MDL pioneer ‘plug-and-play’ mobile mapping
AN innovative, integrated ‘plug-and-play’ mobile mapping system, which can be used on land or water, has been launched by Houston-based eye-safe laser-measurement technology specialists Measurement Devices Ltd (MDL).
Laser scanning, GPS and an inertial navigation sensor have been combined in a single pod for ease of use and versatility in the new, lightweight, Dynascan land vehicle and marine vessel Lidar system.
Developed by MDL as the first of a new generation of portable and affordable Lidar systems, Dynascan weighs less than 11kg and is easily mounted on a range of transportation systems ranging from rugged all-terrain vehicles to small inshore survey vessels.
It is designed for use by those with little surveying experience or specialist technical skills, allowing them to quickly obtain quality 3D-survey mapping data.
All the programs necessary to initialize, navigate and provide real-time display of Lidar 2D or 3D scan results are contained in the PC software and a rapid start-up time is available as the pod sensors are pre-aligned during manufacture.
Innovative display graphics guide unskilled operators to ‘saturate’ fieldwork areas with data points which can be overlaid directly in real time to Google Earth satellite and air photos, allowing fieldwork, which usually takes weeks, to be completed in hours.
After capture, raw or edited data can be exported to most ‘off-the-shelf’ CAD modelling packages.
MDL Houston chief executive officer, Steve Ball, said: ‘At under a fifth of the price of current mobile mapping systems, Dynascan brings Lidar benefits to small and medium-sized field survey operations for the first time…and will soon become an essential everyday ‘tool’ in the construction, earthmoving and terrestrial surveying businesses.’
