From Spar Point Group

By SPAR Point Group staff

SmartGeoMetrics announced the latest opening of its new office on April 1, 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria. This location represents SmartGeoMetrics’ fifth worldwide, adding to offices in Houston, TX; Nashville, TN; Washington D.C.; and Port of Spain, Trinidad. The Nigerian operation is a joint venture between SmartGeoMetrics and Petroprism Limited, an indigenous Nigerian services firm. This location is staffed with a primary focus on the petrochemical sector, however, all of SmartGeoMetrics’ existing support services will be provided in addition to Petroprism’s core services including 3D imaging, modeling & visualization services, enterprise & industrial information systems, and expert manpower supply services.

SmartGeoMetrics Nigeria Contact Information
Ayodeji Akinrinmade, MBA PMP – Manager
123 T.F.Kuboye Road
Lekki Phase 1
Lagos State, Nigeria

Email: infong@smartgeometrics.com
Phone: +234 802 222 1918
Website: www.smartgeometrics.com

About Petroprism Limited

Petroprism Limited, an indigenous Nigerian professional services consultancy, providing engineering support services and technology solutions for the design, construction and operation of Oil & Gas infrastructure assets. Petroprism is led by experienced Nigerian professionals and supported by a network of domain knowledge experts in the Oil and Gas industry.

About SmartGeoMetrics™, Inc.

SmartGeoMetrics™ is a 3D Imaging and Support Services company providing equipment rental, hardware and software sales, training and experienced market-focused support services on an international level. Our laser scanner inventory is the largest in the industry including the latest Leica 3D Laser scanners, targets, hi-res digital panoramic camera gear and a full-range of accessories. SmartGeoMetrics is dedicated to providing products and services that generate the greatest possible return on investment for our customers. We utilize our experience in the industry to seek and provide technologies that will add a competitive advantage to those who invest with us. Accordingly, all services are accomplished in an efficient and professional manner, always respecting the time and resources of our customers.

In early January, the Houston Chronicle highlighted one of Buffalo Bayou Park’s most fascinating features. Below the signature lawn being developed as The Water Works performance area, north of the existing Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park, sits an unused City of Houston water reservoir. This 100,000-square-foot area has enormous potential. While there is currently no funding to develop the “Cistern,” as it has been dubbed,  SmartGeoMetrics has volunteered to acquire 3D imaging data of the cavernous space. Their work will help the Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) accurately document the Cistern’s current as-is condition, conceptualize ideas for developing the space, and, with luck, facilitate funding. Imaging is expected to be completed by late summer. SmartGeoMetrics’ imaging will be given to the University of Houston’s Texas Learning and Computation Center (TLC2) who will vet a web-based public ideas process to come up with creative and sustainable potential uses for the Cistern. Stay tuned for details on this public ideas process!

Houston, Texas … (March 22, 2012) SmartGeoMetrics™, a division of SmartMultiMedia™, Inc., and Geophysical Data Management (GDM) announced that SmartGeoMetrics has acquired the High Definition Surveying /Laser Scanning and 3D Imaging division of GDM.  This includes GDM’s Nashville office which will be added to SmartGeoMetrics’ growing footprint including offices in Houston, Texas and San Fernando, Trinidad, West Indies.

Additionally, Sam Billingsley, PLS, joins SmartGeoMetrics as Vice President of Business and Product Development. Billingsley has extensive experience in both traditional and High Definition Surveying and is well known in the industry through his many speaking engagements and weekly industry blog for SPAR View. Billingsley will continue to manage the Nashville branch in addition to his corporate responsibilities with SmartGeoMetrics. This acquisition will increase the service offerings in Nashville to include all of the services currently offered by SmartGeoMetrics.

Geophysical Data Management will continue to offer all of their other services including traditional land surveying and positioning services from their home office in Dallas, Texas.

The official press release can be found here.

Sam Billingsley, SmartGeoMetrics’ Vice President of Business and Product Development, has been invited to present at the SPAR 2012 Conference in The Woodlands (Houston), TX April 15-18, 2012. Sam will be presenting in the Heritage Track on “Using 3D Imaging Tools to Enhance Historic Environments”.

SmartGeoMetrics is also participating as a Corporate Sponsor of SPAR 2012. If you are attending visit our booth in the Exhibit Hall!

