dollars in the years ahead.

For Fluor Transurban, estimating the cost of the upgraded Interstate was a complex task. Plans call for reversible High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes running 29 miles along I-95 south of the Capital Beltway. Under a preliminary agreement negotiated with the commonwealth of Virginia, Fluor Transurban will convert existing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes, extend the express lanes down the Interstate median, widen some lanes and make a variety of other improvements.

Gathering the data was made significantly more efficient by the use of mobile data-collection techniques. The Woolpert team set up “tie points,” or registration points, at intervals along I-95 so the LiDAR data could be properly aligned. After that, a single van with an Optech LYNX Mobile Mapper mounted in the back bed drove up and down I-95 at highway speeds. The disruption to traffic was minimal. Surveyors minimized their exposure to speeding cars and trucks. Working within existing HOV lanes access patterns and other construction activities, Woolpert took only four days to finish.

Woolpert’s eight-person technical team used its TopoDOT™ software to extract critical information and develop 3D models for downstream engineering and design operations. TopoDOT™ is an application for MicroStation™ software, which is used by a majority of roadway design engineers.

“TopoDOT™’s function is delivering value from LiDAR system data,” says Certainty 3D President Ted Knaak, whose company created the software. “The problem with point cloud and pictures is that there really isn’t much intelligence associated with the data. Think about a digital image. Step back and look at the entire image, and you know what is exactly in the picture. Look at just a few pixels up close and, absent the context of the entire picture, you don’t know what they are. TopoDOT™ thus provides the tools for the technician to recognize and extract the intelligent 3D CAD model from the data.”

Continue reading this article on Bacon's Rebellion]]> General Mon, 9 Apr 2012 16:58:53 -0600 TopoDOT Extracting Value Series - Roadway Surface Extraction with Rutting http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/
TopoDOT Extracting Value Series - Roadway Surface Extraction with Rutting

Click here to download the webinar!
]]> Webinar Downloads Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:12:00 -0600 Webinar demonstrating Topographic Extraction with TopoDOT http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/ High performance low cost point cloud processing software designed for the survey and design-build industry

CUSTOMER REVIEW
"... thanks it was a great presentation. Having been involved in laser scanning since about 1996, I can with confidence say that yours was probably the best presentation I've seen. Your messages were 'spot on' and the software was presented very well."


-Steve Brown, Sr Business Consultant GeoDigital


Click to download the recorded webinar now!


We demonstrate how employing this technology across your operations will:

• Increase Profits
• Lower Costs
• Streamline Operations
• Accelerate Project Schedules
• Improve Quality Control

See how TopoDOT customers such as HNTB, Woolpert, Army Corps of Engineers, Michigan DOT, and others are effectively using this technology to improve their operations and bottom line performance!


Find out how Certainty 3D technology is changing the Survey and Design-Build Industry!
]]> Webinar Downloads Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:43:00 -0700 TopoDOT Software Update v4.4.8.5 http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/
TopoDOT Update Highlights


  • Data format and memory optimization

  • Administration features

  • Tools Improvements

  • New Tools


]]> Software Updates Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:59:00 -0700 Certainty 3D Offers Tech Notes Focused on Calibrated Imagery Import and Assessment http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/ Certainty 3D offers technical notes at our information page ( Found Here ) explaining calibrated imagery within the context of the 3D image data set. Detailed descriptions and explanations of image requirements along with associated metadata are given. In addition, techniques for assessing the system performance with respect to these images are given. These tech notes cover both static and mobile terrestrial scanning system.

"Many laser scanning systems now offer images in addition to a point cloud as a data set component. However we have often had to inform customers that their system did not provide “calibrated” images or the associated metadata necessary to fully exploit the information contained in these images was not available. Therefore Certainty 3D now offers these tech notes as a way for customers to better understand this technology and either produce their own calibrated images or articulate and place requirements on service providers for such calibrated image data. We also demonstrate how TopoDOT™ can be used to assess system performance within the context of this image data."

- Ted Knaak, President Certainty 3D
]]> General Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:04:00 -0600 Demonstrating free software designed for the successful planning, cost estimation and management of static and mobile laser scanning projects! http://launch.certainty3d.com/news/ Certainty 3D developed TopoPLANNER and TopoMISSION using experience gained from many years in the field executing successful scanning projects.

Features include:
• Utilize aerial imagery from multiple online sources including Bing, Google and Yahoo maps
• Import or create control coordinate network
• Accurately estimate project time and cost

We are pleased to make TopoPLANNER and TopoMISSION available to our customers and our friends across the laser scanning community free of charge.

Join us on March 10, 2011 at 1:00 PM (EST) (GMT-5) for a demonstration of the capabilities that TopoPLANNER and TopoMISSION can offer.]]> Webinar Registration Wed, 9 Mar 2011 10:59:48 -0700