Leica CloudWorx for Revit is a software application that allows users to take advantage of rich, 3D point clouds directly within Revit.

Leica CloudWorx for Revit is a breakthrough plug-in for efficiently using rich as-built point cloud data, captured by laser scanners, directly within Revit for better BIM modeling of existing buildings. This is useful for a wide range of BIM activities including retrofit design, construction and operations, and lifecycle asset management of the building. It provides a virtual visit to the site within Revit with a complete view of the captured reality.

(Heerbrugg, Switzerland, 7 November 2011) – Leica Geosystems announces Leica Cyclone v7.3.2 that fully supports the recently released ASTM E57 standard for 3D Imaging data exchange, which includes 3D laser scanning systems. This capability facilitates direct import and export of laser scan “as-built” data and related digital imagery from different types of laser scanning systems into and between different types of point cloud processing software. This general type of laser scan and image data exchange process using vendor-specific or other neutral formats can sometimes otherwise be problematic.

Following up on Leica Geosystems March 2011 public commitment at SPAR 2011 (Houston, Texas) to support the new standard, Leica Geosystems fittingly announced formal support of ASTM E57 in Cyclone at the SPAR Europe 2011 conference, Nov. 8 & 9, 2011 in The Hague. Tom Greaves, managing director, SPAR Point Group says “This is great news for users. Market leader Leica Geosystems’ support of the ASTM E57 will not only propel adoption of the standard, it will accelerate the use of laser scanning workflows across all industry sectors.”

Scan Data and Digital Imagery Data
Leica Cyclone supports industry standard-based exchange (import/export) of both point cloud data and image data. The image data consists of what is referred to within Cyclone as the “Multi-image”. A Multi-image is one or more digital images (taken by an internal camera in Leica Geosystems scanners or taken by external cameras) at or near the same observation point as the scan data. Image-to-scan alignment information is included. Therefore, Cyclone can now write (export) point cloud and associated image data to the E57 exchange format files for use by other E57 compliant software applications. In addition, Cyclone can read (import) point cloud and associated image data from properly formatted E57 exchange files.

Direct support of ASTM E57 data exchange formats in Leica Cyclone software also enables support of this format in all Leica CloudWorx CADD and VR point cloud plug-in applications: CloudWorx for AutoCAD, CloudWorx for MicroStation, CloudWorx for SmartPlant 3D, CloudWorx for SmartPlant Review, CloudWorx for PDMS, CloudWorx for 3D Studio Max, CloudWorx for 3D Studio Max Design, CloudWorx for Maya, and newly announced CloudWorx for Revit.

Leica Cyclone is among the first commercially available software products to make support of this industry standard data exchange format available in a production release. Since Leica Geosystems laser scanners, Cyclone software, and CloudWorx software are the most popular laser scanners and point cloud software tools in the market, this announcement promises to facilitate data exchange based on an industry standard format for a large portion of the laser scanning user community.

Pricing & Availability
Leica Cyclone v7.3.2 is now available. Contact us for more information.

(Heerbrugg, Switzerland, 7 November 2011) – Leica Geosystems announces “Leica CloudWorx for Revit”, the latest addition to Leica Geosystems family of CloudWorx™ point cloud processing plug-ins for CADD and VR modeling software. CloudWorx for Revit provides a faster way for AutoCAD®Revit® professionals to efficiently create accurate BIM deliverables of existing buildings based on rich laser scan data collected by 3D laser scanners.

Leica CloudWorx for Revit includes many of the same, productive features that exist in Leica CloudWorx for AutoCAD, long the industry’s most popular plug-in software for helping AutoCAD users work efficiently with “as-built” point cloud data from laser scanning directly within AutoCAD. The new software will be demonstrated for the first time publicly at the SPAR Europe 2011 conference, The Hague, Nov. 8 &9, 2011.

Finally: Efficient Processing of Point Clouds in Revit
Revit users have long been challenged with creating accurate Building Information Models (BIM) of existing buildings based on rich, “as-built” point cloud data generated by 3D laser scanners. Until recently, many users created simple, as-built surface models from point cloud data in other applications, such as Leica Cyclone software, and then exported those as-built models via AutoCAD into Revit, where users converted the surface models into BIM deliverables. Even more recently, Revit 2012 introduced the baseline ability to view and measure as-built point cloud data directly within the Revit working environment – a good step forward.

Leica CloudWorx for Revit now gives users what they’ve been wanting all along – the extra point cloud handling and efficient as-built modeling capabilities that AutoCAD users have long enjoyed via the Leica CloudWorx for AutoCAD plug-in (first introduced in 2001), plus additional Revit-specific tools:

• Direct access to Leica Cyclone projects – with its underlying point cloud management utility – which avoids time-consuming export/format conversion/import steps and enables  efficient  viewing of point clouds of unlimited size via Revit’s display engine
• Faster loading and display of higher density point clouds , for more precise modeling, including a “Regeneration” tool for automatically displaying point clouds at higher density
• Ability to set Levels (i.e., floor elevations) directly from scan points or surfaces created from point clouds and automatically create plan view slices
• Create convenient “Limit Boxes” for working only with scan data in specific, desired areas
• Create slices of point cloud data in X-axis and Y-axis, in addition to Z-axis
• Automatically cut point cloud slices into convenient half-sections
• Set Revit “Work Planes” by directly fitting a plane or flat patch to point cloud data – this enables users to create walls in Revit that can reflect a true, out-of-plumb existing condition
• Automatically fit & extract pipe centerlines and diameters from scan data for constructing intelligent pipe models
• Accurately determine pipe tie-point locations by fitting scan data
• Save and manage point cloud Slices and Limit Boxes via a “Clipping Manager” utility
• Save a convenient “CloudWorx Project” which consists of point cloud data, plus whatever has been saved in the “Clipping Manager”

The development of Leica CloudWorx for Revit was enabled by an API introduced by Autodesk with Revit 2012 in March 2011 and by the ability to use Leica Geosystems technology for efficient point cloud data management.

Pricing & Availability
Leica CloudWorx for Revit is planned to be available in 4Q 2011. Contact us for more information.

AutoCAD® and AutoCAD®Revit® are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc.

Video Overview

When the last Space Shuttle Orbiter completes its mission in summer 2011, it will be the end of an era that began with the construction of ballistic missiles over 60 years ago.

To help mark the Space Shuttle program’s place in history, NASA has offered Space Shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum for public display and preservation.  Space Shuttle Discovery first flew into space August 30, 1984. It’s last flight ended on March 9, 2011 after 365 days in space. In the last 27 years, Discovery has flown 39 successful missions one full year (365 days) in space. It’s best known for launching the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.

As well, NASA has asked the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) division of the National Park Service (NPS) to produce measured and interpretive drawings of the Discovery manned Orbiter, the Space Shuttle Main Engines, the External Tank and the Solid Rocket Boosters as part of a larger team effort that includes written historical and descriptive data and large-format photography.

An NPS spokesman said, “The fundamental goal of the collection is to have tangible, archivally stable documents intended to survive hundreds of years with minimal maintenance. In addition, the documentation has to be clear, concise, legible, verifiable and reproducible.”

All HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is produced on materials that have an archival stability for a minimum of 200 years. Digital reproductions of the documentation are created to make the collection available to the general public via the Internet, but all archival data must be in a stable, physical form.

SmartGeoMetrics, in an effort to provide the NPS with the latest technology, utilized a combination of high-end 3D laser scanners and HDR panoramic photography to capture 3D imagery of the entire interior and exterior of Space Shuttle Discovery as it was prepared for retirement in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) located at Kennedy Space Center. They also captured 3D data of the Space Shuttle Main Engines reusable liquid fuel rocket engines located in a separate building. NPS notes that laser scanning is changing the way the agency conducts field work and creates the documentation to meet defined standards.

The story would highlight a brief history of Discovery, the historic recordation process, laser scanning methodology, accuracy requirements, challenges that occurred during the week long data gathering particularly in rarely seen areas such as the Orbiter’s Cargo Bay, and final print and digital products that will be provided to the Library of Congress.

OPF High Bay Panoramas – DRAFTS

1. HDR – Payload Bay from Platform 15 Left
2. HDR – Forward Landing Gear
3. HDR – Tail and Rudder from Platform 16 Right
4. STD – Flight Deck Center
5. STD – Payload Bay – AFT
6. STD – Payload Bay – FORWARD
7. STD – SSME Horizontal Processing

Point Cloud Images-

1. Screen Shots of Raw Scan Data

For more information or press inquiries, please contact Travis Reinke.